Keep Bailing

Captain Melvin Riley, 83, who worked for the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department and spent nearly thirty years in law enforcement before retiring in 1978, died last Wednesday after a long illness.  Family, friends and colleagues held a memorial service in his honor at the Foothill Presbyterian Church in San Jose.

Captain Riley was a local hero who demonstrated time and again how much he cared for those who were down on their luck.  He created both a work furlough program and a chaplaincy program for county inmates.  He also played a large role in establishing Friends Outside, another county program started in 1955 to aid prisoners’ families.

Melvin Riley was born in Salem Ore., but grew up in Bakersfield.  He attended San Jose State University.  Riley served his country twice — first in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II, and later, as an MP during the Korean War.  He eventually moved to Elmwood, where he spent nine years on the “Farm.”  This was his nickname for the Elmwood Jail, which offered an agricultural rehabilitation program for inmates.  Riley helped design Read more »