The North Fair Oaks Community Council is one of the latest groups throwing its support behind a call for installing a civilian oversight board and inspector general who would be charged with monitoring San Mateo County’s Sheriff’s Office.
“I strongly believe that this is very needed and such communities like ours — we are growing communities, we have a lot of people who have been oppressed, a lot of people who fear the sheriff. So a relationship that would help connect the community and law enforcement, I think this is great,” Councilmember Jennifer Ruiz said during an Aug. 25 meeting.
With a unanimous vote, the council supported sending a letter to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors asking that it formally establish the oversight committee and inspector general position.
Unincorporated areas in the county, like North Fair Oaks, one of the most urban unincorporated communities in the county, fall under the jurisdiction of the Sheriff’s Office. Three cities also contract services with the office, San Carlos, Millbrae and Half Moon Bay. The Half Moon Bay City Council adopted a similar resolution calling for greater oversight of the Sheriff’s Office in late July.
The push for greater oversight of the county Sheriff’s Office is being led by Fixin’ San Mateo County, a nonprofit, grassroots organization first established in 2021. The group’s mission is to persuade county supervisors to establish a board of up to 11 community members, all appointed by supervisors, and to grant that board subpoena power so it can investigate community complaints.
The group would also like to see supervisors establish an Office of the Inspector General that would be led by an appointed official who also has subpoena power to investigate complaints and crime trends within the Sheriff’s Office.
“We live in a democracy. All of our elected leaders have checks and balances,” Jim Lawrence, a former Foster City councilmember and chair of Fixin’ San Mateo County Board of Directors, said. “However, our country sheriff has no ongoing checks and balances. He reports to and answers to no one. Yes, he is elected every four years but so are our president, governor and councilmembers. With the installation of this oversight board, all residents of San Mateo County will gain transparency into this vital governmental function.”
A number of local leaders and organizations have also endorsed Fixin’ San Mateo County’s mission including U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo; U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto; Assembly Speaker pro Tem Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco; Assemblymember Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto; state Sen. Josh Becker, D-San Mateo; Redwood City Mayor Giselle Hale; San Mateo Mayor Rick Bonilla; Faith in Action Bay Area and the NAACP San Mateo.
During last week’s meeting, Trina Patton with Fixin’ San Mateo County laid out a series of statistics they believe spell out the need for greater oversight. For instance, Patton noted Black residents are nine times as likely to be arrested by the Sheriff’s Office than white residents and Latino residents are twice as likely to be arrested than their white counterparts. And across the Bay Area, Black people make up less than 7% of the population but about 27% of those killed by police between 2015 and 2020, she said.
Recommended for you
Patton also pointed out that no law enforcement officers have been charged for using lethal force over District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe’s 11-year career as DA despite 19 use-of-force deaths occurring in that period.
Paul Bocanegra, a Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention commissioner in the county and vice chair of the Fixin’ San Mateo County Board, said the oversight could help restore trust with law enforcement, which he said has been over-policing communities like North Fair Oaks, a largely Latino area, for years.
“We are the most aggressively policed, the most aggressively incarcerated, the most aggressively fostered children in San Mateo County,” Bocanegra said. “I believe that we deserve a voice in how we’re being policed here.”
Vice Chair Blair Whitney said he supports Fixin’ San Mateo County’s mission but cautioned the group could be turning people away by overly criticizing the Sheriff’s Office which he argued is experiencing its own problems like understaffing.
“Don’t be so zealous that you turn people off and this is like a teardown attack on everyone and everything about a county institution,” Whitney said.
Patton said the group’s goal is to strengthen relationships between the community and law enforcement by building trust rather than tearing down law enforcement in the county.
“Oversight will protect civil rights. It manages risks for cities and counties. It builds bridges between law enforcement and the community, ensures greater accountability and it also supports effective policing practices,” Patton said. “This is not an idea to be a thorn in the side of law enforcement. It’s actually an idea to support law enforcement and the communities that they serve.”
“We are the most aggressively policed, the most aggressively incarcerated, the most aggressively fostered children in San Mateo County,” Bocanegra said.
Maybe this is one of the reasons why San Mateo County is one of the safest counties in the state.
“Patton noted Black residents are nine times as likely to be arrested by the Sheriff’s Office than white residents and Latino residents are twice as likely to be arrested than their white counterparts.”
Could this be explained by simply recognizing that these ethnic groups might just be responsible for a good portion of the crime in San Mateo County. Nah, that won’t fit into Patton’s narrative.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(2) comments
“We are the most aggressively policed, the most aggressively incarcerated, the most aggressively fostered children in San Mateo County,” Bocanegra said.
Maybe this is one of the reasons why San Mateo County is one of the safest counties in the state.
“Patton noted Black residents are nine times as likely to be arrested by the Sheriff’s Office than white residents and Latino residents are twice as likely to be arrested than their white counterparts.”
Could this be explained by simply recognizing that these ethnic groups might just be responsible for a good portion of the crime in San Mateo County. Nah, that won’t fit into Patton’s narrative.
Boy, that comment is Radical! But, Sensible!
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.