Complaint process needed for Sheriff’s Office

Jul 18, 2024
Jul 18, 2024 Updated Apr 14, 2025
14

Editor,

I shared this request with the Independent Civilian Advisory Commission on the Sheriff’s Office and copied the sheriff and the supervisors.

(14) comments

Terence Y Jul 18, 2024 8:58am

Watch out folks, I get the feeling Mr. Lawrence is testing the waters to find another way to get his hands on taxpayer funds for yet another committee or group, similar to Fixin’ SMC. Beware. I’d rather have taxpayer funds be used for an oversight committee for Fixin’ SMC and whether they’re wasting public money making mountains out of every molehill.

NancyG Jul 18, 2024 9:33am

Fixin' is a nonprofit and receives zero taxpayer dollars or government funds. All the (small) budget is individual donations. The financial info is on the annual reports on the website FixinSMC.org

Terence Y Jul 18, 2024 11:06am

Here we go again… NancyG, you've said this in the past but what's even more interesting are statements documented in a Palo Alto Daily Post article on October 19, 2023 (https://padailypost.com/2023/10/19/sheriff-watchdog-group-wants-a-budget-from-the-county/) which details Fixin’ San Mateo County’s (headed by yourself and Jim Lawrence) draft ordinance proposing to have the county spend about $2.5 million on oversight. Perhaps I missed it but I don’t see this $2.5 million as being from sources other than taxpayers.

And we previously went over this a month ago… Here are two more links related to the commission and as you can see from the first link, there is fiscal impact. The second link reports the estimated $3.5 million price tag (I guess $2.5 million wasn’t enough and a 40% bump was needed), along with the $500/individual/meeting price tag.

https://www.coastsidebuzz.com/san-mateo-county-supervisors-establish-an-independent-civilian-advisory-commission-to-work-with-the-sheriff/

https://www.almanacnews.com/news/2023/11/02/san-mateo-county-board-of-supervisors-agrees-that-sheriffs-office-needs-some-type-of-oversight/

If you have an official statement indicating there is no stipend and no taxpayer money, I’m sure our dear readers would like to verify the statement. Perhaps you can provide official statements to San Mateo County to be verified and reported on by the Daily Journal. Folks can easily access and verify the information I’ve provided.

NancyG Jul 18, 2024 1:42pm

Fixin' requested that the County set up and fund oversight. The County did not do that. They set up an advisory commission with no oversight powers, and did not fund it. The official statement is in the Dec 12, 2023 Board of Supervisors meeting. Please look at that - it is on the County website. And here is SMDJ coverage. https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/sheriff-oversight-body-approved-in-san-mateo-county/article_9455125c-9969-11ee-be71-3f1a258429d9.html

Terence Y Jul 18, 2024 3:55pm

Thanks for your response and the link, NancyG, but the link, like the ones you provided in a previous conversation don’t provide information on funding. I’m sticking to the information in my above linked articles of a $3.5 million price tag unless otherwise informed by a reputable news source. Also, if you look at the FAQ section in the fixinsmc.org site, there’s no note saying the oversight commission is working free, without being paid by public taxpayer funds.

Since you appear to have the inside scoop, perhaps you can state here, for the record, that this oversight commission won’t cost taxpayers any money and/or there is no individual stipend per meeting. Or members of the commission will refuse and/or return all taxpayer funds. Are you willing to do that? I’m thinking you won’t but I could be wrong. In this case, I hope I'm wrong.

NancyG Jul 18, 2024 9:32pm

My last word to you. For the record the commissioners do not receive a stipend.

ElsaS Jul 19, 2024 12:28am

HI Terence - Fixin' is Not the Oversight Commission. It' the Commission, which the Board of Supervisors set up, which would have any budget. Fixin' has a $15K budget/year which we raise by $10 - $50 donations from most of our volunteers, and it's bit by bit. It pays for our websight platform, the newsletter platform, printing materiel, legal work to set up the non-profit Fixin' in the first place, and stamps to mail our year-end annual report. I lead fundraising for Fixin' and promise you, it's a painful, slow process each time to get enough to print the next flyer.

Terence Y Jul 21, 2024 8:07am

ElsaS, thank you for your comment and clarification. I apologize if my above comment caused confusion regarding the roles of Fixin’ and the oversight commission. In the future I’ll endeavor to ensure this doesn’t occur.

That being said, I stand by my comments regarding the oversight commission being a waste of taxpayer money and the potential of the oversight commission to make mountains out of every molehill (after all, they’re getting paid for each meeting). I hope not, but based on a recent article regarding the first meeting of the commission it appears this oversight commission is becoming a clearinghouse for any and all complaints regarding law enforcement - although I’m sure these complaints are being handled currently in some form or another. I anticipate this “scope creep” will continue, leading to further waste of taxpayer monies and of course, further oversight commission meetings and more taxpayer money paid out to members. I’m sure folks can think of a better way to spend the budgeted $3.5 million.

Westy Jul 18, 2024 10:41am

Wholeheartedly agree. It is disappointing that San Mateo County is lagging behind in putting in place an independent Oversight board for the Sheriff's office. During our previous election, many deputies were afraid to support the candidate of their choice due to threats both overt and covert from the sitting Sheriff and they had no recourse. Inmates who are mistreated at the country jails have no recourse. The Sheriff has no independent analysis to fall back on in evaluating use-of-force incidents, and therefore the community has no confidence in the "investigations" of these incidents.

For the benefit of the community as well as the Sheriff deputies themselves, we need oversight.

2130 Jul 18, 2024 10:58am

Also agree. It's a matter of safety. If people don't FEEL safe in lodging a complaint, both their needs and the need of the Department to learn about what is happening can't be met. Probably one of the best first steps, and one that might help them define what they should be doing, is for the Independent Civilian Advisory Commission to establish a safe and secure complaint process for people who interact with the Department to use.

ElsaS Jul 19, 2024 12:54am

Couldn't agree more. The Commission was just set up on Tuesday, and will spend the rest of this year getting up to speed to learn from the Sheriff's Office about their training, duties, protocols, etc., all the while not having a way for residents to send them questions, concerns, or kudos having to do with the Sheriff's Office. It would be great to have a simple system by which any resident could send in a question, and actually get an answer, which too often does not happen with the current Sheriff's Office system. We have a Wonderful new Sheriff who inherited the operation her predecessor had in place, and it takes time to identify all the problems and set up new ways of doing things. She has a huge job to change the culture of law enforcement in her 70% of the County, and this Commission can be helpful in identifying needs, gaps in systems, and hearing suggestions from community members who often have great ideas! This is a win-win situation and it's sad not to start even step one of the value the Commission can offer - now - a simple two-way communication ability ~ enlightening everyone in the community - law enforcement officers and regular residents alike. We're all part of the same community here! Let's help each other and start with basic good two-way communication now, not in 2025.

2130 Jul 18, 2024 10:59am

Well, therre is an issue with the DJ system. I'll work on it shortly. It should have posted with my last name: Vallerga

Jorg Jul 18, 2024 12:56pm

Westy: How I wish there had been some kind of sheriff oversight while working as a volunteer elementary school crossing guard for a T-section, which I kept safe and running smoothly in the morning for 10 years! While most deputies were very supportive and staying out of my way, there was one in particular who kept interfering, trying to work against me, perhaps hard to take that I could do the job better than him. Without a badge on my chest and a gun on my hip, I couldn’t possibly direct vehicular traffic, he felt. He even scolded me for interfering with a truck driver who backed up his car across the sidewalk and in through a very narrow school gate, with kids all around trying to get to school. No one got hurt, so why interfere, was his reasoning! He also said it was my fault that I stood in the way for a driver who deliberately tried to run me down, while in the crosswalk with the STOP sign up for an out-of-control vehicle! The same deputy was called upon to sub for me during a week I was abroad for a class reunion. Despite both badge and gun, he made such a royal traffic mess already the first day, that he never showed up again. The rest of the week was a near disaster, according to the principal, even with a collision, so I had to promise never to be gone again. Since then, no one has been willing to assume the crossing guard job, and for obvious reasons, while I have to admit it was one of the most rewarding jobs I have ever had!

Westy Jul 20, 2024 4:40pm

Yes, a good illustration--there is no one over the Sheriff, our Sheriffs can do what they want without fear of interference. And so though Sheriff Corpus is excellent and working hard for transparency, we still need an Oversight Board. Our current system is to wait for people to be killed or injured, conduct an internal investigation, and declare that everything is fine. An Oversight Board would work in tandem with the Sheriff to prevent tragedies.

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