Editor,
SMDJ recently published this article on the topic of civilian oversight of county Sheriff Christina Corpus ahead of the board meeting coming up on Tuesday, Oct. 25, (smdailyjournal.com/news/local/san-mateo-county-sheriff-christina-corpus-is-at-odds-with-oversight-plan/article_2136d350-6ef8-11ee-a05f-47d2ea9b6294.html).
Back in August, I posted this letter highlighting why this is a bad idea (smdailyjournal.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/why-civilian-oversight-of-county-sheriff-is-a-bad-idea/article_be502b6e-42e3-11ee-b82a-c32a6147d6a2.html).
The current situation of the sheriff being at odds with the nonprofit industry was bound to happen. In my previous letter, I hypothesized that the only reason a sheriff (or any leader) would accept oversight is because they are either not ready for the job or they’ve made promises to certain groups to secure votes. In our case, our sheriff is highly competent (I believe this 100%). However, she is now learning that the same nonprofits who supported her now want to limit her power.
The position of county sheriff is elected directly by voters. Why would we ever want a committee of biased people with a hidden agenda to limit the powers of our sheriff? It makes no sense and is an affront to direct democracy.
At Tuesday’s meeting, we will find the answers. If the Board of Supervisors moves toward civilian oversight and caves into the nonprofit industry, there is not much hope left. If the board sides with the sheriff, it would uphold the importance of the Sheriff’s Office and send out a strong note that county politics will not be influenced by nonprofits. Which way will they swing?
Amit Saini
Foster City
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(5) comments
Amit - you make excellent points but based on some questionable behavior by the last sheriff, perhaps we need to dust off the recall option, should the Sheriff need to be removed. That again is a lengthy process and not conducive to expedited, corrective action. We simply need to have better candidates for that powerful office. With all of the hoopla that the current Sheriff enjoyed during the campaign and a drive for an oversight board I wonder what caliber of candidates the voters are presented with.
Thanks for your comment Dirk. I believe for expedited action, we need to rely on tactics such as censure by Board of Supervisors (who we directly elect and have responsibility towards Sheriff even though they don't elect one directly) and the Grand Jury (someone posted a nice article on how civilian oversight already exists).
I am troubled that a non-elected group of biased individuals (who I will not directly elect) will ultimately decide what my elected candidate (Sheriff in this case) can and cannot do. This is not the system we signed up for.
Your article needs to be required reading for every San Mateo County resident. It’s the best I’ve seen. I hope you emailed a copy to each board member? These “non profits” with an agenda wreak havoc on most counties. The SF Police Commission has been a disaster. Even Mayor Breed admits it now. There is no evidence that in the 200 US counties in which oversight exists the quality of law enforcement has improved, it’s only led to staffing shortages and more crime.
One need only sit through a SF Police Commission public meeting or watch a past meeting online to understand what lies ahead for our County should our Board cave to special interests. London Breed, once a proponent of oversight, is now very publicly fighting them.
Nailed it Amit, especially when it comes to the control the non-profits have in our county. They all paraded before the BOS yesterday, activist group after activist group, to create the illusion that citizens are demanding an oversight commission. But as I pointed out in my comments to the Board, this is absolutely not the case.
My husband and I have talked with literally hundreds of people in the past few years about their concerns living here (he repairs bikes for free up and down the Peninsula, even won an award on Next Door. He loves to talk to people.) Not one person has said "San Mateo Co has a police brutality problem and what we need is a Sheriff Oversight Committee". To the contrary- everyone is worried about rising crime and not becoming San Francisco. And, as London Breed recently stated, police oversight has failed in SF, so why would our county want to adopt something that has already failed in San Francisco?
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