Alameda County once again delays vote to create civilian oversight of sheriff

Tuesday's postponement to the Board of Supervisors comes after the county's Public Protection Committee — chaired by Márquez — sent two proposed oversight orders to the board in February. The two would create a sheriff's oversight committee and an inspector general's office. One is slightly more detailed, specifying that no law enforcement officers or out-of-county residents would be allowed to serve on the board and would allow the inspector general to hire legal counsel independent.

Yoel Haile, criminal justice program director at the ACLU of Northern California, said both proposals fail by requiring the sheriff to approve any investigation by the civilian oversight board or inspector general.

“The residents of the county, who are the primary stakeholders in what the sheriff does, should have the opportunity to investigate,” Haile said, “should have the opportunity to question the sheriff, to find out the facts, to have the power to subpoena so that interviews can take place. be carried out with the people involved.

Sheriff Yesenia Sánchez's office has not publicly taken a position on the proposals.

“It is important to recognize that any oversight must be conducted collaboratively, with the interests of public safety, the constitutional rights of individuals and the fiduciary responsibility of the county on the agenda,” a spokesperson for the county said Monday. ministry in a press release.

If approved, either resolution would bring community monitoring to the Alameda County Sheriff's Office for the first time. It would also make Alameda the fifth Bay Area county to create civilian oversight by the sheriff, after San Francisco, San Mateo, Sonoma and Santa Clara.