Supervisors approve civilian oversight over Alameda County Sheriff
OAKLAND, Calif. - After four years of discussion and delays, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to give unprecedented civilian oversight over the sheriff's office.
The first reading of the vote passed 3-1, with President Nate Miley abstaining. Supervisor David Haubert was absent. No date was given for the second reading. In addition, the sheriff's deputy union must be given a chance to "meet and confer." And it's unclear how long it will take to form the commission and hire staff to support the oversight body.
Still, it was a big step for Alameda County, where there has never been an oversight body - albeit advisory only - over the sheriff's office.
In general, the idea of the oversight is to create an outside body of nine regular citizens who could request information, hold hearings and make recommendations to the board of supervisors.
Similar oversight bodies have been created over sheriffs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, Orange, Sacramento, Santa Cruz and Sonoma counties. Efforts in San Mateo, Marin and Monterey counties are underway, according to research by the ACLU.
The current Alameda County oversight proposal was authored by Miley and Supervisor Elisa Marquez, who is also chair of the Public Protection Committee.
What civilian oversight would do
This version says the oversight body shall have its own attorney and Inspector General – points of contention which had held up previous votes.
Even though the oversight body was Miley's idea as far back as 2020, he didn't vote for it on Tuesday because he didn't think it was necessary for the civilian body to have its own, independent counsel – a sticking point for many, including the ACLU.
This version also excludes the appointment of all current law enforcement employees, former Alameda County sheriff's employees and non-Alameda County residents. It does give an extra seat on the commission to Dublin, which now gets two commissioners instead of one.
The Alameda County Sheriff's oversight will not be as strong as the oversight that the Oakland Police Commission has over Oakland police. Since a sheriff is elected, the oversight body's power, by nature, is more limited than over a police department.
For example, this Alameda County sheriff's oversight commission will not have the power to discipline or fire any deputies or the sheriff.
Community members have been pushing for some type of oversight for nearly half a decade, in the wake of George Floyd's death.
The Interfaith Coalition for Justice in Our Jails supported this latest oversight proposal, as did a majority of the community members who came to speak in favor of the oversight. Those groups included the Coalition for Police Accountability, the League of Women Voters, the American Friends Service Committee and Secure Justice.
At the board hearing on Tuesday, a man named Carlos said this oversight body is needed because the sheriff's Internal Affairs – where deputies investigate allegations against their colleagues – hasn't worked. He implored this future body of civilians to have zero conflicts of interest.
"Sheriffs want to do good," he said. "But the trust has been broken."
There were about seven or so people who argued against aspects of the oversight.
A woman named Jackie from Pleasanton was adamant that Alameda County sheriff's deputies should be able to sit on the oversight body – which they are not allowed to do.
"These deputies, they keep prisoners – criminals – safe," she said. "We need their professional opinions."
A man named Greg echoed what she said and also asked how much this body and supporting staff would cost, especially when there is a civil grand jury and the state Attorney General, who can oversee the goings-on at the sheriff's office.
"This has gone way too far," he said.
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In-custody Santa Rita Jail deaths
One of the particular points of interest for community members in Alameda County has been the high in-custody death rate at Santa Rita Jail, which the sheriff's office oversees.
KTVU has tracked those jail deaths since 2014, and to date, the number stands at 70.
One of the most notable recent cases was the 2021 death of Maurice Monk, which didn't come to light until two years later.
Monk was dying for roughly three days at the Santa Rita Jail before anyone discovered him. In October 2023, KTVU obtained exclusive body camera video of the days leading up to Monk's death, showing how deputies threw pills and food trays into his cell, without physically checking on him to see if he was OK.
Activists also plan to bring up the more recent death of Yuri Brand, who was suffocated at Santa Rita Jail, allegedly by his cellmate. His family filed a wrongful death lawsuit, alleging the sheriff's office misclassified him and should have done a better job paying attention to his mental health.
If there were a civilian oversight board, jail reform activist Bob Britton, who used to be a union representative for the Deputy Sheriff's Association of Alameda County and is now a member of the ICJJ, said the commissioners could demand investigations into these type of deaths.
And even if they didn't have the power to discipline deputies, Britton said they could at least issue a public report on their findings.
Sheriff supports oversight
Alameda County Yesenia Sanchez did not attend Tuesday's board of supervisors' meeting.
However, in August 2023, Sanchez told KTVU in a wide-ranging interview that she supports civilian oversight, reminding the public that oversight over an elected sheriff is different from a police chief.
Sanchez pointed out that "there's some misconception that this body would be able to discipline our staff in any way. That's not a power that's within that bill, AB 1185."
She said that what a civilian oversight board would be able to do "provide oversight as far as being able to generate some information, reporting, making recommendations. But the sheriff's office wouldn't have to take on those recommendations. They would just be recommendations."
Sanchez did say that she was willing to work with an oversight body.
"I hope that there's no misunderstanding about what that entity is going to be able to do," she said at the time. "Because I think that there is that misconception that they would be able to discipline people. And that's just not [going to happen.] I'm not going to be part of that."
Lisa Fernandez is a reporter for KTVU. Email Lisa at lisa.fernandez@fox.com or call her at 510-874-0139. Or follow her on Twitter @ljfernandez.