☆ SCC Sheriff candidate on the need for transparent, accountable police depts
In a chat with Opp Now, Santa Clara Sheriff hopeful Bob Jonsen discusses how he would rectify, if elected, the Office of Correction and Law Enforcement Monitoring’s (OCLEM) lack of collaborative oversight with independent reviewers. Candidate Kevin Jensen has not yet replied. An Opp Now exclusive. To receive daily updates of new Opp Now stories, click here.
Opportunity Now: Let's pretend you could hop in the Wayback Machine and change one single decision made by local government, including SJCC/County Supes/Sheriff. What would it be and why? How will you change the impact of that decision if you're elected?
Bob Jonsen: I would choose to go back to 2018 when the County Board of Supervisors implemented the Office of Correction and Law Enforcement Monitoring (OCLEM). The Sheriff had the opportunity to open the doors and welcome independent review. But instead, she was resistant to oversight and slow to comply. In a recent update from 2021, the independent auditor wrote, “The Sheriff has proposed an agreement that will provide OCLEM very limited access to information and is, in some ways, even more restrictive in its scope than the Sheriff’s proposal of last year.” This approach has only increased scrutiny of the Department.
I’ve been engaged with independent oversight for over a decade, and am always open to the relationship. As Chief of Palo Alto Police Department, I led the organization through the national police reform movement of 2020. Our inclusive approach led to a more transparent and expansive partnership with the independent auditor. In their recent review, published in February 2022, the auditor commented, “We are happy to acknowledge that the Department’s leadership has been consistent in honoring – or going beyond – its obligations when it comes to interacting with us. They take initiative in outreach, ensure that our access to necessary materials is unfettered, welcome questions and input, share their own views with candor, and remain receptive to criticism and ideas for reform. At a time when law enforcement nationally has struggled with new expectations and a perceived loss of support, and when the Department has dealt with high profile incidents of its own, PAPD’s collaborative relationship to oversight is especially noteworthy.”
The public expects transparent law enforcement agencies, and I intend to exceed that expectation as the next Sheriff of the Santa Clara Sheriff’s Office!
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Image by Thomas Hawk