Santa Cruz civil rights teams calls for brand new sheriff’s oversight physique – Santa Cruz Sentinel

SANTA CRUZ – With state law introduced this year, California counties and their residents have the authority to create new oversight for their sheriff’s offices – a concept some Santa Cruz county organizations are keen to explore.

The American Civil Liberties Union’s Santa Cruz County Chapter and NAACP convened Wednesday evening to host an online panel discussion on the matter and invited Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart to join the discussion.

“I also believe that an oversight committee will only help our community and will help Sheriff Hart and the Sheriff’s Office and will be able to advocate for the needs of that office,” NAACP President Brenda Griffin said during the discussion, calling for that Read public on an updated report that is critical of the operation and oversight of the Santa Cruz County Prison and that the Santa Cruz County Board of Directors is following the recommendations of the report.

The forum came just weeks after the Santa Cruz Grand Jury published its Justice in the Jail report which, among a number of recommendations, advocates the creation of such a board of directors or inspector. The report states that “there is no formal structure or transparency through which the BoS (board of directors) is informed in a timely and regular manner via the correction office”.

Pave the way

Last year’s Assembly Bill 1185, “Sheriff’s Oversight,” authorizes either the county board of directors or through a citizen vote to establish a local sheriff’s civic oversight committee and / or a general position of inspector with subpoena powers. The new unit would assist the board of directors in monitoring behavior in the sheriff’s office, according to the bill. However, the supervisory authorities must not obstruct the independent public prosecutor’s office
Functions of the sheriff and the district attorney, nor limit the budgetary authority of the board of directors over the sheriff under the law.

Hart, when asked for his opinion on creating an additional oversight body, said it was not his decision. However, when Griffin pushed further, Hart said he was against having an oversight committee made up of policy officers like the county civil service commission and said he needed to learn more about the structure and roles that go into a. are described proposal. On the other hand, an inspector general “who really understood prison systems and could use some knowledge about them could be helpful,” Hart said.

“So if there is a group or person who is focused on making things better, it could potentially be an advantage,” Hart said, adding that he would encourage ongoing discussion on the matter.

Hardly cited cases of public transparency, including the dismissal and public naming of several employees in his office who have been involved in misconduct in recent years.

Focus

Panelist Michael J. Gennaco, hired as the Santa Cruz City Independent Police Investigator, said law enforcement regulators need access to information, independence and the ability to be transparent to be successful. He agreed with Hart that a politicized body would be “of little value” and that it would take “some expense” for such bodies to function.

“The compensation is natural, if the Inspector General is doing his or her job effectively, that this could reduce the number of lawsuits, the number of complaints, and the amount of disbursements and lawsuits that the jurisdiction suffers as a result of the IG’s good work that serves as control of the sheriff’s office functions, ”said Gennaco. “Our experience is that the money that is spent on an IG and supervision is well invested.”

Santa Cruz panelist and attorney Mandy Tovar, who has worked in the privately owned prosecutor’s office since 2005, said she supported the creation of an independent oversight committee in the Santa Cruz district. She cited her office’s experience of hearing from Santa Cruz District inmates facing violence and allegations of misconduct, ranging from gang influence and sexual assault to abuse of solitary confinement and unequal application of alternative release rules.

“I think it is important that we all move forward together and try to solve this as a community, because this is our community, these are our local citizens who live here with us,” said Tovar.

Family members of two men who recently died in the custody of the county jail also shared emotional stories of the loss of loved ones. In 2019, 24-year-old German Carrillo from Watsonville was found dead in a cell he shared with two other inmates that Carrillo’s sister shared. Just days earlier, James Kohut, a former neurosurgeon on trial for sex crimes against children, was found dead in his prison cell. Tamario Smith’s parents also spoke about the 21-year-old found alone in his cell in May 2020, with his death attributed to excessive water consumption.