Sacramento Sheriff’s Office will be focus of new citizen oversight commission

Sacramento County is creating a new citizen commission that will provide oversight of the Sheriff’s Office, as communities across the United States look to provide greater accountability over law enforcement agencies after the murder of George Floyd last year.

Approved last week by the Board of Supervisors, the new law enforcement community review commission will assist the county’s inspector general, who is tasked with investigating and auditing the Sheriff’s Office, including oversight of cases of misconduct and use-of-force.

Commission members will be able to review and provide recommendations on department policies and suggest practices implemented by other jurisdictions. The commission is aimed at being a bridge between residents and the inspector general, obtaining and sharing feedback from the community on specific use-of-force incidents, conditions at the jails, or other civil rights concerns regarding the Sheriff’s Office.

“What I hope we do today is to create a level of community transparency that we’re seeing is necessary throughout the country,” said Supervisor Patrick Kennedy, who introduced the item, during the meeting last Tuesday.

Though the commission is designed largely as an advisory commission rather than an investigatory one, it does have the power to potentially subpoena witnesses, officers and other department materials to investigate a matter within the jurisdiction of the board, according to the resolution.

Sacramento County Inspector General Mark Evenson said he is looking forward to working with the new commission, calling it “the community’s eyes and ears.”

”I think it has great potential for Sacramento County to really expand citizen involvement and bring even more transparency and accountability,” he told the board.

Miguel Garcia of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition told the board it was important that residents who’ve been incarcerated or have been impacted by the Sheriff’s Office to be prioritized for appointment on the commission.

Other members of the public urged that the new commission review the department’s budget to see how dollars are spent, as well as oversee the living conditions at county jails. They also demanded that the commission — which will be made up of unpaid volunteers — receive sufficient county staffing and funds to operate.

“I want to remind the board this creation is the floor for public transparency and accountability, and should not be the ceiling,” Keyan Bliss, a member of the city of Sacramento’s police review commission, told the board.

Full details on the regulation and scope of the commission — including how and when it can subpoena — are still being ironed out. Evenson and two supervisors will draft up the commission’s rules of conduct in consultation with county counsel, and the new commissioners will ultimately review and approve those guidelines.

The volunteer commission will be made up of 11 members, with two appointed by each supervisor and one a member of county staff appointed by the county executive.

For three years, Sacramento County has lacked a key form of oversight on the conduct of deputies and staffers of the Sheriff’s Office — reports on fatal shootings and yearly audits of the department by the inspector general.

That’s because Sheriff Scott Jones barred then-Inspector General Rick Braziel from entering department buildings or jails after he released a report that was critical of the deputy shooting of Mikel McIntyre, an emotionally-troubled Black man in May 2017.

Evenson, who was hired in December 2019 to replace Braziel, is in the process of finalizing accountability reports for the supervisors that were delayed because of the pandemic. He’s expected to release audits and recommendations in either May or June.

This story was originally published May 10, 2021 at 1:35 PM.