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A plan to create a civilian oversight board and inspector general for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office was delayed until at least the end of the month after two county supervisors said they needed more time to consider two competing proposed ordinances.
But navigating a web of previously planned vacations made finding a date for the introduction and first reading of the ordinances difficult.
The county is seeking to create the oversight board and an inspector general for the sheriff’s office to comply with Assembly Bill 1185, which outlines steps for jurisdictions to take to create additional checks on law enforcement.
The board’s Public Protection Committee recommended creating the oversight mechanisms in July 2023. It noted that the county’s Santa Rita Jail was placed under a federal consent decree in 2022 because of a class action lawsuit that identified several problems with mental health care services, overuse of isolation, and disciplinary problems, among other illegal conditions. The jail is run by the sheriff’s office.
Supervisor David Haubert said the matter before the board on April 2 was not clear and asked for a delay to consider the ordinances. Supervisor Lena Tam agreed and said she had been contacted as recently as the day before by advocates of an oversight board with lingering questions.
“We’re still having a dialogue on questions that I think can best be resolved if we had that time,” Tam said.
Haubert’s first suggestion of April 16 was rejected because County Counsel Donna Ziegler will be on vacation. The board’s next meeting will be April 30, but Tam said she would be in Italy. She tentatively offered to join remotely if that was the date the board decided upon.
The board will choose between dual ordinances that were authored by supervisors Elisa Marquez and Nate Miley. One simply outlines the creation of a sheriff’s oversight board, an inspector general’s office and inspector general.
The other adds specific language that would restrict current and former law enforcement personnel from serving on the oversight board, as well as out-of-county residents. It would create an independent legal counsel for the inspector general, and “strongly encourage” a member of the sheriff’s office to attend each oversight meeting. It would also authorize the inspector general to hire an executive director.
The agenda item was set for April 30, barring further delays.
