CFTA endorses Christina Corpus for San Mateo County Sheriff in the June 2022 election
Here is a pdf of our endorsement letter or you can read it below:
The CFTA Council has unanimously voted to endorse Captain Christina Corpus for San Mateo County Sheriff in the June 2022 election. We are pleased that she has stepped forward. It's time for a change!
The CFTA Council believes that Captain Corpus, currently also Chief of Police Services for the City of Millbrae, is exceptionally well qualified to assume the responsibilities of Sheriff. Her guiding principles of transparency, integrity and stakeholder engagement speak to the very principles that CFTA was founded upon: working toward a diverse, progressive, sustainable, and equitable world.
Our Approach:
Each of the CFTA subcommittees (allyship, education, elections, environment, justice, immigration, public health) contributed questions to an endorsement questionnaire that was sent to both our current Sheriff, Carlos Bolanos, and candidate Christina Corpus.
Captain Corpus has demonstrated her commitment to the coastside. She presented during the CFTA member meeting on November 15th, held an in- person “meet and greet” on December 8th at San Benito House and has made herself available for follow-up questions.
In these conversations she expanded on her commitments in the areas we are most concerned about: information availability, de-escalation as a fundamental approach to law enforcement work, new approaches to mental health concerns, and ceasing referrals to ICE.
Building on her 20 years experience in San Mateo County law enforcement, her commitment to transparency, embracing new ideas in mental health services and community relations are qualities we feel allied with.
Here we’ll share what we’ve learned and what we’re looking forward to:
Transparency:
Captain Corpus will seek public participation in measuring what success looks like.
We are looking forward to the long-overdue implementation of the Racial and Identity Profiling Act (RIPA) protocols that will require the collection of perceived demographic and other data for pedestrian and traffic stops. Captain Corpus is committed to getting RIPA required data available to our community as soon as possible.
After implementation of RIPA – the goal will be to help build a compassionate and effective organization to all members of the public.
The data collected will include all citizen contacts, calls for service, and enforcement stops. It will include officer race, other party race, nature of contact, result of contact and final disposition when determined.
She would also implement avenues for community feedback, both positive and negative – customer satisfaction surveys. A creative example - QR codes on deputies’ business cards, patches, and vehicles - points to her seriousness with regards to accountability to the community. This data would route directly to the officer’s supervisor. Managers and Executives will also have access.
Data will be shared with the public at least bi-annually with avenues for community comment and input provided.
In addition, the number of citizen complaints, citizen recommendations for merit, and internal affair investigations will be reported including final disposition.
All officer training profiles will be provided as well.
In short, all data involving personnel training and performance will be maintained and provided to the public on a biannual basis.
Captain Corpus has also specifically stated that in the Sandra Harmon case she would have provided the AXON log file to the public.
CFTA believes that until we have credible data, we can't determine how the Sheriff’s Department is performing in relation to justice, fairness, and equity, including addressing any possible inherent bias. Electing Captain Corpus will go a long way toward advancing this goal.
Community Engagement:
Because Captain Corpus has been confronted with a lack of trust between the community and law enforcement, she has worked hard to establish relationships and connect deputies with local communities she’s served. She has committed to establishing Community Advisory Boards consisting of community leaders, residents, and stakeholders, such as civilian leaders, business leaders, NAACP, and ACLU. (One board would serve, south county, north county, and coastside.) These boards would have a continuous voice with the Sheriff's Office’s leadership to ensure relevant and effective programs are provided to support each unique community. She would meet with these boards quarterly to discuss issues that arise in their specific communities. This will also afford her the opportunity to hear directly from community members on the department’s performance.
The proposed Advisory Committees would include an office-wide Oversight Committee. This oversight committee would be encouraged to be made up of members representative of all communities within San Mateo County. This committee would work closely with the Sheriff’s Office of Professional Standards Bureau. Together, they would develop a relationship that will ensure meaningful oversight while still adhering to the Peace Officer Bill of Rights protections. To facilitate trust, transparency will be a cornerstone of these
committees.
Mental Health:
Captain Corpus specifically supports programs to safeguard and provide appropriate care to individuals experiencing mental health crises. She is committed to championing a mental health model like the Cahoots program in Oregon, including diverting funding in support of it. She has also identified an Autism Registry Program, a free, secured voluntary registry for any resident to upload information about their loved one. She believes this will aid deputies when they feel threatened by behavior that they may not understand and prevent many of the devastating outcomes we’ve seen in recent years.
We are equally concerned with the health and wellbeing of the deputies who serve in our communities. She recognizes the need for long-term wellness programs for deputies, and we are encouraged by her commitment here. We recognize that responding to traumatic incidents can have an indelible impact, and we want to ensure our deputies are cared for. As Sheriff, Captain Corpus is committed to implement Mental Health and Wellness Programs for our law enforcement personnel, recognizing that if we are not providing long term wellness programs for our deputies, and sending them out into our communities
without addressing their mental health and overall well-being, the expectation of how they may respond to critical incidents is unsettling.
De-escalation
Captain Corpus is committed to providing “much needed de-escalation training” for deputies and correctional officers and places an emphasis on such continual training. It’s a far better investment “when deputies have the confidence to remain calm and de-escalate the situation because they feel confident in protecting themselves”. She wants to co-create a culture where “our people focus on calming and controlling the situation and doing everything to avoid unnecessary use of force.” She understands the public demands and expects this from our law enforcement agencies.
ICE transfers:
Captain Corpus has committed not to cooperate with ICE. She notes that the current Sheriff has also recently taken this position after the TRUTH act forum this year but could have taken it months ago when it came to light.
Summary
The goals of the CFTA Justice Committee have been 4 fold:
1. De-escalation as a primary mission
2. New approaches to responding to Mental health
3. Visibility / tracking
4. ICE transfers – these have been terminated and Captain Corpus will ensure this does not start again.
When elected, Captain Corpus will be the first Latina sheriff in California history. We see it as not only an important step forward for women in the arena of public safety, but especially a woman of color. In addition to the impact we expect her to have in her role, we hope that through her visible leadership the next generation can see themselves in leadership roles.
We are energized by Captain Corpus' decision to run for Sheriff and look forward to supporting her campaign. We believe that her personal values and principles, and specific plans for her time in office, are extremely well aligned with the CFTA mission to make the Coastside more diverse, progressive, sustainable, and equitable, and a welcoming, supportive, active, and empowering place for children and families.
