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San Mateo County’s new sheriff pledged stability, accountability and stronger community engagement Tuesday as he met with a local transparency group following the removal of former Sheriff Christina Corpus.
Sheriff Kenneth Binder discussed his priorities and fielded questions about oversight, immigration policy and department culture during the meeting with Fixin’ SMC.
Fixin’ SMC Chair Jim Lawrence urged residents to give Binder an opportunity to lead.
Students from Sequoia High School also attended the meeting, presenting survey results and sharing their views on how the Sheriff’s Office can work with residents to create a safer community.
“Our group conducted surveys with several high schools in San Mateo County,” said Caitlin, a senior at Sequoia High School.
According to the surveys, 38.8% of respondents said they felt safe around local police officers, while 57% said they felt “somewhat safe.”
Binder said restoring stability to the department was his top priority upon taking office.
“My number one goal was to provide some stability to the organization,” Binder said, referring to the previous administration.
Corpus was removed by county supervisors over allegations of misconduct, including abuse of authority and improper hiring practices.
Binder emphasized the importance of building a new culture within the department and said hiring an undersheriff, Chris Hsiung, would help lay the groundwork.
“Culture is the key to modernizing and making an awesome public safety agency,” Hsiung said. “When you have leaders at the top who put humans first, the chances are the way your deputies and officers are treated is the same way they are going to treat the public.”
Binder said justice, community engagement and “organizational excellence” are the department’s top three priorities.
“Where does civilian oversight fall?” asked Trina Patton, a Fixin’ SMC member.
Binder said new hires face an 18-month probationary period and that internal oversight mechanisms are already in place.
“We are holding our people accountable,” Binder said. “We have had some folks who were on probation and weren’t meeting our standards, and we sent them on their way. We want to make sure we have only the best.”
The group also asked about the Sheriff’s Office’s stance on cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“We will not cooperate with ICE,” Binder said. “We want to build trust with everyone.”
Under Corpus, the Sheriff’s Office also said it did not cooperate with ICE beyond what was required by state law.
