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Dozens of people came out to the Redwood City Woman’s Club to hear incumbent Sheriff Carlos Bolanos and Captain Christina Corpus face off in the first sheriffs candidate debate. At least 100 people lined up outside and some were turned away, according to one of the volunteers at the event.
Bolanos, who was appointed sheriff in 2016 after then-sheriff Greg Munks announced his early retirement, ran a successful campaign in 2018. Pointing to more than 40 years in law enforcement, Bolanos has built a campaign on his experience and commitment to “public safety for all.”
A sheriff’s captain and chief of police for the City of Millbrae, Corpus has said she wants to change the culture of law enforcement through community-based policing and transparency. If successful in her bid against Bolanos, she would be the county’s first woman in the role.
In his opening statement, Bolanos, the son of Nicaraguan immigrants, said he learned “the value of hard work, strong work ethic and integrity” from his parents. He said that his priorities “are fairly simple: keep San Mateo County the great, safe county that it is, ensure that we continue to build great relationships with the communities that we serve” and create “strong programs with our incarcerated.”
Corpus also described herself as the child of “hard-working immigrant parents,” from Mexico and Nicaragua, and said that she “can attest to the fear in our immigrant community and lack of trust in our law enforcement.” Highlighting Bolanos’s voluntary cooperation with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) services until November 2021, she said “we need change in the way we deliver our law enforcement services,” positioning herself as the best candidate for the job.
Asked about their top three priorities as sheriff, both candidates named understaffing as a key concern.
Corpus said that the Sheriff's Office is currently down 100 deputies, adding that “law enforcement officers are leaving because of the toxic and unsupportive work environment.”
Bolanos corrected her, saying that the actual number of vacancies is 75 and added: “If my opponent had a problem with our organization, she should have brought it up to me, which she never did.” A press release from April 5, shows that Bolanos said he was “approximately 100 deputies short.”
In response to a question about community oversight, Bolanos said he fully supports citizen oversight and invited people to partner with him to determine what they want to know about the organization. He added, to laughter from the crowd, that the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office is “probably the most transparent law enforcement agency in the area.”
Corpus criticized the incumbent for not “inviting people to your table” and asserted a need for change. Though she hasn’t endorsed civilian oversight, she said she would like to implement three advisory boards bringing in community members from the north, south and coastal areas of the county.
The discussion around voluntary release of immigrants to ICE custody was one of the more contentious.
Corpus said this issue was one of her main reasons for running for sheriff. She said she would not hand immigrants over to ICE unless there was a “complete and imminent danger to the communities that we serve,” which she would evaluate on a case-by-case basis.
Bolanos said he was “somewhat confused” by Corpus's answer, and whether she would or would not hand immigrants over to ICE.
He said that while he did previously cooperate with ICE, his “positions have been very clear” that he would not do so any longer. He previously told the Pulse that his decision was final “unless something dramatically changes.” However, he added that he agreed with the nature of the law that permits voluntary handovers (Senate Bill 54, or the California Values Act) and was “still concerned about serious and violent criminals being released back to the community.”
Referencing the October 2018 killing of Chinedu Valentine Okobi, a 36-year-old Black man who died after being Tasered, beaten and pepper sprayed, the moderator asked the candidates about changes to deputy training and the department’s Use of Force Policy.
Corpus accused the sheriff of waiting until after the murder of George Floyd, in 2020, to change the policy. Voicing support for revised Use of Force and Taser policies, she said that she previously recommended that the department adopt the use of “BolaWraps,” a handheld device that deploys a Kevlar tether as a restraint.
“When I brought that up to the executive team and the command staff, there were a few members of the command staff that laughed at it and said it looked like something out of Spiderman,” Corpus said. The device, which is now being used by the field training program, is one she hopes to expand throughout the department, she said.
Bolanos rejected Corpus’s telling of the events, saying, “Let me tell you what actually happened.”
Clarifying that he developed the revised policy “long before George Floyd,” Bolanos said that his office worked in partnership with the ACLU to write “what I consider a state-of-the-art Use of Force policy that absolutely talks about the sanctity of life, talks about deescalation.”
The policy changes were first proposed in July 2019 but not officially adopted until January 1, 2020. He said his department also added less lethal weaponry to create “one additional step before we had to use deadly force” and reached out to the Center for Policing Equity to conduct an equity assessment based on data on officer-resident interactions.
Addressing the issue of understaffing, the candidates were asked how they plan to attract qualified deputies to fill current vacancies.
Corpus said she would like to emulate a program based out of Southern California to collaborate with high schools and community colleges.
“Kids get credit for being in the programs” which gives them “an opportunity to be part of the law enforcement agencies,” she said.
Touting his past efforts, Bolanos said, “I’m not going to tell you about what I will do but what I have done.” He talked about putting up a career website and using search engine optimization to cast a wide net to potential applicants. He also named the local housing crisis and rising cost of living as major factors in the high turnover of law enforcement officers.
In their closing statements, the candidates took not-so-subtle jabs at each other.
Corpus said that she has heard many people confess that they don't know who the current sheriff is.
“How can anyone deliver on public safety if they don’t know our communities?” she asked.
She added that in her tenure at the department, she has “never seen morale so low.”
“This did not happen overnight. This shows negligent behavior,” she said. “We need a sheriff we can trust and that our officers believe in.”
Bolanos returned the vitriol.
“Do you want someone for sheriff who complains about how terrible things are, says what they will do, who complains but doesn’t actually do anything? Or someone who has actually done things and has 40 years of experience?” he asked.
“I led us through the pandemic, I’ll lead us through all the other challenges that come before us,” he said, adding that his executive experience makes him “the most qualified person to continue to lead the sheriff’s office.”
The candidates will participate in an upcoming virtual candidate forum on Thursday, May 12 from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
San Mateo County’s next Sheriff will be determined by voters during the June 7 election.
