MVFREE Responds to Supervisors Consideration of Historic Sheriff Oversight Proposal
by Tammy Edmonson (MVFREE Newsletter, June 2023)
In September of 2022, the Marin County Board of Supervisors launched a process to develop a program of Sheriff’s oversight as authorized by AB 1185. The process engaged a 15-member Working Group led by an expert from the National Association of Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE), and produced detailed Proposal for Civilian Oversight.
The MVFREE Police Team supports the Working Group’s proposal subject to some clarifications and revisions that we believe are necessary to ensure that the Civil Oversight Commission (COC) and Inspector General (IG) have the resources and authority they need to ensure their effectiveness. You can read our full recommendations in this MVFREE Letter to the Board. In brief, we are calling on the Board of Supervisors to—
Provide sufficient funding to support essential oversight functions. The $708,600 proposed by the Working Group reflects the bare minimum necessary to support IG and COC operations and does not include the cost of setting up and launching these new entities.
Remove burdensome impediments to the IG and COC’s authority to launch an independent investigation. The IG and COC must be trusted and empowered to act when they deem it necessary to ensure that complaints receive a full, fair and timely investigation.
Clarify that all monitoring and investigative authoring granted to the IG is to be carried out under the direction of, and with full transparency to, the COC. This is essential to preserve the COC’s independence from the IG, a fundamental characteristic of civilian oversight.
Read details of the Background, Planning Process and Working Group’s Proposal