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County sheriff’s officers are three times more lethal than city police, a CBS News investigation has found… CBS News gathered and analyzed federal law enforcement data that showed while more people died overall in encounters with city police, deaths in encounters with county sheriffs occurred at a significantly higher rate. For every 100,000 people arrested, more than…

Sheriffs in California wield enormous power. They’re in charge of law enforcement in counties and in unincorporated areas. They run the jailsand oversee emergency services. The magnitude of the sheriff’s role and power creates conditions that can lead to a lack of accountability, endangering public safety and civil liberties.

Fixin’ San Mateo County’s Board Chair Jim Lawrence wrote this guest editorial after a spate of deaths in our county jail.

Following persistent demands from the community for increased oversight of the Sheriff’s Office, the County’s Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the formation of a civilian advisory commission last week… Still, activist Nancy Goodban, Fixin’ San Mateo County executive director, said the resolution lacks two critical factors: a full-time inspector general and the ability to ask…

Sheriffs hold massive power in California counties over jails, law enforcement, emergency services, court-ordered evictions, and more. They are elected officials who must be accountable to the public that they serve. 

Following hours of expert, staff and public input on Sheriff’s Office oversight, San Mateo County supervisors backed a model that creates a civilian advisory body, reinstates a public safety and social justice subcommittee, and contracts an inspector general on an as-needed basis.

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors took a step that many police accountability advocates have for years clamored for: civilian oversight of the sheriff’s department. The Board voted to create a seven-member Oversight Board and an Office of the Inspector General on Tuesday that was recommended in a report authored by former Alameda County Chief…

Michael Acosta, who lost his eye after being shot with a hard projectile by San Jose police during protests following the 2020 killing of George Floyd, is set to receive millions in a city settlement. The $3 million payout is part of a $3.35 million total settlement the city is weighing for Acosta and a…

A police oversight committee in Dallas is investigating four police officers after video shows them laughing at a disabled veteran that urinated on himself. The committee watched police body cam footage on August 8 that took place after two off-duty police officers at a Dallas restaurant denied him use of the bathrooms.

Fixin’ San Mateo County (FxSMC) is pleased to announce that the ACLU of Northern California (ACLU-NorCal) has endorsed FxSMC, and is partnering with them to support efforts to establish independent civilian oversight of the Sheriff’s Office.