Review Of Sheriff's Policing Policies Dies In Riverside County

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — As the funeral for George Floyd was underway Tuesday in Texas, the issues of racism and policing in Riverside County were being discussed by the board of supervisors.

Despite impassioned arguments by two of the board members — who advocate that now is the time to have difficult conversations about systemic racism — an effort to review the sheriff's department's policing policies died during Tuesday's meeting.

A proposal by Board Chair V. Manuel Perez (4th District) did not make it to a vote after supervisors Jeff Hewitt (5th District), Kevin Jeffries (1st District), and Karen Spiegel (2nd District) said they could not support it.

Hewitt urged greater transparency in local policing — including visibility into deputies with complaints lodged against them — but he would not back Perez's proposal.

Defunding police was not included in Perez's proposal, but Jeffries brought it up anyway and said he couldn't support it citing cost concerns. Spiegel argued that Sheriff Chad Bianco should have been brought into discussions prior to Perez announcing his proposal.

Supervisor Chuck Washington, who is African American, tried to find middle ground. He proposed that Bianco and Riverside County CEO George Johnson sit down and lay out a framework for bringing the community into a discussion about policing and racism.

A meeting with Johnson was "a waste of time," said Bianco, who was present Tuesday. The sheriff was elected in 2018, and he admitted he's failed to put a community advisory team together.

Disgruntled with Bianco's "waste of time" remark, Washington dropped his suggested amendment.

Communities are hurting in the wake of Floyd's in-custody death at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers, Perez and Washington said.

"I want us to have dialogue with our eyes wide open," Washington urged. "This is our moment to make history. Let's not waste this opportunity."

"I'm not pointing fingers," Perez said of the sheriff's department. "But people want a seat at the table. They want a voice."

Perez's district includes the Coachella Valley. He told the board he's spoken to many leaders of color who say racism is embedded in institutions, including police forces.

"The system is the issue, not the people," one said, according to Perez. "Things haven't changed, they just been rearranged," another told the chair.

Several people spoke at Tuesday's meeting, urging the supervisors to support Perez's proposal.

"It can't be business as usual," said Pepi Jackson, president of the Riverside County Black Chamber of Commerce.

Corey Jackson, who serves the Riverside NAACP and is a member-elect of the Riverside County Board of Education, told the board that racism "is a public health crisis."

Riverside Sheriffs' Association President Bill Young was present at Tuesday's meeting and spoke against Perez's proposal. On Monday he issued a statement condemning the proposal, which read, in part, "While we understand the current spotlight on policing, we do not believe that it is constructive to have a political body demand full-scale policy reviews when they do not have the legal authority to set or change any policy that is reviewed."

Riverside County Counsel Greg Priamos disagreed with that legal interpretation. Not only does the board of supervisors have oversight authority, it also has "a duty" to supervise all county officers, he said.

Although no action passed Tuesday, the sheriff agreed to report back July 7 on his efforts to form a community advisory team.

The board did pass a resolution Tuesday condemning Floyd's death, with supervisors Jeffries, Perez and Washington voting in favor. Hewitt abstained and Spiegel voted against.

A 369-page Riverside County Sheriff's Department Standards Manual is available online for the public to view.