Candidate for
Sheriff; City of San Francisco

The San Francisco Sheriff + One of the Most Important Jobs In San Francisco is Getting Even More Important

Usually, we read in the newspapers only about the agencies in the City that are not performing very well + not those departments that are doing a great job.

So when Muni doesn't come on time or parents can't find great local schools for their kids, those issues make the news. But what does not make the news very often is our county jail system, even though it is a major department with more than 800 officers and 300 civilian employees.

As the former second-in-command at the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, I think the whole department, from Sheriff Michael Hennessy down to every employee who works there, should take this lack of attention as a compliment + because things are going so well we hardly ever hear about the jails in the news.

Most jails in America are just revolving doors, with little attention paid to what happens when inmates are released. In San Francisco, we have figured out that one way to keep inmates from coming right back to jail is to make sure they have basic skills, like job training, when they are released.

State Changes Will Mean Big Changes for Our Local Jails

Over the past year I have been working as a Law Enforcement Advisor to Attorney General Kamala Harris. We have been working together advocating for San Francisco, and all the state's counties, during a process called "Realignment," which is the state's plan to return state prison inmates to county jails.

This is a very serious matter that will mean hundreds of felons that are now in state prison will be coming back to our county jail. As someone who has spent my entire career working to protect San Franciscans, I understand just how big a challenge this is going to be.

Our jails are very successful now. But we will have to get even better to house these new inmates in a way that does not endanger our city.

I have spent my entire career working to keep San Franciscans safe. I was a police officer and won two medals of honor for my service. I ran the San Francisco Police Officers Association. I served as head of Emergency Communications for Mayor Gavin Newsom, then as Director of Investigations for Kamala Harris and then as Undersheriff of San Francisco, the second-in-command of the jails and the entire Sheriff's department.

All of these experiences tell me it will take all of our efforts to manage this change in a way that does not hurt San Franciscans.

I am confident that I can use my life of experience in law enforcement, and my close ties to the community, to help make sure the Sheriff's Department remains effective + so effective that it will be one of those city departments we don't hear a lot about because it is doing such a good job.