Christina Corpus and Carlos Bolanos, once close colleagues and possibly even friends, are now opposing candidates for the post of San Mateo County Sheriff. Who are they and what do they propose?
Corpus is the current Millbrae police chief. Bolanos is the sheriff of San Mateo County. Both children of Latin American immigrants, they participated in a debate organized in Redwood City by the League of Women Voters of San Mateo County on April 27, which Peninsula 360 Press helped produce. The most controversial topic of the event was the involvement of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office (ICE) with the Sheriff's office in the county.
Bolaños' proposals
The candidate proposed the creation of a model of civil supervision, in addition to an external audit. He assured that work is being done to increase the number of officers with adequate training to better deal with insecurity.
He offered to create a program to ensure that the incarcerated population has every opportunity to succeed upon release from prison. In this regard, Bolaños added that his priorities are to build strong community relations and also implement effective programs to reduce recidivism.
He also said that technology would be leveraged more to improve public safety and build trust through transparency, security and the well-being of the police force.
Corpus Proposals
Corpus spoke of a change in the way security is administered in San Mateo County, where she has held leadership positions such as Lieutenant, Commander, Captain and Chief. She said there is a lack of personnel and attributed it to a toxic work environment.
Corpus proposes, in a similar way to Bolaños, civil supervision, community surveillance, as well as improving relations with the migrant community.
The candidate said that if she wins, she would increase mental health services, address the use of tasers, without specifying exactly what she was referring to but saying that she would open a dialogue on the matter, reduce the excessive use of force and prioritize equity and safety with permits and the carrying of concealed weapons.
ICE: To cooperate or not to cooperate?
Corpus alleged that the sheriff's office has been collaborating with ICE since 2016. He said, "The only way I would collaborate (with ICE) would be if there was an imminent danger to the community, because as a sheriff you have to protect the communities, this would be a very thoughtful decision."
It is striking that Corpus said, on the one hand, that she had felt deeply hurt by the separation of families due to Bolaños' cooperation with ICE and, on the other, that, if she won the race, she would not completely cancel said cooperation with ICE but would do so in specific cases where "the safety of the county's population was put at risk."
Regarding this, Bolaños said: “It is true, I collaborated with ICE within the framework of Senate Bill 54 in relation to serious and violent criminals, but after attending three forums (Truth Forums), of which my opponent [referring to Corpus] did not attend any, I reconsidered after listening to the community.”
The candidate added that after these forums, he realized that ICE's participation undermined trust with the community, and for that reason, he committed that he would not cooperate under any circumstances with ICE. "I am not going to play the game of selective cases; if there is a serious and violent case, ICE can act through a court order and arrest these individuals."
Trajectories
It must be acknowledged that the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, headed by Bolaños and with the participation of Corpus, has managed to build a good relationship with the Latino communities in the area, especially through social programs in which local community organizations participate.
It should also be noted that in terms of security, San Mateo County does not have the level of decay that we see in San Francisco or Santa Clara, to give two examples. However, the involvement of the Sheriff's office with ICE is a disgrace and should not be repeated. Bolaños recognizes the error and assures that "under no circumstances" will it happen again. Corpus, paradoxically, criticizes the link with ICE but leaves the door open to working with them in "specific cases," which is worrying because it could result in something very similar to what we have already experienced.
Therefore, whoever wins, as a community we must follow up on the campaign promises of each candidate so that they are fulfilled. In addition, we must be very firm in that the participation of ICE must be rejected in its entirety.
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