Inmate beating another reason Smith must go
For nearly six minutes, 31 inmates at a Santa Clara County jail beat a man they suspected of being a snitch. At times in line of sight of a guard station. And deputies did nothing.
How did this happen? The response when the news broke last week from the office of Sheriff Laurie Smith: “Staff assigned to these posts are often responsible for multi-tasking and conducting other non-supervision duties, which typically occur out of eyesight of those incarcerated.”
In other words, sorry folks we were so busy doing other things that we couldn’t find time to ensure the safety of inmates. We couldn’t be bothered.
There’s no acknowledgement of responsibility for protecting people in custody. It’s yet more evidence that Smith, who has been sheriff since 1998, has got to go. She should resign — or the county civil grand jury should investigate and initiate a process to remove her from office.
The corruption, abuse and obstruction swirling around the sheriff has reached critical mass:
• Smith invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when appearing before a grand jury investigating a pay-to-play scheme in which her office allegedly gave special treatment for concealed weapons permits to her political backers. Seven people have been indicted, including her undersheriff, a captain and one of her fundraisers.
• Smith deliberately tried to evade state conflict-of-interest reporting laws to cover up her receipt of a gift of $365-per-person suite tickets to a Sharks game, according to criminal grand jury testimony. The tickets were provided by an insurance broker who had been given a concealed weapons permit two days earlier.
• Smith continues to stall an agreement to establish a civilian watchdog to audit her office’s law enforcement practices and running of the scandal-plagued county jails. She says such oversight would interfere with her running of the office.
• County supervisors created the civilian watchdog position after three of Smith’s jail deputies were convicted of murder for the 2015 beating death of mentally ill inmate Michael Tyree.
There’s no sign that Smith will change her ways. Meanwhile, abusive practices in the jails continue. And there was more cover-up after the inmate beating, on Nov. 30.
Sources told Mercury News reporter Robert Salonga that the sheriff’s office was initially resistant to cooperating with prosecutors, in part because of the potential culpability that jail deputies had in allowing the attack to continue so long. Some evidence was not shared with prosecutors until a search warrant was presented.
Santa Clara County residents have a right to know if the county’s top cop knew about corruption in her office, or worse, was involved in it. They have a right to know why people are getting killed and beaten in the jails.
And law enforcement officials must be held to the highest legal and ethical standards and must be fully cooperative in any criminal investigation. Smith’s refusal to answer questions under oath and to block access to critical records essential for oversight make her unfit to hold her office.