Retired SJPD assistant chief enters race for Santa Clara County sheriff

Dave Knopf, a former assistant chief, then acting chief of the San Jose Police Department, is coming out of retirement to run for Santa Clara County sheriff, adding to a list of potential challengers to six-term incumbent Laurie Smith.

Knopf, 53, a lifelong Morgan Hill resident, joins retired sheriff’s Capt. Kevin Jensen and current sheriff’s Sgt. Christine Nagaye on the June primary ballot and stands as the highestprofile external candidate to try to replace Smith, who was elected as the state’s first female sheriff in 1998.

County election records show that on Tuesday, Palo Alto Police Chief Bob Jonsen — who was once chief in Menlo Park and also previously served in the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department — also filed paperwork to run for sheriff.

Smith has not publicly announced her intent to run for a seventh term, and she has not filed the necessary paperwork with the county and state to run for re-election; she has until mid-March to submit them. Last fall she was the subject of a unanimous no-confidence vote by the Board of Supervisors centered on her jail management, and she faces formal corruption accusations from the county’s Civil Grand Jury over her heavily scrutinized issuing of concealed gun permits. If those accusations are affirmed at trial, she could be expelled from office.

Combine that with political challengers in Jensen, who ran against her in 2014, and Knopf, who can cite the experience of running the county’s only lawenforcement agency comparable in size to the sheriff’s office, and Smith is in the most politically vulnerable position of her 24-year run as sheriff.

Knopf says that his fiveyear term as the No. 2 in SJPD was highlighted by restoring staffing numbers and rank-and-file morale alongside then-Chief Eddie Garcia — who is now police chief in Dallas — and that he aims to apply that experience to the sheriff’s office.

“We turned that ship around when it was a sinking ship,” he said. “The reality is that there is a lack of leadership in the sheriff’s office that needs to be addressed. We need to plug the holes before they get worse. There needs to be a new fresh set of eyes to come in and look at the issues occurring.”

The focus of the current wave of scrutiny on the sheriff’s office revolves around its operation of the county jails. A series of Board of Supervisors actions disclosed in new levels of detail a string of jailabuse and neglect cases that have led to multimillion-dollar settlements and significant legal claims on behalf of people severely injured in jail custody.

Knopf acknowledges that his familiarity with running a jail operation is modest at best. One of his goals is to support more external and independent reviews of jail procedures and practices.

“I understand there’s not a lot of time to waste. People are sick and tired of waiting for something to happen,” he said. “This didn’t happen overnight and we’re not going to solve it overnight, but we can do the best we can in the shortest amount of time.”

His law-enforcement background entails four years as a police officer in his hometown of Morgan Hill and 29 years with SJPD. He readily admits he is a political novice.

“I don’t necessarily crave politics, and that’s not the reason why I’m jumping into this,” Knopf said.

Instead, he said, in conversations with current and former members of the sheriff’s office, he decided that his experience in San Jose could benefit another large-scale South Bay police agency.

“Those skills are transferable,” Knopf said. “I think when I look at the sheriff’s office and the need at the sheriff’s office, I think I can make a huge contribution and help them out. Bring them to full strength.”

The two established sheriff challengers, Jensen and Nagaye, responded to the news of a big-name entry — at least in department pedigree — by looking to distinguish themselves from their competitors.

Nagaye, who has spent her career working in the jail division, said Knopf’s “admitted lack of experience on the custody side would put him at a disadvantage.” In trying to separate herself from Jensen, who was a former assistant chief of correction for the county, she described him and Knopf as products of police culture that is the target of reform movements across the country.

“We need someone who is not entrenched in old school law enforcement,” Nagaye said in a statement.

Jensen pointed to his 2014 campaign to unseat Smith, in which he garnered 40% of the vote, as one example of his trying to reform the agency long before the last few years of public scrutiny, noting that he “ran against the incumbent before she was vulnerable” politically.

“I believe that voters will decide between those who see an easier path to a prestigious position of power and perhaps another pension, and one who has fought for many years to curb the abuse of power, to heal the organization that gave him a chance,” Jensen said.

But Garrick Percival, a San Jose State University political science professor who specializes in local government, said Knopf’s lack of ties to Smith could prove advantageous in the race.

“Knopf, as an outsider to the organization, is the kind of candidate that’s perhaps best positioned to sell himself as a candidate who can offer voters a clear break from more than 20 years of leadership under Sheriff Smith,” Percival said. “And as the scandals pile up for Smith, the job for Knopf over the campaign will become that much easier.”