Editorial: Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith must resign

During Smith’s watch, a series of criminal indictments ensnared several of her associates and her political supporters.

Sheriff Laurie Smith
Photo courtesy Santa Clara County

Editorial is the opinion of Gilroy Life

For the sake of restoring public trust to the Santa Clara County Sheriff Department, Sheriff Laurie Smith must resign immediately. Her conduct as a publicly elected official makes her an embarrassment to law enforcement.

A civil grand jury filed in Superior Court Dec. 14 an official declaration that accuses the head of the Sheriff’s Office of seven serious corruption-related acts. Six of these are criminal indictments that allege Smith engaged in illegal favoritism toward her allies and, in order to gain political favors, abused her authority when she issued permits to carry concealed weapons. She gave one of these permits to Supervisor Mike Wasserman, who represents South Valley.

A seventh accusation by the jury concerns her failure to cooperate in an investigation into negligence allegations arising from a 2018 county jail inmate’s injury costing the county $10 million in a legal settlement.

Smith must appear before a Superior Court judge Jan. 12. The sheriff denies the accusations the jury made against her. Her personal attorney defended her job performance and said Smith rejects calls for her resignation. She plans to formally object to the accusation, which would prompt what most likely will be a lengthy civil trial.

A long list of leaders have criticized Smith about her actions in office. Notably among them is San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo who called for the sheriff’s resignation at an Aug. 16 press briefing. He based this on allegations of poor jail management, a lack of transparency and accountability in the department, as well as several bribery and corruption scandals.

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Aug. 31 on a resolution declaring they have lost confidence in Smith for her management of the Sheriff Department. They cited a number of reasons including mistreatment of prisoners by deputies and various ethical violations associated with her 2018 political campaign.

During Smith’s watch, a series of criminal indictments ensnared several of her associates and her political supporters. The 2018 election gave Smith her first real competition for re-election. This required building a large campaign coffer.

Certain activities cast suspicion on the legalities of her fundraising activities. She pleaded the Fifth Amendment to the grand jury after the indictment of four men associated with her re-election: Sheriff Capt. James Jensen; Christopher Schumb, a lawyer and fundraiser on her re-election committee; attorney Harpaul Nathal; and Michael Nichols, a Milpitas firearms dealer. They face felony charges of conspiracy and bribery. This includes a $90,000 deal for as many as a dozen concealed weapons permits, with half the money given in a check in October 2018.

Deputies have told us how Smith’s management style of favoritism toward her allies creates low morale among many of the men and women law officers she oversees. Following the civil grand jury’s accusation, Kevin Jensen, a retired sheriff’s captain and candidate against Smith in the 2014 election, urged in a statement for Smith’s resignation. “What has transpired for so long has caused much pain,” he said. “Our community deserves so much better. My voice joined many other courageous voices over the past 10 years in calling for positive change.”

The Smith scandal demonstrates how dangerous it is to choose a sheriff based on how an individual can work a political system that requires them to raise campaign donations. As we have noted in a previous editorial, Santa Clara County residents and all Californians will receive a higher quality of law enforcement and justice when our state amends its constitution so that county officials are allowed to hire sheriffs by appointment and fire them for poor performance.

First elected in January 1999 as California’s first female sheriff, Smith has been in the position for 23 years. (She has not announced whether or not she intends to run for re-election in 2022, but she is expected to go for a seventh term.) After that lengthy time, we now need a new leader overseeing the department. We deserve someone with integrity who can restore the public’s trust and heal the morale of law enforcement employees.

Following the civil grand jury’s accusations earlier this month, we encourage Sheriff Smith to do the right thing. She has betrayed the public trust through her corruption of the political system to win re-election as well as her ethical negligence in doing her duties.

Smiths’ resignation must serve as the first step in restoring the reputation of the Sheriff’s Office. She must step down immediately for the sake of the public’s trust.