Opinion of the Daily Post
In the June 7 primary for Santa Clara County, there were four candidates for sheriff. Former Palo Alto Police Chief Robert Jonsen got the most votes at 32.0% followed by retired sheriff’s Capt. Kevin Jensen at 30.5%.
Because Jonsen and Jensen were the top two vote-getters, they’re facing one another in the Nov. 8 election.
But a closer look at the precinct-by-precinct totals reveals that in Palo Alto, former chief Jonsen came in second and former sheriff’s captain Jensen was the top-vote getter.
Why would Palo Altans not support their police chief as he climbs for higher office?
They observed him closely. During his time in office, the city and the Police Department was sued for brutality. Some of the incidents were caught on video, so you may have seen them on the news.
One of his officers, Palo Alto Police Sgt. Wayne Benitez, had a reputation for using force. He even got the nickname “The Fuse” because, according to text messages of officers captured in court filings, you never knew when he would go off. Benitez is awaiting trial on allegations that he slammed a handcuffed man into a car windshield and mocked him for being gay. Benitez retired and the city settled with the victim’s civil suit for $572,500.
There were other brutality cases during Jonsen’s time in office.
The other problem with Jonsen is that he succeeded in limiting public oversight of the police department. He encrypted police radios, a tool journalists use to keep an eye on police activities. He limited communications by requiring the media to ask questions through a city website instead of having phone or face-to-face interviews with police.
If a government official reduces transparency, it’s probably because they’re trying to hide something.
On the other hand, Kevin Jensen — with a 27-year work history inside the sheriff’s office — is committed to reform, and has the knowledge and experience to carry out that promise.
Jensen said he would end the culture of fear in the department. He said he would do a thorough investigation of past wrongdoing in the jail, which has resulted in deaths, serious injuries and expensive lawsuits. He said he would find out each person’s role and why they did it, and then go from there.
“I’m going to treat it like a disaster or a murder scene,” he said.
Jensen said he would hire more lieutenants and have them audit videos from the jail so officers know they’ll be held accountable.
“People want the change. They’re tired of being under the stigma of working for a corrupt sheriff,” Jensen said.
While Jensen won in Palo Alto in the primary, Jonsen won countywide. Palo Alto represents just 3.4% of the county’s population.
Palo Altans know about former chief Jonsen. But voters in the rest of the county apparently are in the dark.
Our guess as to why Jonsen came out on top (and barely, by just 4,700 votes out of 100,000) is that he had the ballot title “Chief of Police” under his name. Jensen, on the other hand, has the title “Retired Sheriff’s Captain.”
Some people who don’t follow the news might make their decision based on ballot titles. They figure Jonsen achieved a higher rank, so he must be better. And if they see the word “sheriff” below Jensen’s name, they might associate him with the corruption allegations facing retiring sheriff Laurie Smith.
However, Jensen retired seven years ago, long before the crimes Smith has been accused of committing. And Jensen was a critic of his old boss and would use objective standards to decide who gets gun permits.
But those facts might be lost on the know-nothing voter who gets their information from Nextdoor and Facebook.
Still, we enthusiastically endorse Kevin Jensen for Santa Clara County Sheriff. Hopefully the informed voter will prevail in this race.
I respect every entity’s right to endorse the candidate of their choosing. Yet, I am compelled to provide clarifying facts to better inform voters.
I have elected officials endorsing me from throughout the county, ranging from local to congressional. These will be critically important as we address the major challenges confronting the organization, as well as crime throughout our county. I have the endorsement of Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Assemblymember Marc Berman, Supervisor Joe Simitian, and five of the seven Palo Alto Councilmembers – all of whom have faithfully served Palo Alto for many years. They know the work I’ve accomplished in Palo Alto over the past few years, and how our enhanced accountability measures minimized use of force settlements (dramatically lower than some recent Sheriff settlements). They also know I held individuals accountable for unprofessional behavior and that I was the Chief who filed the criminal charges against Sergeant Benitez, clearly sending the message unnecessary force will not be tolerated.
How quickly the POST forgets about the budget reductions of 2020 and the 32 positions the Police Department had to cut. The remaining staff worked incredibly hard to handle the existing workload while implementing the numerous changes associated with police reform. Successfully navigating through a once-in-a-century pandemic, major budget reductions, staffing shortages, police reform, implementing new systems and regulatory requirements, as well as reducing crime in each of the last three years. We continually worked on enhancing transparency during extremely challenging times. The fact is there are more accountability measures, and greater independent oversight in place today than ever before. A summary of the work can be read here:
https://medium.com/paloaltoconnect/palo-alto-police-department-accomplishments-work-underway-to-enhance-public-information-and-c7aa5433b137
As mentioned, do your homework and be an informed voter.
Jonsen says, “… I held individuals accountable for unprofessional behavior and … I was the chief who filed the criminal charges against Sgt. (Wayne) Benitez, clearly sending the message unnecessary force will not be tolerated.”
Since when do the police file criminal charges? In our system of justice, the police recommend charges but the final decision is with the District Attorney.
Certainly, Jonsen knows that. Once again, he was just gaslighting people, like he used to do as chief.
But if Jonsen says he was the one who filed charges against Benitez, then why did he wait to do so until June 2020, after the statute of limitations on a felony assault charge had run?
By the time Benitez was charged, it was too late for felonies. So now Benitez facing a pair misdemeanors, which means he will spend little or no time in jail if convicted.
Yeah, Bob, you clearly sent a message to your officers — that you’ll help them avoid responsibility for police brutality. That’s not the kind of message sheriff’s deputies should get from their boss.
He glosses over the fact that he pulled the plug on the police scanners.
With all due respect, an endorsement from Marc Berman who can’t be bothered to pay attention to most issues and/or to respond with any specificity questions from 200+ people wasting their time on a Zoom isn’t a plus.
It’s rather telling that neither of Palo Alto’s home newspapers have endorsed our former police chief.
Any estimates on how much all the legal settlements against police misconduct come to?
They’re both veteran LE, but IMO Bob Jonsen is the better candidate. Jensen ran in 2014 and lost. He’s also been retired for seven years. People retire when they’re tired of working. As long as you’re an informed voter, the choice is yours.
Some people do retire when they are tired. In my case, my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He passed 4 months after the election. You couldn’t have known that, but while my father implored me to continue my campaign to fight the mismanagement of the Sheriff, I drove 10 hours back and forth to see him and spent the last 4 months by his side.
I’m not sure why you feel you owe me an “explanation,” but I wish you well.
Saying someone is veteran law enforcement isn’t enough of a qualification when it comes to being sheriff. Sometimes the bad apples are able to hang on for years. It’s not like any of our local jurisdictions are actively trying to remove the bad apples. From what Jensen has said, he retired when he was eligible and he was tired of being hounded by Laurie Smith. He wanted to reform the department and she wouldn’t allow it.
They’re both qualified. IMO, Jonsen is more cut-out for the position. Pulling the plug? Officer safety.
How come no journalist is asking Jonsen why he didn’t disclose that one of his top officers, Zach Perron, was the subject of a complaint about using the n-word in front of a Black officer? From what I understand, Jonsen tried to keep this ugly incident under wraps.
Not true, Bob Jonsen worked with City Council and expanded the PAPD auditor’s scope.
The Barbour incident happened way back in 2014 when Dennis Burns was chief. Barbour wasn’t even raised or investigated until 2017 after Burns left and a year before Jonsen became chief. Burns endorses Jensen! What does that tell you? Jonsen has been cleaning up after Burns the entire time he was chief in Palo Alto.
Under Bob Jonsen, PAPD personnel and human resource matters are now publicly disclosed. Jonsen had the Barbour incident added into a 2018 audit report released in March of 2020.
Jensen’s Sheriff Office, meanwhile, continues to stonewall the police auditor’s work and refuses to hand over critical investigative material.
Joe, you say Jonsen was “cleaning up” the PAPD after Burns. When Jonsen arrived in 2018, there were three Black officers. When he left this spring, there were none. Why is that?
Ardan, how many criminals were helped by having police scanners in Palo Alto?
Go ahead, guess, since you seem to be an expert on this.
Would you say a 100 a year?
Or 50?
Turns out the answer is Zero.
That’s according to public records requests filed by the Daily Post and published on May 28, 2021.
It’s telling that among the first actions of Jonsen’s replacement, Andrew Binder, was to restore open access to police frequencies. And the president of the Palo Alto POA, Ken Kratt, is quoted in the paper as saying he doesn’t care if the radios are encrypted or not.
Honest cops don’t mind if the public can hear what they’re doing.
The Post is guilty of “biased anti-police editorials”? The Post has been calling for higher pay for police. Get your facts straight.
Both candidates are qualified and a big improvement over the current Sheriff. However, the Benitez incident happened before Jonsen was sworn is as chief but became public after he took office as Palo Alto Police Chief. Also, while Kevin is a nice guy (too nice for the position in my opinion to carry the reforms needed). Also, Kevin pro-life and I don’t want someone with that view as head of a law enforcement organization where some day abortions may be criminalized.
I think Kevin Jensen is “too nice” too. That’s what I meant by Jonsen is more cut out for the position. You have to be tough to be the top cop. Jonsen has the executive experience necessary, and the ability to clean house.
Wow, talk about desperate scare tactics! Claiming abortion is relevant in a sheriff’s race? I guess you think Jonsen will lose so you’re grasping at anything.