BY ADRIANA HERNANDEZ
Daily Post Staff Writer
Christina Corpus, who has possibly days left in her job as sheriff of San Mateo County, is creating a new internal affairs bureau to investigate allegations of officer misconduct, according to a memo sent out to sergeants.
Witnesses during a 10-day hearing last month on whether Corpus should keep her job revealed that 38 internal affairs investigations are sitting on her desk, waiting for her final decision.
The unions for deputies and sergeants disagree with the new changes and plan have their attorneys review the proposal, spokeswoman Terry Downing said.
Often officers are required to remain at home during their shift while an investigation takes place. One of the people Corpus sent home is deputies union president Carlos Tapia, who she had arrested on Nov. 12 on what turned out to be false allegations of timecard fraud. He remains at home, nearly a year later, while his internal affairs case is pending. He is suing the sheriff and the county for false arrest, discrimination and retaliation. In an addition, investigators for the California Public Employment Relations Board, or PERB, said in April that Corpus and her former chief of staff, Victor Aenlle, discriminated and retaliated against Tapia.
“We were promised transparency and collaboration by the executive team, and that didn’t happen. We are against that move and are prepared to do everything possible to support our members,” the unions said in a statement. “This restructuring affects the working conditions of our members, yet we were never notified of the change in advance.”
Corpus said during the hearing that she already has outside agencies review investigations because she noticed deputies would start them without her consent and target people of color.
The sheriff’s office did not respond to the Post’s questions about the change.
Lt. Dan Reynolds testified during the hearing that there were 12 internal, 13 uses of force and 13 civilian complaint investigations pending when he transferred out of internal affairs.
The change comes after three of the sheriff’s five captains — Mark Myers, Bill Fogarty and Frank Dal Porto — were told on Monday and Tuesday that they were under investigation for alleged disrespectful comments toward Undersheriff Dan Perea, including claiming he was drunk at work.
Sgt. Joe Fava also testified about three internal affairs investigations that were delayed due to Corpus and Perea not taking action.
Corpus placed Sgt. Joe Fava on administrative leave after complaining that she was mishandling and delaying investigations into alleged misconduct by deputies. Corpus put Fava on leave the same day the Daily Post printed a story saying she delayed and interfered with investigations into her employees, including a deputy who let a teenager vape in a patrol car and a jail guard who forced inmates to dance “in degrading and provocative ways.”
The Post’s story was based on a report by attorney Jan Little of Keker Van Nest & Peters, a law firm that had been hired by the county Board of Supervisors to investigate Corpus.
Two efforts are underway to remove Corpus from office on allegations including that she retaliated and intimidated her employees, had an affair with her former chief of staff Victor Aenlle and used racial and antisemitic slurs.
Supervisors voted to remove Corpus and then allowed her to stay in office while she appealed. Corpus was allowed to make her appeal during a 10-day hearing. Supervisors are now waiting for the recommendation from Judge James Emerson, who has until Oct. 13 to make up his mind on whether or not Corpus should be removed. Once the board receives Emerson’s recommendation — which could be as soon as next week — it can vote to remove her from the job of sheriff.
The civil grand jury has also filed four accusations against Corpus that will result in a trial to determine if she should remain as sheriff.
With her history of being accused of retaliation, this is a VERY foolish move. Creating her own Internal Affairs creates the following documented issues:
Perceived bias: Internal investigations are often criticized for their potential lack of impartiality, as officers are investigating their colleagues. Critics and the public fear that IA units may be biased in favor of their fellow officers, leading to mistrust in the outcomes.
“Blue Wall of Silence”: The long-standing police culture of solidarity, sometimes referred to as the “blue wall of silence,” can deter officers from cooperating with internal investigations against other officers.
Public mistrust: For high-profile cases, especially those involving the use of deadly force, police departments conducting their own investigations often face public suspicion that the process is a “whitewash”.
Limited authority of civilian oversight: While civilian review boards exist, they often only have the power to review completed IA investigations rather than conduct their own. This can limit their ability to influence outcomes, especially if the internal investigation is not thorough or is incomplete.
It is truely unbelievable that Aenlle is trying to deflect his dirty culpability by suing the County personnel and claiming that he is a victim, as Corpus has done. Wow, the rank audacity! All these fabricated outlandish claims are as fake as his non-conferred doctoral degree from a defunct on-line college that shuttered because of financial mismanagement and loss of accreditation. This completely unqualified Napoleon never intended to serve as a positive change agent rather he was singularly focused on a revenge power trip with his girl friend to cause strife and damage because of his past personal failings and the Office’s adverse response to his prior deficient employment attempts. All the rational followers of this can plainly see the unfettered harm that has been perpetrated by Aenlle, and is still underway by Corpus, to the internal personnel. If both of these charlatans honestly believe that anyone in their right mind is buying any of their combined deceit, they are more of a foolish team that originally imagined. What clowns. Painful embarrassment.
She’ll be fired before she can pick who gets it. If anyone actually puts in.
Yet another “first” for Corpus! The creation of the “Retaliation Bureau.” Too bad she didn’t put forth such effort into abating the abysmal trend of in-custody deaths during her tenure. Equally disturbing is where is the public outage for her continued malfeasance toward her personnel and the abject void of concern for public safety as a whole? More and more carnage with each passing day. Come on Judge Emerson, pull your recommendation together and let the BOS carry forth the voters’ mandate to determine Corpus’ future AND hopefully put this painful chapter in SMCO history behind us all.
Creation of this “new” IA Unit is a change in working conditions by the Sheriff, and any such changes are subject to the conditions as well as requirement provisions of the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) by the Sheriff. MMBA requires a “meet and confer” process, not an “advisement to the involved labor unions” as the Corpus Cartel has previously done. Remember the actions that resulted in the unresolved PERB Labor complaint? Meeting and conferring in good faith can take days, to weeks, to months. Has Corpus again blatantly disregarded Labor Laws?
Furthermore, the County just approved their new budget, yet there was no mention of this new IA unit for the Sheriff that I recall seeing in her bumbling presentation nor the publicly released documents. How is this new IA Unit to be funded? This appears to be an unfunded liability, potentially undertaken in violation of MMBA, which ultimately means it has incurred the liability of future litigation. None of that bodes well for a balanced budget.
Corpus actions are not representative of 21st Century Policing. There is no contemporary, nor any historic, management theory that proscribes such a course of action as prudent, nor sensible. She creates a group of cronies, exactly as she has cried about everyone else doing. This is exactly why budget item seven had popped up on the next Board meeting agenda. To try to control the fiscal hemorrhaging that results from Corpus reign of terror.
The Board of Supervisors should be swift in their removal decision and equally as quick to schedule a special election. The only way to avoid contributing to the defense of Corpus’ carefully sculpted narrative and multiple lawsuits now, is through an election to get beyond the damage she has created and into the new normal of recovery for those in the organization.
A NEW IA BUREAU?
Dear Public,
If Corpus knew how to do her job, she would know there is now and has always been an existing IA Sergeant, specifically positioned and budgeted to carry out internal affairs investigations under the Bureau of Professional Standards Captain. This is nothing new.
If Corpus knew how to do her job, she would know this position has existed and functioned for years and years, an IA Sergeant position and process already in place, maybe up until little man Victor decided he was the man in charge of everything.
If Corpus knew how to do her job, she would clearly know all interviews are recorded and all final recommendations for discipline rest on her decision. She should be asking herself why then is she is failing to make the decision on 38 current IAs on her desk … handed to her by the CURRENT IA SERGEANT. But listen, she would have to come to work once in a while to do her job rather than merely continue with her photo ops and social media videos.
Corpus has never educated herself on the daily workings and processes within the department. Her claim to fame was always community policing and rarely police work. She really shows a lack of knowledge of the specialized assignments of the deputies or various bureaus. We have an IA Sergeant Chrissy. WTF?
Why now are you pretending as if this is a new “IA Sergeant” position in some grand revelation to the public? Is it your attempt to bluff the public while trying to hide the fact that she placed the current IA Sergeant on administrative leave after he was ordered by the county to be interviewed by the Keker Law Firm — and told the truth about her ineptness? Smoke and Mirrors.
OR
Maybe her goal is to call it a “new” Internal Affairs Bureau (Retaliatory Bureau) in order to appoint her little man Victor as “Acting IA Sergeant.” Granted, we all know she has balls but they’re clearly not hers. This must be another case of Corpus/Aenlle pillow talk. Nothing else makes sense.
Former Resident. Exactly correct. Let’s think it through, accused of nepotism, retaliation, improper personal relations (ie Vicky), harassment etc, she is so incredibly clueless that she (actually this is all Vicky the pseudo PhD) goes and out and creates a “Retaliation Board” ? You want the Deputies morale to go even lower than it is now ? I have seen co-dependent relations, but this is ridiculous. Ray and the rest of you Supvs, when can you get her out ? Oh and a Grand Jury on the Criminal side sounds pretty good to me, to make sure she can’t collect a pension. Is Steve W handling the criminal side ? I dont know.
Former Resident – I know many, many really good Deputies and Sgts, I am sure you do too, all of whom are decent folks, laboring under this despotic regime. We are down ~ 100 positions, guys are working 70 hr weeks, burning out, what do we do ? No one wants to work here any more. Ask a new Chope, SBay or CSM Academy graduate where they want to work and it’s not here. MRY, SJC, OAK. Some as far as Napa.
She already has two internal affairs sergeants. Sergeants Fava and Chan. She transferred them when they wouldn’t do her bidding.