A day with Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff

Photo Credits: Stan Sniff/riversidesheriff.org

A day with Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff

Written by Trevor Montgomery
For hemeteyenews.com

Riverside, Calif.; On Thursday, October 1st, 2015, the day before Riverside County Sheriff Stan Sniff's eight year anniversary of taking the Oath of Office for the position of Riverside County Sheriff, our sheriff spent another very busy day meeting with officials, community leaders, educators and students.

Sheriff Stan Sniff instructing at
the Eleanor Grier Leadership Academy in Riverside.

Sheriff Sniff's busy day included a lengthy meeting with eight members of the organization Inland Congregations United For Change. Members of the ICUC wanted to discuss a number of issues with our sheriff including the sheriff's department's recently announced refusal to fully comply with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's 48-hour federal detainers, Proposition 47 and the AB 109 Realignment as well as departmental policies and other relevant issues.

Regarding the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Priority Enforcement Program (PEP), on October 1, 2015, Sheriff Sniff officially announced in a press release that the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department was formally rejecting ICE’s request to continue to detain jailed immigrants for up to 48 hours beyond their scheduled release dates. In meeting some of ICE's expectations, Sheriff Sniff has agreed to notify ICE officials regarding the pending release of non-U.S. citizens who are jailed within the Riverside County jails, but as of October 1, he will no longer agree to hold those individuals beyond their scheduled release date.

Until just a few years ago, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department as well as state prisons and county jails throughout California honored ICE “detainers”, treating them as if they were federal warrants. This practice meant often keeping immigrant inmates behind bars for up to 48 hours beyond their scheduled release dates. Recently, a U.S. District Court ruling found a sheriff’s department had violated an inmate’s constitutional rights by honoring an ICE detainer and not releasing the inmate on the date of their scheduled release.

In spite of this fact, refusal to cooperate with ICE is extremely controversial in some areas, particularly in the wake of several recent high-profile cases. One of the most high profile California examples occurred In San Francisco, where a recently released jail inmate, who had five prior deportations, was charged with the fatal shooting of a woman who had been walking along a city pier. That suspect is currently in jail awaiting trial on murder and other charges.

As the Riverside County Sheriff's Department's press release pointed out, ICE continues to have access to fingerprint data taken during jail bookings and uses the information to check inmates’ local criminal records and immigration status.

Sheriff Stan Sniff with educators, administrators and students from
the Eleanor Jean Grier Leadership Academy in Riverside.

The Sheriff later met with March Joint Powers Authority (JPA) Director Lori Stone to discuss important issues, before he once again had the opportunity to teach at the Eleanor Jean Grier Leadership Academy in Riverside. While at the Grier Leadership Academy Sheriff Sniff spoke about the different missions of the Office of Sheriff, as well as current issues that ranged from body cameras worn by law enforcement officers and the arguments both for and against their use, the AB 109 Realignment, Proposition 47, and jail overcrowding. 

Later that same evening, the class at the Grier Leadership Academy was introduced to Riverside Chief of Police Sergio Diaz, who spoke about the Riverside Police Department to the class. Sheriff Sniff has personally been involved with the Grier Leadership Academy for a number of years.

View the Riverside County Sheriff's Department's press release regarding the ICE Priority Enforcement Program (PEP):  http://www.riversidesheriff.org/press/admin15-1001.asp

Contact the writer: trevor.hemeteyenews@gmail.com