San Mateo Co. Sheriff Election: Bolanos, Challenger Corpus Face Off

By Astrid Casimire, Bay City News Foundation

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CA — San Mateo County Sheriff Carlos Bolanos is going up for re-election Tuesday against challenger Christina Corpus, who has worked in the Sheriff's Office for 22 years.

Corpus says on her website she is ready to lead the office into the future and "able to rise to the challenge of public safety in the 21st Century."

Her goals include hiring more people of color through mentoring programs, reducing recidivism through data-driven programs and preventing practices such as turning people over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for minor crimes.

She says she will also promote transparency by sharing ICE case updates online for the public to review.

Corpus began her career in law enforcement as a caseworker with the county district attorney's office in 1995. She has since served as a correctional officer, deputy sheriff, sergeant, lieutenant and captain. As a sergeant in the sheriff's Professional Standards Bureau, she developed a Women's Law Enforcement Boot Camp to help mentor women and prepare them for the physical requirements of law enforcement.

She also plans to improve the way officers respond to people experiencing a mental health crisis, change the office policy regarding Taser stun gun usage, create a community advisory board to receive input from underserved communities and other stakeholders, and ensure that weapons permits are not issued for political gain.

Bolanos, the current county sheriff, says he is running to continue the work he started as sheriff, acknowledging that there is more work to do. His goals include building community relationships, reducing recidivism, building trust and responding to challenges of recruitment and retention within the sheriff's office.

A Bay Area native, Bolanos has served in law enforcement for over 40 years, starting with his role as a patrol officer with the Palo Alto Police Department in 1979.

He has since worked as a detective, sergeant, lieutenant, police captain and police chief in Palo Alto, Salinas and Redwood City before becoming undersheriff then sheriff of San Mateo County in 2016.

According to his website, Bolanos believes in the philosophy of community policing.

"He believes that building relationships and developing partnerships with our community members is the key to effective policing," according to his website.

As Redwood City police chief, he initiated the Redwood City-Police Activities League program, known as PAL, which provides various cultural activities and programs to promote life skills and personal development for youth.

During his time as San Mateo County sheriff, the Sheriff's Activities League or SAL, founded in 1997, continued to expand.

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