Overview: The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 to establish an ad hoc committee to evaluate oversight options for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Championed by Supervisors Jose Medina and Karen Spiegel, the temporary group will research advisory mechanisms and present recommendations within 180 days. The measure follows intense public testimony regarding departmental accountability and recent reports of high rates of in-custody deaths.
Alyssah Hall
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 on agenda item 3.69, to approve the establishment of an ad hoc committee, a temporary group that plans to evaluate advisory and oversight options for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, on July 14, 2026.
This proposal was championed by Supervisors Jose Medina and Supervisor Karen Spiegel. Medina had previously introduced a similar proposal in July 2025, but it did not gain support from the board at that time. The goal of the committee is to evaluate many other existing advisory and oversight mechanisms and return to the board with findings, recommendations, and proposed next steps within 180 days.
This proposal was influenced by questions regarding oversight, accountability and the need for transparency within the operations of the sheriff department over the past several years through media reporting, prior board discussions, public comment, a state investigation, community advocacy and most recently, the 2025-2026 Riverside County Civil Grand Jury Report.
This particular report, dated May 7, 2026, examined the Sheriff’s Advisory Committee, Riverside County jail deaths, oversight gaps, and recommendations for independent civilian oversight of the Riverside Sheriffs Department (RSD) under AB 1185.
The proposal gathered 58 public speakers and took nearly two hours in total, for each resident to speak in favor or opposition of the sheriff oversight committee, of which the majority were in favor.
Yusef Miller, Executive Director of North County Equity and Justice Coalition and Activist San Diego spoke in support of the need for Sheriff oversight and thanked Medina and Spiegel for pulling the issue forward. However, Miller emphasized that this issue of oversight is not one that should take 180 days as it has already been researched, done right in other places, as well as formalized by the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement.
“We ask with expediency to get to the root of why we’re here. We’re not here for an ad hoc, but we know that’s the first step… we’re here for an oversight committee,” Miller said.
“Oversight is never the enemy. Oversight is always the solution. Transparency is never the enemy. Transparency is always the solution. So it doesn’t matter if we have oversight for each and every one of you, or for Sheriff Bianco, or for the President of the United States, or for the Governor. Oversight is something that we can use to keep people honest,” Miller continued.
Community activist and business leader La’Nae Norwood was also in attendance to speak in favor of the proposal.
“The public has a right to know how their taxpayer dollars are being spent, and when there are issues and challenges as pervasive; and we see these patterns and practices that continue to impact families, communities—we should be asking questions. And I think creating an unbiased body that can review things that are going on and ask the hard questions, is common sense and a no-brainer,” Norwood said.
Norwood also brought attention to the issue of school resource officers abusing their power on young students, such as the young girl in Moreno Valley who was manhandled and violently yanked into a brick wall by an officer in May of this year. Norwood argued that the money being given to officers on school campuses could be redirected to counselors, mentors and mental health therapists who are more equipped to deal with the social and emotional needs of young children.
“I urge this body to strongly implement the oversight committee because public trust needs it, and accountability and transparency is the minimum,” Norwood finished.
Staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and member of the Riverside Sheriff Accountability Coalition, Amaris Montes, shared her support of item 3.69, stating that Riverside has become one of the “deadliest counties in the country” for people in custody.
“Using data obtained from public records requests in the California Attorney General’s Office, we found that approximately 270 people have died under the custody of Riverside County Sheriff’s Department from 2011 to 2025, over 95 of these 270 deaths occurred since 2019, when the current sheriff took office. The deadliest year was 2022, with 19 deaths, the highest in 15 years, and more than double the historical average,” Montes shared.
“2026 is already on pace with that trend, with eight deaths already occurring by mid-June. Of all 58 counties in California, Riverside had the second highest number of in custody deaths.
These are not just statistics or numbers…They are losses of family, friends, loved ones that may have been preventable,” Montes continued.
Montes shared the story of Christopher Zumwalt who died in custody in October of 2020 three days after his arrest. Zumwalt was arrested on suspicion of public intoxication and was supposed to be arrested after sobering up, after six hours in a sobering cell, 10 jail guards in riot gear pepper sprayed him in a small concrete room and placed him into a restraint chair. Montes shared that the guards repeatedly shocked him and covered his head with a spit mask, he sat without breathing for nearly five minutes and when he was checked on he was found dead from cardiac arrest. Montes said Zumwalt is just one example of someone who was “gone too soon because the Riverside Sheriff’s Department had failed him.” In December, 2023, county officials “quietly” settled a lawsuit filed by Zumwalt’s family by agreeing to pay $7.5 million.
One of the speakers in opposition to item 3.69, was Jessica Christopher who shared that she had a niece who had passed in custody.
“It wasn’t any of the officer’s fault. It was her fault, and the choices that she made through her life, and that is true for the majority of those deaths,” Christopher said.
Christopher also stated that the in custody deaths for Riverside were high in 2020, not because of lack of police oversight but because of the COVID 19 pandemic.
“ I don’t like that what you’re doing is political. You’re going after our sheriff because you’re a Democrat and you’re a Democrat and you’re a Democrat, and that’s why you’re doing it. And it’s nothing more than that. You’re politicizing this,” Christopher said.
The last to speak was Undersheriff Don Sharp who was appointed to his current rank by Sheriff Chad Bianco in June 2022. Sharp stated that he wasn’t there to speak for or against the ad hoc committee and that he understood the concerns.
“I have 4,000 employees that do a great job. They’re out there in a very tough situation trying to do their work. And as far as oversight goes, that’s where the five of you come in. I’ve had many talks with all of you, with your chiefs of staff, with your staffers. They ask me questions about incidents in the community, we try to address those,” Sharp said.
“I know this is a difficult situation for you, Supervisor Medina. You and I have spoke plenty. You’ve been in our jails. You’ve worked in a jail. We joked about different things. You know how we operate in there, and we do a great job. It’s unfortunate things happen, and we try to do things better there. But I just want to make sure that you understand that we are transparent, and we always have been,” Sharp continued.
Medina explained that while there was much time spent listening to the speakers in favor and against item 3.69, that it was important to do so as they take the first step toward development of the ad hoc committee.
“As Supervisor Spiegel and I begin to come together and map out how we move forward, so that we make sure that the voices that we’re heard here today are reflected in our work, and that at the end of the day, when we come forward to the full board with recommendations, it is something that all can support. That it is something meaningful. That it is something that will provide what is necessary for full accountability,” Medina said.