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Sheriff reports decline in county use-of-force incidents; supervisors press for wider crisis-response coverage
Summary
The sheriff's annual use-of-force report showed a year-over-year reduction in incidents across custody and law enforcement bureaus. Supervisors pressed the department on field clinician coverage for crisis response and asked for more granular data on incidents involving people with disabilities.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office reported a continued reduction in use-of-force incidents for 2024 during a public presentation on April 22, and supervisors pressed department leaders on mental-health response coverage and on better public reporting of incident details.
The key figures: the sheriff's presentation showed 508 custody-bureau use-of-force incidents and 113 use-of-force incidents attributed to law-enforcement operations in 2024. The sheriff's team said the custody bureau recorded a 21.4% decrease from 2022 to 2023 and a further roughly 1% decrease in 2024 compared with 2023. Most incidents involved takedowns, restraints and compliance holds; county nursing staff assessed 99% of custody-involved persons and reported that none of the custody incidents in 2024 resulted in hospital admission for prolonged stays.
Service and safety context: Sheriff Johnson and his command staff emphasized training, a strong review program and an independent federal-use-of-force monitor oversight process. The custody bureau described routine intake medical and ADA screening processes and said deputies receive annual ADA training; nursing staff at jail facilities perform medical assessments 24/7.
Supervisor questions and follow-up requests: supervisors asked for more detailed data and for clarifications about behavioral health resources deployed with law enforcement. Vice President Sylvia Arenas asked why the county's psychiatric emergency response teams (PERT) appeared concentrated in West Valley patrol and not widely available across other patrol areas; deputies and command staff said two PERT units are primarily assigned to West Valley and acknowledged coverage gaps in other parts of the county. Sheriff staff said the county's clinical and mobile crisis resources are among the most robust in the region and described how calls for service requiring clinical backup are triaged.
Additional points raised: supervisors pressed for more precise incident breakdowns, including a request for a map/heat map of law-enforcement incidents and a clearer distinction between the tactical categories ("actively resisting," "failure to lockdown," "assault on staff"). County staff said review committees, federal monitors and internal processes evaluate incidents and may recommend policy changes, further training or other remedies.
Board action: the board received the annual report and asked the sheriff to provide follow-up information on PERT coverage, disaggregated incident data and the county's processes for identifying incarcerated persons with disabilities. The board approved receipt of the sheriff's report by unanimous vote.
Ending: supervisors said the drop in overall numbers was encouraging but stressed the need to narrow reporting uncertainties, expand crisis clinical coverage where appropriate and provide more accessible data for ongoing monitoring.
