Sheriff asks for small team to retrieve firearms tied to domestic‑violence restraining orders

The Sheriff’s Department asked the Budget & Finance Committee to fund a targeted unit to ensure firearms are surrendered when civil courts issue domestic‑violence temporary restraining orders (TROs).

Susie Loftus, speaking for the sheriff, described how deputies currently serve TROs and notify restrained parties that the law requires surrendering firearms within 24 hours, but said compliance is minimal. "Very rarely, if not at all... last year, no one turned in their firearm at that moment," Loftus said, citing an internal gap.

She proposed a model that uses database checks when serving TROs, follows up when a firearm is suspected, and—if necessary—seeks a search warrant to retrieve weapons. Using San Mateo's experience as a benchmark, she estimated the workload would generate roughly 50–75 additional investigations from the city’s roughly 250 TROs served last year.

Loftus asked the board to fund approximately 2.5 deputy positions and a half‑time clerk to build this compliance, noting that San Mateo initially used grant funding and that long‑term sustainability requires local budget commitments. Supervisors expressed interest and asked for additional operational details, language‑access accounting, and plans for recruitment given current deputy vacancies.

No formal vote was taken on the request. Supervisors later signaled preliminary support for a narrowly scoped pilot and asked the Sheriff’s Department to return with cost and implementation details during the budget process.