Sonoma County’s law enforcement watchdog to leave post at end of February

Sonoma County’s first independent law enforcement watchdog is slated to step down from his post at the end of the month, a departure that county officials said will coincide with their announcement of his replacement.

Jerry Threet, who was hired by the Board of Supervisors three years ago to direct the newly created Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach, said in August he planned to resign, citing health concerns as his reason for leaving. His last scheduled day on the job is Feb. 27, though his official retirement date is set for March 4, he said.

While Threet originally planned to leave office on Dec. 31, he agreed to stay and work three-day weeks until county officials narrowed in on someone to replace him.

“I care about the office and wanted to keep it functioning, not have it lay in fallow for a couple of months,” Threet said.

County officials hope to announce the office’s new director by the end of the month, though the candidate offered the job was still going through a background check as of Friday afternoon, Briana Khan, a Sonoma County spokeswoman said.

Supervisors landed on that person in a closed-door meeting Dec. 18, board Chairman David Rabbitt said. He withheld that person’s name and previous experience on Friday because the hiring was not complete.

“The top candidate was offered the job and accepted the job with the conditions that we put forward,” Rabbitt said. “I think the person will be able to take the office and run with it.”

The two-person watchdog agency is tasked with reviewing allegations of misconduct within the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, making policy recommendations on how the agency could improve policies and practices and serving as a bridge between the community and law enforcement agency.

The leadership change comes after months of friction between Threet and the Sheriff’s Office, a situation made apparent after an annual report published by watchdog agency in November revealed sharp disagreements between the two sides over the scope of the agency’s mission and level of access to department files.

In that report, which Threet presented to county supervisors in December, he asked to make the Sheriff’s Office’s participation in the auditing process mandatory - something not outlined in the ordinance that established the independent office - along with other recommendations.

Another of Threet’s recommendations, a request for additional resources and staff for the watchdog office, appears unlikely to advance.

Rabbitt, in an interview Friday, pointed to a projected $12.8 million shortfall in the general fund as a factor. The watchdog agency’s current annual budget is $564,348, a 6 percent reduction over the previous year.

Rabbitt said he plans to give the new director some time to settle into the job before the board revisits the future of the office.

It was created in the wake of the 2013 shooting of 13-year-old Andy Lopez by a sheriff’s deputy, a death that prompted wide calls for stronger civilian oversight of local law enforcement.

No start date for the incoming director had been set as of Friday afternoon, Khan said. The salary range for the position is $142,000 to $171,000.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets.