As guest speaker at the Rancho Cordova luncheon on June 17, Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones spoke bluntly. “In my entire career I have never seen the criminal justice system or public safety challenged as much as it is right now,” Jones said. “It’s been a sequence of events and mindsets that transitioned us to where we are.”

Going back to realignment in the 2011 time-frame, Jones said, the Supreme Court insisted the State prison system must reduce the prison population by a certain number by a certain date. “There are really only two ways to reduce prison population,” Jones said. “You close the front door, or you open the back door.”

The State’s efforts to respond to the court’s ultimatum resulted in realignment and Proposition 47. Closing the front door left criminals on the street, their felonies changed to misdemeanors, and prisoners were sent to County jails instead of State prisons. Opening the back door resulted in more criminals receiving early release. Titled the safe neighborhoods and schools act, Proposition 47 had nothing to do with safe neighborhoods and schools, Jones said. “I believe Prop 47 was the worst piece of public safety legislation in my lifetime. We’re going to be feeling the effects of that for a long, long time.”

Jane Taff, club growth director for Toastmasters International, agreed with much of Jones’s talk.  “We are not being told the whole truth about propositions that are placed on the ballot or the effects of (the Governor’s) executive orders,” Taff said.

Jones thought of running for Congress only after the 2014 murder of Sacramento Deputy Danny Oliver. The alleged perpetrator was in the country illegally, had been convicted in Arizona of selling drugs, and had been deported multiple times. Jones’s video plea for immigration reform to President Obama went viral on YouTube. “I realized that I could throw rocks from afar as much as I want,” Jones said, “but unless I get in the ring and actually get my knuckles bloody, then there’s nothing I could do for Sacramento for the things that I wanted to change.”

Rancho Cordova’s Chief of Police, Michael Goold, said that Jones would bring a unique viewpoint to Congress, “able to provide firsthand knowledge of the challenges we face on the local level and what we need to succeed in providing community based policing.”