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Annual Report at a Glance
IOLERO Staff worked hard this past year to address an increased workload, engage with SCSO to streamline the auditing and complaint process, and move forward matters that are under investigation. These and other topics are discussed in detail in the Annual Report. Some of the core data is summarized here:
- IOLERO received 60 submissions from the public, an increase of 25% from the prior year. Of these, 48 were identified as complaints, 6 were classified as grievances, 3 did not involve SCSO and were referred to other jurisdictions, and 3 were addressed without investigation.
- IOLERO received 71 cases from SCSO for auditing, which is twice as many as last year. Of these, 25 involved complaints that originated at the Sheriff’s Office.
- IOLERO completed 66 audits (double the number from last year) and had a remaining audit backlog of 51 cases which is 2 cases higher than last year.
- Forty-nine percent of the audits and complaints involved allegations regarding policy/procedure and neglect of duty. The remaining matters involved use of force (12%), dishonesty (9%), bias (8%), discourtesy (7%), conduct unbecoming (6%), constitutional rights (5%) and sexual assault in the jail (4%).
- IOLERO found 60 (91%) of SCSO’s investigations “Complete”, and 6 (9%) “Partially Incomplete” on some issues. No investigation was found to be Incomplete in its entirety.
- IOLERO found that of the 53 cases that were subject to the Timeliness Checklist agreed to by IOLERO and SCSO jointly, SCSO met all of the deadlines in 71% of the cases, and IOLERO also met the deadlines in 71% of the cases. For 13 matters investigated by SCSO prior to implementing the Timeliness Checklist, SCSO met the Gov’t Code deadline in 7 cases and missed it in 6 cases.
- IOLERO agreed with SCSO’s findings in 58 of the 66 audited cases (88%). This is slightly higher than the 85% from last year. In 7 of the cases where there was disagreement, IOLERO concluded that the record was not developed sufficiently to make a finding and not that SCSO’s substantive analysis was incorrect. IOLERO disagreed with SCSO on the merits in only 1 case involving a legal evaluation of a search.
IOLERO’s report of its investigation into the officer-involved shooting death of David Pelaez-Chavez was completed and publicly reported earlier but the report was not finalized until this past year and so it is included in this Annual Report. The report also noted that litigation concerning IOLERO’s subpoena authority has been resolved and identifies other investigations currently underway.
Overall, the data from FY 25-26 shows a continuing improvement and agreement between the findings reached by IOLERO and SCSO on various components of SCSO’s investigations. IOLERO has no reason to doubt that this trend will continue to improve over the upcoming years, as IOLERO engages with SCSO to augment additional oversight components under Measure P. Nevertheless, IOLERO still had a backlog of 51 cases which is a priority for IOLERO to address this year.
The Community Advisory Council (CAC) announced a Special Meeting for September 30, 2026 to discuss the Annual Report and Triennial Report. The agenda for that meeting will be available on IOLERO’s website in a few days. We encourage everyone who can to attend the CAC meeting either in person or virtually.
IOLERO has also scheduled a virtual Town Hall for November 18, 2026 to discuss the Annual Report and Triennial Audit. We look forward to seeing and hearing from the community at these presentations.
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