Mayor Liccardo is the first elected official to do so. He made the announcement during a press conference Monday morning, citing bribery, a "pay to play" culture and a mandate requiring officers outside the sheriff's department to turn off their body cameras when transporting suspects to the jail.
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The mayor's office listed the following reasons for calling on Sheriff Smith to resign:
- Repeated severe beatings of inmates resulting in death and serious injury
- Repeated concealment of facts relating to those incidents, and persistent noncompliance with independent oversight
- Tens of millions of taxpayer dollars paid to litigants for civil rights violations by deputies under Sheriff Smith's watch
- Two consent decrees resulting in $450 million in public expenditure to improve jail operations and conditions
- An ongoing bribery criminal investigation which has resulted in three indictments of two of her top aides and a campaign fundraiser
- A play-to-pay scandal relating to $300,000 in union contributions for her 2018 re-election.
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WATCH: San Jose mayor calls for Sheriff Laurie Smith's resignation
San Jose mayor calls for resignation of Santa Clara County sheriff
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