Sheriff Bianco to begin next term: “I will be a loud voice for Deputy Cordero so he does not die in vain.”
Sheriff Chad Bianco's swearing-in ceremony starts at 4:00 p.m. You can watch it live below:
Sheriff Chad Bianco from the Riverside County Sheriff's Office will be sworn in for his second term on Thursday and has many goals to accomplish in the next six years.
The sheriff discussed big goals to small goals with News Channel 3, but one of the main goals he said, is not letting Deputy Cordero's death be in vain.
Deputy Isaiah Cordero was shot and killed on December 29 during a traffic stop in Jurupa Valley.
Related Story: Funeral services for fallen RSO deputy Isaiah Cordero announced
Sheriff Bianco said the man who killed Cordero had a long and violent criminal history, and should not have been on the streets. During a press conference after the killing, the sheriff blamed a judge for allowing the accused killer's release.
Now Sheriff Bianco plans to "be a squeaky wheel" for people who have the power to put criminals away to actually do so.
“I will make it a priority to make sure everyone knows the current direction our legislators and our judges are going," said Sheriff Bianco. "And not all of them, but the majority. I will be a very loud voice for Deputy Cordero so he does not die in vain”
Aside from that, another goal the sheriff has in the works is to increase the capacity of inmates held at the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio.
Right now he said the jail has a total of four floors, but only one floor is open to house inmates. There are about 1,200 inmate beds not currently being utilized.
There is a court order on how many inmates the jail can hold which is preventing the jail from expanding, and also not enough deputies to run the jail at full capacity.
Sheriff Bianco said he plans to hire more deputies to open up more of the jail hopefully in the next few years.
The technology infrastructure of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department is "on the brink of failure" because it's outdated according to the sheriff.
In the coming years, Sheriff Bianco said he plans to work on the lengthy process to update records management and the dispatch center.
“It’s a big ask. It’s a lot of money," he said. "We have the money to do it. It's just coming up with those processes and IT fixes to make it happen. That’s probably going to be a couple of years before we get it completed.”
Lastly, Sheriff Bianco said he is going to work on strengthening community and deputy relationships to get a "hometown feel".
The department has 4,000 employees who the sheriff said all love what they do, and wants to work to get people to see the deputies as pillars of the community.
There is a lot to accomplish in the upcoming six years but Sheriff Bianco said he is going to do everything he can to make it all happen.
