Proven Leadership. Real Results. One RSA.
Riverside County
RSA board
chaired at once
One voice
Santos is
Not a candidate learning the job.
He's already delivering for us.
Jose Santos came up through the same doors the membership does. He started in corrections in 2012, went to patrol in 2015, made Sheriff Corporal in 2022, and has worked Larson Justice Center, Palm Desert Station patrol, the SET team, the street racing detail, and the DA Gang Impact Task Force out of SIB. He is an advanced firearms and MFF instructor. He has never asked anyone to do anything he has not already done, on issues he has not already led.
He has served the association since 2017, from chapter director to Secretary, Vice President, and now President. He has chaired the Legal Coverage Appeals Board, the PAC, and the Benefits Trust. He sits at every negotiating table the association has. And he built the record below in the time most people would still be settling in.
“Our members' money should work for us, not the other way around.”
Jose Santos, RSA PresidentSantos’ Record
Real results. Not promises.
Santos’ executive team balanced the books for the first time in nine years.
For nearly a decade our association consistently spent more each month than we took in. Under President Santos, RSA has made balanced bookkeeping and transparent accounting the every day standard. Our dues, working smarter, harder, and more efficiently than ever.
Spending down. Services untouched.
Thanks to Santos, a full staffing analysis and organizational rebalance were completed to cut the association's cost structure without cutting a single member benefit or service. Every entity has been run under the RSA approved budget since he became President.
- ~50%Relief Foundation monthly spending, against its six year average
- ~33%Benefits Trust monthly spending, against its four year average
- ~25%Legal Defense Trust spending, against the last four years
- ZeroMember benefits or services reduced to get there
Chairman of every negotiating committee.
LEBU. PSU. CDBU. Santos chairs all three negotiating committees, after representing Sheriff Corporals at the LEBU table before that. One RSA means no classification negotiates alone, no unit gets traded off against another, and none of us is left to argue our own case against a department.
Our representation against the departments has been expanded, not narrowed. Those of us who work the jails, the courts, the streets, and the field all get the same association behind us.
Riverside County,
heard in Washington.
Santos makes sure our voices are heard across the country. As chairman of the National Fraternal Order of Police Healthcare Committee, and chairman of its joint healthcare initiative with the American Heart Association, he has carried our voice, our needs, and our message nationwide. He serves as a trustee of the FOP Urban Policing Committee, as a representative to the State Coalition of Probation Organizations, and as a board member of the California Peace Officer Memorial.
He knows these are not honorary titles. They are leverage for RSA, so our local problems get solved faster and our voice carries further.
Same day care,
built for shift work.
Santos led RSA to be the first law enforcement union to provide our members with same day access concierge medical services through a partnership with Crossover Health. This first in the nation program delivers world class care that actually fits our patrol schedule, our jail schedule, and even our court schedule. Less waiting, better care, leadership first.
Professional operations,
permanently.
President Santos invested in a third party HR firm to analyze RSA staffing operations and policies, then retained them to handle employment matters going forward in a supporting role to our Executive Director. Creating a staffing salary schedule ended never ending automatic raises and benefit increases, a benefit to our membership, while keeping our commitment to labor intact. He also established a policy returning union vehicles from staff who are not on a call out basis. These moves reduced liabilities, increased service, and saved us money.
Building trust
before the call comes.
Santos serves as President of the Coachella Valley First Responders Coalition. That position lets RSA invest in expanding youth sports programs through our partnership with Fox Sports PS across the county, putting members and kids on the same field. He believes advancing public safety through collaboration, economic development, and county infrastructure growth all go hand in hand.
President Santos knows good community relations are not a press release. They are the reason we serve.
Santos’ Priorities
What the next term delivers.
01
One RSA, every classification
Corrections, patrol, courts, investigations, probation, public safety, and professional staff belong to the same association and get the same fight. No unit is a bargaining chip for another. Chairing all three negotiating committees is how that gets enforced rather than promised.
02
Contracts that keep pace
LEBU, PSU, and CDBU negotiations continue with the same chair at every table, which means consistent strategy, no gaps between units, and no member finding out their classification was quietly left behind.
03
Every dollar accounted for
The books stay balanced and the reporting stays open. Reduced spending across the Relief Foundation, the Benefits Trust, and the Legal Defense Trust holds, and the savings stay pointed at members rather than overhead.
04
Legal defense that shows up
Legal coverage is the reason many members carry a card at all. Coverage decisions, appeals, and the Legal Review Committee stay disciplined and fast, because a member under investigation cannot wait on a committee calendar.
05
Health and benefits that fit a shift
Same day concierge access through Crossover Health expands, and national FOP healthcare work with the American Heart Association gets pulled back down to the local level where members can actually use it.
06
Tools members actually use
The legacy RSA website has been rebuilt. The new membership portal is in progress. Members should be able to see their benefits, their coverage, and their association's business from a phone in a patrol car.
Santos’ Full Record
Every post. Every date.
RSA Governance
- Board of Director, Chapter 6, Court Services EastApr 2017 to Apr 2018
- Board of Director, Chapter 11, Palm Desert StationMar 2019 to Sep 2022
- Executive Board SecretarySep 2022 to Jun 2024
- Executive Board Vice PresidentJun 2024 to Oct 2025
- Executive Board PresidentOct 2025 to present
Negotiations
- LEBU Negotiating Committee, ChairmanJun 2025 to present
- PSU Negotiating Committee, ChairmanJun 2025 to present
- CDBU Negotiating Committee, ChairmanJun 2025 to present
- LEBU Negotiations, representing Sheriff CorporalsJun 2024 to Oct 2025
Boards, Trusts and Committees
- Legal Coverage Appeals Board, ChairmanJan 2018 to Nov 2020
- Legal Coverage Appeals Board, DirectorNov 2020 to Jun 2024
- Legal Review CommitteeJun 2024 to present
- Awards Review Board, Vice ChairNov 2020 to Feb 2026
- Benefits Trust, Trustee, Treasurer and ChairOngoing
- PAC, ChairmanJun 2023 to present
- PAC, DirectorMar 2018 to Nov 2020
- Special Events and Donations CommitteeSep 2017 to Nov 2020
National and Statewide
- National FOP, Chairman, Healthcare CommitteeJan 2026 to present
- National FOP, Chairman, Healthcare Committee with the American Heart AssociationJan 2026
- National FOP, Urban Policing Committee, TrusteeJan 2026
- State Coalition of Probation Organizations, RepresentativeJan 2026
- California Peace Officer Memorial, Board MemberAug 2026
- Coachella Valley First Responders Coalition, PresidentOngoing
Fiscal and Operational Reform
- Delivered. Balanced the RSA financial books for the first time in nine years
- Delivered. Cut Relief Foundation monthly spending by nearly half against its six year average
- Delivered. Cut Benefits Trust monthly spending by roughly a third against its four year average
- Delivered. Cut Legal Defense Trust spending by about a quarter against the last four years
- Delivered. Held every entity under the RSA approved budget with no cuts to member services or benefits
- Delivered. Hired a third party HR firm to analyze RSA staffing operations and policies
- Delivered. Retained that firm for all employment matters and Executive Director operational support
- Delivered. Created an RSA staffing salary schedule, ending automatic annual raises and benefit increases
- Delivered. Ended take home union vehicles for staff not on a call out basis
- Delivered. Reduced association liabilities
Members and Community
- Delivered. Created same day access concierge medical care through Crossover Health
- Delivered. Increased representation for members against the departments
- Delivered. Rebuilt the legacy RSA website
- Delivered. Expanded youth sports through the RSA and Fox Sports PS county partnership
- In progress. New membership portal (in progress)
- Delivered. Advanced public safety through collaboration on economic development (ongoing)
- Delivered. Supported infrastructure growth throughout the county (ongoing)
Santos’ Experience
Fourteen years sworn. Nine years elected.
Real leadership.
Riverside County Sheriff's Office
Riverside Sheriffs' Association
In the News
KESQ News Channel 3 June 1, 2026
Second annual Coachella Valley All-Star Baseball Classic takes place in Palm Springs.
The association's youth sports work is not a photo opportunity. It is a standing partnership between the RSA, Fox Sports PS, and the county that puts deputies, corrections staff, and kids on the same field every year, and it keeps growing.
Endorse Santos
I endorse Santos.
Endorsements from members carry more weight than anything a campaign can say about itself, and every classification signing on is proof that One RSA is not a slogan. It takes about twenty seconds.
No screened questions
Ask me anything.
Contracts, coverage, the budget, a decision you disagreed with, or something you heard in the parking lot and want answered straight. Ask it. Questions go directly to Jose and get a real answer.