FORMAL POLICY, FOCUS ON JAIL DEATHS OVERDUE

For years, the San Diego County Sheriff ’s Department has not only disputed it has a major problem with jail deaths, it has made it difficult for the public, the media acting in the public’s interest and relatives of the dead to quickly learn about the deaths and circumstances involved. The department’s policy said press releases should be issued after such deaths, but it was common for officials to confirm deaths only after being asked or to require a public records request before sharing information.

Given that more than 150 people have died in Sheriff ’s Department custody since Bill Gore became sheriff in 2009 — which a 2019 investigation by The San Diego Union-Tribune showed is a higher level of jail mortality than in other large counties in California — the department seemed not just to be ignoring bad news but to be actively suppressing it.

Thankfully, a department representative announced Tuesday at a meeting of the Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board, a volunteer oversight panel, that jail deaths would be followed from now on by a preliminary autopsy within 24 hours and then, once next of kin is notified, by a press release. The oversight board itself had also faced obstacles in getting information about jail deaths. No wonder Paul Parker, the board’s executive officer, praised the decision. It’s a win for the public’s right to know.

Here’s hoping that this is a new era in which the Sheriff ’s Department accepts that the criticism it faces on jail deaths is fair and works harder to limit avoidable jail deaths. And here’s hoping county supervisors intervene if deaths keep mounting.