PROSECUTE DEPUTIES FOR THEIR ROLE IN JAIL DEATHS
Since Sheriff Bill Gore's appointment to head the San Diego County Sheriff 's Department in 2009, the county has had the highest rate of in-custody deaths among the six largest counties in California. In response to this disturbing fact, Assemblymember Akilah Weber and others requested the state conduct an audit of our county's jail deaths. Two weeks ago, the California State Assembly's Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) authorized the audit. Accountability and transparency about our jails' disturbing death rate are long overdue. This audit will, hopefully, be the start of accountability, transparency and change.
Until now, there has seemingly been no real examination of the failures of the sheriff and his jail staff that have resulted in this shameful rate of death. But Sheriff Gore is not the only elected official who should be taken to task as it relates to our alarming jail mortality rate and the lack of accountability. San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan must also bear responsibility. A state audit of our in-custody jail deaths is but a start; the DA must bring accountability by way of our criminal courts. At least 159 people (most of whom were being held pre-trial, meaning they had not been found guilty of a crime) have died in the custody of our sheriff since 2009, and not one deputy sheriff responsible for any of those deaths has been held accountable by the district attorney.
Elisa Serna is one of the several human beings who lost their lives while in our sheriff 's custody. Both a nurse and a sheriff 's deputy watched Serna collapse after striking her head on a cell wall while having a seizure. After watching this, they simply left her to die. And she did die. In the same position they left her in. Alone. Helpless. On a cold concrete floor. This blatant disregard for human life by individuals responsible for Serna's care is appalling by itself, but jail staff also ignored a court order that she be seen by medical personnel. There was a wrongful death lawsuit filed on behalf of her family alleging deliberate indifference in October.
This year, the Citizens' Law Enforcement Review Board found that the sheriff 's deputy should have assisted Serna instead of leaving her to die. As a community, we must now call upon the district attorney to prosecute the sheriff 's deputy and all other individuals who are responsible for the death of Elisa Serna, as well as the sheriff 's deputies who are responsible for the deaths of so many others, like Blake Edward Wilson, who died from a drug overdose last year after a deputy failed to conduct a mandatory safety check.
The DA is supposed to mete out justice fairly. These prosecutions must happen whether or not law enforcement associations, a police chief or the sheriff have signed off on the prosecution. They must happen whether Internal Affairs determines a criminal misdeed took place or has taken disciplinary action against the officers.
Most importantly, these prosecutions must happen whether or not there is a public outcry or if it's an election year. It should not take a media push or a political advantage to achieve justice. Justice dictates that the district attorney fairly assess all the evidence available, impartially apply the facts to the law, and, without bias, determine whether law enforcement officers should be prosecuted for violations of the law. In order for this to happen, there must be a fundamental shift in how the DA's office thinks and operates, as I campaigned on when I challenged Stephan in the 2018 DA's race. Stephan must rethink who, in her mind, is worthy of justice and who is not. Meeting with families to advise them about the DA's decisions in officer-involved killings is a welcome first step (as this was not the case before I condemned the office's insensitive practice of advising the media instead of grieving family members), but unless and until the DA shifts her mindset, what she tells families in those meetings will largely remain unchanged.
If there is no meaningful and fundamental change, we will continue to get tokenized justice when one sacrificial lamb will be held up to show that no change is needed. We will continue to see those gaslighting actions to convince us the system needs no improvement. To allow this would be a continued travesty and a grave miscarriage of justice.
For years now, families have been demanding justice for their loved ones. They deserve justice and accountability. The mothers who called into the JLAC hearing on June 30, choking back tears as they told the stories about how their children died preventable deaths in our jails, deserve justice. It's the DA's job, and her oath and obligation to deliver it.
The DA is supposed to mete out justice fairly. These prosecutions must happen whether or not law enforcement associations, a police chief or the sheriff have signed off on the prosecution.