California attorney general investigating Riverside County sheriff over ‘disturbing’ allegations

The California attorney general has launched an investigation into whether Riverside County Sheriff's Department practices have violated civil rights, citing a sharp and "disturbing" rise in deaths in the county's jails, as well as allegations of excessive force and other misconduct.

Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Thursday that his investigators will probe whether Sheriff Chad Bianco's department has taken part in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional conduct in violation of state or federal law.

"All Californians deserve fairness and respect from the institutions that serve them," Bonta said in a statement. "When some communities don’t see or feel they are being treated equitably by law enforcement, it contributes to distrust and hurts public safety. Unfortunately, it is clear that — amid concerning levels of in-custody deaths and allegations of misconduct — too many families and communities in Riverside County are hurting and looking for answers.

"As part of my office’s ongoing efforts to support constitutional policing, the California Department of Justice is opening a civil rights investigation into the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. Whether you have a loved one in jail or are worried about crime in your neighborhood, we all benefit when there is action to ensure the integrity of policing in our state."

In a statement he sent to The Desert Sun, Bianco said the investigation came as a "shock" and described it as politically motivated.

"This investigation is based on nothing but false, misleading statements, and straight-out lies from activists, including their attorneys," Bianco said. "This will prove to be a complete waste of time and resources."

Later in the statement, he said, "We have absolutely nothing to hide and will be more than cooperative and accommodating with this investigation. ... We will be completely open, honest, and share everything we can with our community throughout this investigation because we have serious concerns that Bonta’s DOJ will not."

County Supervisor Kevin Jeffries said he is concerned by the jail deaths, including those from drug overdoses, and hopes the attorney general's investigation will find solutions. He added that he thinks county jails around the state are overloaded with inmates and being asked to hold people longer than local jails were designed to, due to decisions by state prisons.

In a statement through a spokesperson, county CEO Jeff Van Wagenen, who reports to the board of supervisors, said: "The county will fully cooperate and provide any information that is available. We look forward to the conclusion of this inquiry. In the meantime, we will continue our work with elected leaders, the sheriff’s department and other partners to identify system improvements."

Rising death toll in jails

Bonta clarified that a pattern or practice investigation is different from a criminal investigation of a particular incident or person, but is meant to identify wrongdoing and compel the correction of systemic constitutional violations. He added that his department has not made any determination and said the investigation will be impartial.

Sources with knowledge of the department's history said it's the first-ever pattern or practice investigation of the Riverside County sheriff by the attorney general.

The announcement comes as 20 inmates have died in the county's jails since January 2022, often with the sheriff's department releasing scant information about the individuals and virtually no public discussion of how to stop further loss of life. The 18 deaths in 2022 are the most the county has recorded in more than a decade, according to public records that are readily available going back to 2005.

That's the same number that triggered an investigation by the California State Auditor of the San Diego County Sheriff's Department in 2021, which found that a county oversight board was lacking and, in part, recommended the attorney general's office expand its role there.

More:ACLU joins calls for outside investigation of deaths in Riverside County jails

More:Riverside sheriff failed to report inmate deaths to state on time; names of dead made public

The county's death toll is outpacing other California counties. Neighboring Orange and San Bernardino counties have not reported more than 13 and 15 deaths in a year, respectively.

And Riverside County's rate of jail deaths has increased in recent years.

Its approximately 3,500 inmates are dwarfed by San Bernardino's 5,000 and just shy of Orange County's 3,700. In Orange County, 3 in every 1,000 inmates died in jail in 2020, and in San Bernardino County, about 2 in every 1,000 inmates died. That year, Riverside County had a rate of 3 in every 1,000 die.

In 2022, 5 in every 1,000 inmates died in Riverside County jails. And public calls for more information about the increased rate of death have been met with virtual silence from the sheriff's department and county officials.

It's these kinds of statistics, not any one incident, Bonta said Thursday, that lay the foundation for his pattern or practice investigation. He told reporters that his office has been tracking deaths in jail, use of deadly force and other statistics in Riverside County for some time.

"The metrics are increasing," he added during a press conference in Los Angeles, "and it's not a trend line you want to see. It's disturbing."

Calls for outside review

The Desert Sun found last year that Bianco's department broke the law when it failed to report some inmates' deaths to the state Department of Justice within 10 days. And when it did, it reported inaccurate information, most often that the inmate had been sentenced at the time of their death when, in fact, they had not. Most people being held in the county's five jails are awaiting trial.

Several among the relatives of the 20 who have died have shared similar experiences of being told of the death days or weeks after it occurred.

Lisa Matus heard about her son's death from her other son, who was also in custody. It took weeks for her to retrieve his belongings from the jail and more than a month to see his body. Kathy Nigro's son Michael Vasquez, 20, died mere days after being arrested. Nigro told The Desert Sun that she doesn't trust the sheriff's department to do an impartial investigation of his death.

During Thursday's press conference, Bonta expressed his condolences to those who have lost loved ones in the county's jails.

Those who have asked the sheriff's department for details about the deaths and what was done to prevent them have often been told that lengthy investigations, sometimes extending to more than a year, prevented the rapid release of autopsy reports or other vital information. Bianco administers both the sheriff's department's Corrections Operations and its Coroner's Bureau, which conducts the in-custody death investigations.

The attorney general is responsible for police oversight in California. Bonta noted he assumed an investigation of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and accountability actions in connection with the Torrance and Bakersfield police departments. He similarly announced a pattern and practice investigation of the Santa Clara Sheriff's Office in January 2022, citing concerns about its management of county jails. He noted that the supervisors in that county had opened several investigations into the conduct of the sheriff and conditions in the county's jails, even before the attorney general got involved.

Former Santa Clara Sheriff Laurie Smith was convicted in a civil corruption trial in November for providing concealed carry weapons permits in exchange for political donations or other favors. That investigation is ongoing.

The Riverside County families and advocates, meanwhile, have demanded outside investigations of the deaths and more transparency from the sheriff's department, which has not responded.

Most recently, several families, and advocacy groups, including the ACLU of Southern California and Starting Over Inc. sent a letter to the California Board of State and Community Corrections, the agency that inspects local jails. The letter detailed their requests for more oversight of the sheriff's department and the deaths in the jails. They have not received a formal response to those requests.

In September, the group also sent a letter to the attorney general and the county's board of supervisors asking for outside investigations of the deaths and to create a separate coroner's office to investigate them in the future.

"The attorney general's announcement … affirms what families impacted by sheriff's violence have long demanded," said Luis Nolasco, senior policy advocate with the ACLU. "We hope that this will lead to meaningful accountability and oversight over a department rife with in-custody deaths of county residents."

The sheriff's department and the county's board of supervisors have not responded to the letters or discussed such oversight actions publicly. Thursday was the attorney general's first acknowledgement that an investigation is underway.

Christopher Damien covers public safety and the criminal justice system. He can be reached at christopher.damien@desertsun.com or follow him at @chris_a_damien.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: California AG Bonta probing Riverside County Sheriff's Department