Attorney General Bonta Needs to investigate the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and his department are the focus here. This article explains why Attorney General Bonta (AG Bonta) needs to investigate the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

The Orange County Register wrote: In 2021, deputies of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department (RSD) shot and killed more people than in any other year of its recent history.

When asked about this, Sheriff Chad Bianco called it, “an anomaly.”

That response is all too typical for the RSD, and Bianco in particular. His responses to the blatant indications about the department’s actions on the streets, in its jails, and in its policies make a mockery of its motto, “Service Above Self.” Those actions include refusals to comply with court and state directives.

Groups Ask AG Bonta to Investigate the Riverside County Sheriff

Last year, more than 20 community and activist organizations asked California’s Attorney General, Rob Bonta, to investigate the RSD. The ACLU Foundation of Southern California, Starting Over Inc., and Riverside All of Us or None led the effort. The letter said, “We write to the Attorney General’s office after exhausting all other routes to obtain basic standards of accountability and humane treatment of Riverside County residents.”

The request is critical. There are numerous other troubling statistics, and they, too, are not anomalies.

Deputy Shootings and Unsolved Homicides

From 2019 to 2020, RSD deputies reportedly shot at people 41 times. In 31 of those cases, the victims were not perceived to be armed with a firearm. This brings into question whether RSD used deadly force only when necessary or in defense of life, as required by law.

In the years 2013 to 2021, RSD deputies killed more people while making arrests than almost all (92%) of California sheriff’s departments.

Despite increases in funding, the RSD solved fewer homicides than 72% of sheriff departments in the state.

COVID-19 in Riverside County Jails

Bianco’s disregard for the law, callousness and sheer incompetency were on full, tragic display in his handling of the COVID-19 crises. The RSD oversees the county’s jail system.

According to the latest figures from the Riverside University Health System-Public Health, more than 1,400 people incarcerated in Riverside County jails contracted COVID-19. That count runs from the start of the pandemic.

Bianco, in a news briefing viewed widely online, essentially said they deserved it. “If you don’t want to catch this virus while you’re in custody,” he said, “don’t break the law.”

More than 80% of people housed in Riverside jails did not “break the law.” They are awaiting trial. As any young child who has taken a civics class — or immigrant studying for citizenship — could tell the sheriff, people in the United States who have not had their day in court are innocent.

As Lisa Matus, who had two sons in a Riverside facility awaiting trial, asked in a news report, “Who makes him a judge now?”

Of course, nobody should carelessly expose anyone in county jails to a deadly virus. But while other sheriffs in California were taking measures to reduce overcrowded jail populations, Bianco refused to do so. Predictably, the jail system that the RSD oversees had some of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks of any in the state.

Finally, in 2020 a federal judge ordered the RSD to come up with a plan to provide for social distancing, at a minimum. The judge said that the department had “failed to demonstrate that it is currently taking adequate precautions.”

Jail Conditions Described in the Letter

As outlined in our letter to the attorney general, staff grouped people in the jails who were not sick with people who were obviously ill. The partner of an incarcerated man reported that staff grouped him in court for eight hours with someone who had tested positive for COVID. “At times, they were shackled together.”

Others told of being denied life-saving medications for diabetes and mental illness. They also told of denial of soap, clean clothes, and cleaning supplies. In addition, staff issued a single mask to be worn for long periods without instructions for cleaning. There was also a lack of COVID tests, likely leading to an undercount of people infected. And in many cases, the staff went maskless. That is not a surprise given that Bianco has publicly stated he refuses to enforce vaccination mandates.

 

Earlier Failures to Protect People in Custody

It’s hardly the first time Riverside County sheriffs have refused to protect those in their custody. In 2015, the RSD entered a consent decree in a federal lawsuit. The lawsuit said it failed to provide minimally adequate medical and mental health care to the people incarcerated in its jails.

 

Why AG Bonta Should Investigate the Riverside County Sheriff

Continued rampant deputy violence, persistently inhumane jail conditions, and the RSD’s refusal to protect people in county custody from COVID-19 are all reasons for the attorney general to investigate.

We can’t wait any longer as the RSD continues to disregard the well-being of our communities. AG Bonta must act now. Justice and accountability matter for all those whom the RSD has harmed and continues to harm.

Key takeaways on AG Bonta and the sheriff

• In 2021, RSD deputies shot and killed more people than in any other year of its recent history, and Sheriff Chad Bianco called it “an anomaly.”
• More than 1,400 people incarcerated in Riverside County jails contracted COVID-19.
• More than 20 organizations asked the Attorney General to investigate the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Related reading on Creative Geniusess

• Rob Bonta Launches Investigation into Riverside County Sheriff for Civil Rights and Constitutional Violations covers a “thorough” investigation.
• Riverside County Sheriff lied about inmate deaths to avoid lawsuits, new lawsuit alleges tells of the family of Richard Matus Jr.
• Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and AG Rob Bonta IGNORE Supreme Court’s ruling on the NYSRPA v Bruen ?? mentions the ruling on McDonald v. City of Chicago.