SDPD and County Sheriff Ongoing Scandals: Not Just Rotten Apples
San Diego has a law enforcement problem. An insular workplace culture and a lack of political will leaves city rape victims high and dry. Those arrested and unable to post bond are kept in a county jail system with an alarming record of people dying while in custody.
What we’ve been given in response to these outrages are excuses, sugar coated with the implied threat of criminal anarchy should systemic changes challenge the status quo.
This is not a matter of “bad apples.” We’re talking about an orchard infected with the disease of arrogance, manifested with symptoms including misogyny and racism.
While there are many people in both the city and county agencies who are dedicated to protect and serve the public, they exist in an organization dedicated above all to self preservation, no matter what the cost.
Google ‘San Diego Police Department scandal’, and you’ll get a list of 3.77 million responses. Only a small percentage of these links are actually on topic, but those that apply are amazing.
Check out these headlines-- all from different years and media-- from Page One search results:
Check out the commonalities between those past incidents and this week’s story at Voice of San Diego:
SDPD Lowered Testing Standards to Help Clear Rape Kit Backlog, Analysts Say
I see misogyny and an --at best-- callous attitude toward serving the people paying their salaries, for starters.
At first, the SDPD claimed a lack of funds was responsible for a backlog of untested rape kits. Victims were blamed for not wanting to pursue prosecution. Rape incidents were the suspect was an acquaintance was another excuse. Then it was discovered that nobody was really sure about the untested kits because of a lack of labeling, and an intern was dispatched to research the cases.
The city came up with $500,000 to clear the backlog. The police actually were willing to go on record to say testing the backlog of kits was well-intentioned but misguided.
So, when push came to shove, and the police --and their allies in the District Attorney’s office-- had no more excuses, a decision was made to just go through the motions.
From Voice of San Diego:
Pressure has also been coming from the state. The Legislature just this month passed SB 22, requiring all new rape kits to be tested within 120 days of being collected, to prevent any new backlogs from forming. It is awaiting the governor’s signature. AB 3118, signed into law last year, required all crime labs in the state to audit their untested rape kits and report the results to the Department of Justice by July.
But it was this spring that crime lab analysts were told to start testing just one swab from certain kits, breaking with their normal practice of testing six swabs from each kit, which was adopted by a working group including representatives from the district attorney’s office, a victim’s advocate, a sex crimes sergeant and the crime lab manager.
“The reason given was, ‘we just need to check the box,’” said a second crime lab analyst who spoke to Voice of San Diego. “There was no scientific reason given, not that this would be more effective, there was no indication that this was anything other than a political policy decision.”
I’m willing to bet there will be no consequences for this latest bit of “what’s best for you is what’s best for us.”
But if you look at the last couple of decades of SDPD problems, there is a pattern.
And that’s before we get to the matter of racial profiling, which despite lots of promises and hand wringing hasn’t gone away. Here’s a link to the ACLU’s collection of articles on the subject.
Check out this NBC7 news story from earlier this week:
San Diego Police Crack Down on Truancy; 300 Detained for Skipping Class Since June 2017
The data reveals 60 students were detained in the Golden Hill, Mt. Hope and South Park neighborhoods in the 92102 zip code. Police cited 58 students for truancy in City Heights and other parts of the 92115 zip code. Thirty-seven truants were detained in the Otay Mesa area, in the 92154 zip code.
According to the data, Hispanic students accounted for 62 percent of truancy citations - four times the number of white or African-American students detained for skipping class.
I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that students from Point Loma High hanging out in OB somehow managed to evade these roundups.
***
The Union-Tribune’s Watchdog team has just published an extensive investigation into the San Diego County Sheriff’s track record at local jails.
Since William Gore took over as County Sheriff in 2009:
139 people have died in San Diego County jails
114 of those inmates who died behind bars were awaiting trial.
At least $7.9 million has been paid to families of people who died/were badly injured.
This number doesn’t include a $12 million jury verdict awarded in July. (Likely appeal)
In the decade prior to Gore taking office only $1.9 million was paid out for similar legal actions.
From the UT article:
A six-month investigation by The San Diego Union-Tribune shows that the county’s jail mortality rate is the highest among California’s largest county jail systems. The grim history shows no sign of waning.
Fifteen inmates died in county custody in each of the past two years, out of a population of more than 5,000. Eleven inmates have died so far this year.
There is no easy explanation.
Over the past several years, the department has improved training, changed health care providers and brought in new equipment. But it has been slow to make more obvious fixes, like installing fencing to prevent suicidal inmates from jumping, or bolstering its mental health staff to provide around-the-clock care.
While the UT article says there is no easy explanation, it’s as plain as day the San Diego Sheriff’s office has a management problem.
Unfortunately, the only accountability a County Sheriff faces happens at the ballot box, as mandated by Article 11 of the State Constitution. Defeating an incumbent sheriff is near impossible, especially when you have the “deputies” in charge of plastering the region with signage.
Getting rid of a sheriff is no easy task, as Jessica Pishco explains at The Appeal:
Under California law, elected sheriffs are permitted to run the department as they wish. Although Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors has expressed its disapproval of Villanueva, there is little the board can do. Though California law theoretically allows the state attorney general, Xavier Becerra, to oversee, and possibly remove, a county sheriff, California AGs rarely get involved in local scandals. (When she was AG, Kamala Harris didn’t step in during the Orange County scandal over jailhouse informants, for instance.) Becerra’s office has in fact been partnering with the sheriff’s department.
That’s one reason some advocates think a radical change is needed. In January, an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle argued that the sheriff’s office should be eliminated throughout California. “No office is less accountable or more reliable in producing scandal,” wrote the author, Joe Mathews. Although police chiefs can be fired by mayors or city councils, sheriffs cannot. Sheriffs face elections every four years and are thus accountable to voters, but the incumbent usually has an advantage in elections, regardless of his performance. (Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, for instance, was elected six times.)
***
Today in Trumpland...
https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/1175057140261822465?s=20
Also, despite the fact that the whistleblower behind this revelation followed proper procedures, Sen. Lindsey Graham is now saying they will be prosecuted. It turns out Edward Snowden was right.
https://twitter.com/realdanlyons/status/1175057331413028864?s=20
Hey folks! Be sure to like/follow Words & Deeds on Facebook. If you’d like to have each post emailed to you, check out the simple subscription form on the right side of the front page.
Email me at WriteDougPorter@Gmail.com
Lead image via Pixabay