Police Shootings / Possible Abuse Threads [merged]

In Riverside, California, the families of several people who have died in the county’s jails are mounting an uphill battle: to force the creation of an independent coroner’s office.

Their fight comes amid a headline-making spike in jail deaths in this sprawling county east of Los Angeles. In 2022, at least 19 people died while held in Riverside county detention facilities, according to California department of justice data. That’s a higher rate of jail deaths than in LA county that year, which had three times as many inmates. Last year, at least 14 people died in the Riverside county detention centers.

But the high number of deaths isn’t the only reason behind the families’ quest. In Riverside county, as in 48 of California’s 58 counties, the coroner’s office is run by the sheriff’s department – the same agency that runs the jails.


That structure, legal experts say, presents at least the perception of a conflict of interest when someone dies in jail, in police custody, or following police use of force.……

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...ff-chad-bianco-coroner?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other