California agency tasked with scrutinizing jail deaths hasn't completed a single review

"A state office created in 2024 to scrutinize local investigations into jail deaths has yet to complete a single review of the more than 150 people who have died in custody in California's county jails over the past year-and-a-half. That's because it hasn't received the records needed to fully analyze the deaths, according to the Board of State and Community Corrections, a regulatory body appointed by the governor to oversee the state's jails and juvenile halls."

"SB 519, signed into law in October 2023, established the In-Custody Death Review Division within the BSCC following a series of deadly years in San Diego, Riverside and Los Angeles county jails. But the new law's limitations quickly became apparent once the division began collecting data on deaths that occurred after its formation in July 2024. The initial information submitted by counties lacked sufficient detail, with the majority of the means and manners of death listed as "pending investigation.""

"In early discussions, the counties made it "clear they would not send nonpublic information," such as medical records or investigatory materials, according to Jana Sanford-Miller, a spokesperson for the BSCC. "Some agencies did not send records, and others sent redacted records," Sanford-Miller said. "We have yet to receive a completed investigation for an in-custody death in a local detention facility." As a result, it hasn't completed any review, though there is hope that will change soon."

The In-Custody Death Review Division was created under SB 519 and began collecting data in July 2024 to review deaths in California county jails. The division has not completed any reviews of more than 150 deaths because counties have not provided full investigative or medical records needed for analysis. Initial submissions listed most means and manners of death as "pending investigation." Counties indicated unwillingness to share nonpublic records; some sent redacted files while others sent nothing. Internal investigations frequently take months or years to conclude. A budget trailer bill later clarified that ICDR staff can access unredacted investigative and medical records.

Read at The Mercury News