Up till now, when a sheriff’s deputy or a police officer shot and killed someone while on the job, the department that person worked for did the shooting investigation.
No more.
Now, the San Diego Police Department will do the investigation for shootings by Sheriff's deputies, as well as in-custody deaths. The opposite is true for shootings by police officers. All other shootings by police officers will be handled by the Sheriff’s Department. And, if both the Sheriff’s Department and SDPD are involved in a deadly shooting, Chula Vista police will conduct the investigation.
“The way I found out was I was driving home and I was listening to KPBS," said Brandon Hilpert, the head of the Commission on Police Practices (CPP), the agency that reviews and investigates deadly shootings by San Diego Police Department officers.
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We learned on Thursday that neither the CLERB, the Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board, which oversees deadly sheriff’s deputy shootings, or its counterpart, the CPP, were notified of the new protocol. Hilpert said he was shocked. He had no idea the change was coming.
“We have quarterly meetings with the chief of police and his staff, and not once have they even given us a heads up that this is coming," he said.
Yusef Miller, with the North County Equity and Justice Coalition, told KPBS Midday Edition that the change doesn’t go nearly far enough.
“We need non-law-enforcement-affiliated organizations to investigate law enforcement. We anticipate the same results of law enforcement, no matter sheriff or police department, when they investigate themselves," Miller said.
Undersheriff Kelly Martinez said the change is meant to increase transparency and to build trust with the public. And she rejected the view of Miller and others that police agencies should not be investigating other police agencies.
She said the departments were all independent, and that no department would have influence over another when it comes to investigations.
As for the lack of notification of either the CLERB or the CPP, we contacted both the Sheriff’s Department and San Diego PD for a response. The Sheriff’s Department sent us an email saying in part: “The recent MOU (memorandum of understanding) between the law enforcement agencies is completely separate from the MOU between Sheriff’s and CLERB.”
We didn’t get a reply from the San Diego Police Department. Hilpert is frustrated.
“We’re not happy with the fact that they chose to sideline the Commission on Police Practices and keep us out of the loop on this," he said.
Hilpert is hoping to meet with SDPD Chief David Nisleit to figure out what impact the change would have on investigations, because, he said, there were few details for now.
