Last Updated on January 9, 2024 by BVN
Prince James Story and Gail Fry
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has been at the center of a firestorm of issues since he was sworn into office in 2019.
As COVID-19 swept the nation, a judge had to order Bianco to establish protocols to protect people in custody. The sheriff also refused to enforce a state vaccine mandate for his employees, describing his stance as “the last line of defense from tyrannical government overreach.”
The same year, Bianco defended his membership in the Oath Keepers. In an interview with LAist, he said he didn’t remember joining the group and that people misunderstood the goals of the far-right militia, some of whose members were convicted of seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Now, the Sheriff’s Department in the fourth-largest county in California is being investigated by Attorney General Rob Bonta for alleged civil rights violations. Bonta launched the inquiry in February 2023, citing conditions in the jails, among other issues.
“The investigation will seek to determine whether [the department] has engaged in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing amid deeply concerning allegations relating to conditions of confinement in its jail facilities, excessive force, and other misconduct,” according to a news release from the California Department of Justice.
Justice officials said they won’t comment on an ongoing investigation.
Bianco has dismissed Bonta’s investigation as “political.”
“He knows we’re not doing anything wrong. He’s made it completely political. We strive every single day to make sure we are the best law enforcement agency in the country,” Bianco said. “We have one of the largest in the state. And we have to make sure that we have one of the best in the state.”
But public concern about the Sheriff’s Department has risen since the inquiry was announced, between the record-high 19 jail deaths in 2022 to drug smuggling and other charges against deputies.
So too have questions about Bianco and the department’s accountability to the public.
In early November, Assemblymember Corey A. Jackson, D-Moreno Valley, asked Bonta to expand his investigation to include sex and drug trafficking after deputies were arrested in three incidents — using drugs, trafficking drugs and engaging in sexual acts without consent with incarcerated women.
“Ever since the pandemic, there’s been a lot of red flags about how people are treated — the illegal activity happening in the jails,” Jackson said. “That’s why we’ve asked the Attorney General to expand his investigation to find out what’s really going on. Because it’s clear that the public is losing trust in the Sheriff’s Department.”
(Graphic by Shakeara Mingo, BVN)
Bianco holds unique power in Riverside County as the elected sheriff, coroner, and public administrator. California is among three states that allow the coroner and sheriff to be the same person.
Advocates for police reform argue that it’s a conflict of interest for a law enforcement officer to oversee autopsies of people who died at the hands of other officers. In a 2017-2018 session, a Riverside County Civil Grand Jury recommended that the sheriff outsource the autopsies to avoid a “perception of a conflict of interest by the public.” The sheriff at the time rejected the idea.
But nearly 20 years ago, the department contracted with Orange County for several years to perform autopsies on people who died in custody. Riverside ended the arrangement because of costs for autopsies ($5000 per person) and delays in receiving the information, according to a report by the grand jury, which is empaneled to review local government issues.
In 2023, a state bill to separate the coroner and the sheriff’s office failed.
Bianco has significant latitude over his affairs, but the Riverside County Board of Supervisors approves his budget. This year, his combined budget is about 12% of the annual county budget of $8.6 billion.
When the jail deaths increased in 2022, Bianco briefed supervisors in private, said 3rd District Supervisor Chuck Washington. Supervisors were concerned, but he added that Riverside was not alone: In-custody deaths have risen in other state jurisdictions, and drugs are smuggled into jails in other counties too.
Manny Perez, 4th District Supervisor, wouldn’t comment on the sheriff or deaths. He said to represent his constituents successfully, he has to work in good faith with people he may disagree with to effect change.
“I am not interested in speaking ill or negatively about other policymakers, especially through the media or social media platforms,” he said in an email.
Supervisors could hold the Sheriff’s Department accountable for jail improvements, said Luis Nolasco, an attorney with the ACLU of Southern California, which asked the attorney general to investigate the sheriff’s office on behalf of several local organizations. They could restrict additional funding if the sheriff doesn’t improve jail conditions, Nolasco said, but he acknowledged that the supervisors would likely reject that route.
“You know it’s a political game,” he said. “Unfortunately for the supervisors, the Sheriff’s Department also knows that.”
Problems with the jails and law enforcement existed before Bianco, he said.
Nolasco suggested the county create an Office of Inspector General or an alternative oversight committee for the department, as some other communities have done, that includes people directly affected by the criminal justice system.
A 2020 California law allows counties to create a watchdog group or oversight committee with subpoena power to monitor sheriffs. Riverside County hasn’t created an oversight committee.
Jackson said he supports more oversight of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
“Police don’t do a good job policing themselves,” he said. “And we must do that. It’s time for us to have another layer of accountability.”