Family members of people who died in San Diego County jails made impassioned pleas for transparency and increased oversight over the San Diego Sheriff's Department.
“Families want to know what happened," said one woman who spoke in front of the board during Tuesday night's meeting of the Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board, known as CLERB.
CLERB investigates in-custody deaths and misconduct against the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
Some people are worried about who'll continue to fight for prisoner's rights, after the abrupt resignation of its executive officer Paul Parker two weeks ago.
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“I hope that remaining CLERB members continue to do what Parker was doing, banging his head against the wall for justice change and transparency for answers that the majority of these families with in-custody deaths haven’t received yet,” said Sabrina Weddle, whose brother Saxon Rodriguez died of a fentanyl overdose in July of 2021 while in custody of the Sheriff’s Department.
Department records show that 54 people have died in county jails since 2021. That's one of the highest death rates in the state.
Earlier this year, Abdul Kamara became the 4th person, this year to die in custody.
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“The police killed my son,” his mother, Fredrika Nabbi, cried on a Zoom call into the CLERB meeting. “I want to know why. They should have taken him to the hospital.”
Earlier this month the 29-year-old student walked away from Scripps Hospital in Encinitas after requesting help for an unknown reason.
About an hour later, deputies arrested Kamara in a Cardiff parking lot on Birmingham Drive. Police who are investigating the case say he died of an unknown cause, after being wrapped in a restraint by deputies during booking.
“Abdul Kamara's family deserves to know what happened to him. It should not be a death sentence to have a mental health crisis and go into jail,” said David Settles, whose brother Matthew died in custody.
Kamara's death is just the most recent example of why family members of people who've died in jail and organizations like the North County Equity and Justice Coalition have rallied for oversight over all Sheriff's employees, including the medical staff.
As the state auditor has suggested, they also want to have everyone who enters the jails, including deputies, be searched for drugs, considering the number of overdoses that have occurred.
So far, Sheriff Kelly Martinez has rejected those suggestions
“We want to know why she’s refusing to scan deputies and why she's refusing change in jails. People are dying and I don’t think she's really understanding that,” said Deana Serna, whose sister died in a San Diego County Jail.
The Sheriff’s Department issued the following statement:
“The Sheriff has no comment, but we would like to thank Paul Parker for his dedication to the people of San Diego County and wish him well in his future endeavors. We look forward to continuing positive dialogue with the CLERB, Ensuring San Diego County jails are safe for people in custody and the staff who work there will always be a top priority.”
