San Diego County District Attorney

The police agency with jurisdiction over the location of the shooting or death conducts the primary investigation of the incident. After the police agency completes their investigation, the District Attorney’s Office reviews it, which it does for all officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths in San Diego County. If the District Attorney wants additional information to supplement the investigation, a request can be made to the jurisdictional agency to obtain the information, or the District Attorney’s Office can conduct the additional investigation. The District Attorney’s Office does not do a separate, new investigation of the incident.

Yes. A District Attorney Investigator (DAI) with substantial training and experience in homicide investigation and use of force responds to the scene any officer-involved shooting or in-custody death. A briefing of the incident and a familiarization of the incident scene is given to all participating investigators. The DAI will identify any potential witnesses he or she discovers and point out any item of evidence he or she observes to the officer in charge of the investigation. The DAI will not interview witnesses and will not gather evidence. The DAI may provide advice or assistance if it is sought by the jurisdictional agency.

The purpose of the review is to provide an independent analysis of all police shootings and other use of deadly force to determine if the use of force was legally justified or not. In other words, was a crime committed? The review determines if there is criminal liability only and does not examine issues such as compliance with the policies and procedure of any law enforcement agency, ways to improve training, and any issues related to civil liability.

The investigations are lengthy and comprehensive. It takes several months to process evidence, compile forensic and laboratory reports, and conduct follow-up investigation. The Medical Examiner’s report is thorough and cannot be completed until it has toxicology results. As a result, the agency investigations and review by the District Attorney Office often take months. However, San Diego County law enforcement agencies have committed to having their investigations completed within 90 days if feasible, and the District Attorney’s Office has committed to having their review completed within 90 days if feasible.

The Special Operations Division of the San Diego District Attorney’s Office reviews officer-involved shootings and in-custody death cases The investigators assigned to the division are experienced and knowledgeable experts on homicide investigations and use of deadly force. Both an investigator and a Deputy District Attorney review each case.

If the District Attorney’s Office determines there is criminal liability, charges will be filed against the officer or deputy. If there is no criminal liability, a letter is written summarizing the facts, evidence and available statements of those involved. The letter is delivered to the Chief of Police or Sheriff of the jurisdictional agency indicating the actions of the officer or deputy was legally justified. The letter is also posted on the DA’s website where any member of the public can read it.

Once the District Attorney’s review is completed and an officer or deputy’s actions are deemed to be legally justifiable, basic information including the name of the individual(s) involved, law enforcement agency, incident date and letter date are posted on the DA’s website. Copies of the letters are provided to the news media. Members of the public can request a copy of a letter from the law enforcement agency named in the letter. If it’s not available from the law enforcement agency, the public may email publicaffairs@sdcda.org to request a copy.

We are not able to release letters where there is a pending criminal case, which has not been resolved, in order to protect a defendant’s right to a fair trial.

Law enforcement agencies generally release video evidence for public review within 45 days of an incident.

The District Attorney’s Office will not release video evidence until any criminal case, whether against the officer or another person, is concluded, because it could potentially interfere with the defendant’s right to a fair trial. However, there may be instances where video footage is shown as evidence in a criminal proceeding, open to the public and such video may be seen publicly if it is broadcast as part of the proceedings or made part of the court record. In these instances, the faces of those involve may or may not be blurred.

The Department of Justice (FBI) has started doing a concurrent review of officer-involved shootings to determine if an individual’s civil rights were violated. The City of San Diego has a Citizens Review Board on Police Practices, which reviews these types of incidents to see if policies and practices were followed, as does the County’s Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board.

In May 2019, our office announced several initiatives we developed to improve the way law enforcement interacts with people with mental health and substance abuse issues. We’re funding access to crisis intervention and de-escalation training for police officers, and providing a mental health checklist in English and Spanish that families can use when calling 911 to hopefully improve the outcome when their loved one comes into contact with police.