Supervisors’ share of blame in county jail deaths keeps growing

In 2019, after The San Diego Union-Tribunes Watchdog team first documented excessive deaths at the jails run by the San Diego County Sheriffs Department, the agency was dismissive. While the comprehensive report showed at least 140 jail deaths from 2009 to 2019 — an appalling mortality rate that was the highest among large counties in the state — Sheriff Bill Gore disputed nearly all the key findings. As new deaths kept being reported, however, Gore began offering lip-service promises of reforms. But a s