San Diego County detention facility officials should do more to protect the health and safety of people in custody, including by upgrading medical equipment, using more body-worn cameras and ensuring independent investigations of jail deaths, the county grand jury said in a new report.<\/p>\n
The 25-page report<\/a> released this past week by the volunteer watchdog panel said the Sheriff\u2019s Office does not equip its seven jails with the life-saving equipment and medication that is regularly used by paramedics and other first responders.<\/p>\n It also concluded that Sheriff Kelly Martinez should implement a new system that would provide for an independent agency to investigate deaths inside San Diego County jails, which historically have had one of the highest mortality rates in California.<\/p>\n \u201cThe grand jury discovered that there have been 59 in-custody deaths from 2021 to 2024,\u201d the report said. \u201cOn average, this amounts to about 15 deaths per year during this period. In 2025, 10 in-custody deaths were reported in San Diego County jails.\u201d<\/p>\n The deaths \u201chighlight the need for continued solutions that better support the overall welfare of our inmates and reduce the emotional suffering of family and friends already affected by having a loved one incarcerated,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n Jurors also said the Probation Department \u2014 which operates the county\u2019s juvenile detention facilities \u2014 should start using body-worn cameras to document interactions with youth in its\u00a0custody \u2014 and develop policies spelling out how and when the equipment should be deployed.<\/p>\n