With 19 in-custody deaths in 2022, Riverside County experienced the deadliest year in a decade in the county’s jails. The spike in deaths happened as the jails grappled with a national fentanyl crisis and a burgeoning mental health population. The deaths gave the jail the third highest death rate among large California counties in 2022. Of the 16 coroner’s reports reviewed by Black Voice News, ten of the deaths were listed as accidental overdoses or suicides. Several families of people who died in custody in 2022 are suing the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department for negligence and wrongful death. The California state attorney general is investigating the department for allegedly violating the civil rights of incarcerated people. 

This story is a collaboration between the Investigative Editing Corps and Report for America and produced with support from inewsource, a nonprofit investigative newsroom in San Diego.  

“Susan Smith Richardson was pivotal in producing a narrative that tells a compelling story of families dealing with inexplicable loss, while at the same time highlighting disparities in a jail system struggling with decades old concerns related to the care of those in custody. She did this while mentoring emerging reporters in a small news organization and coordinating with a partner news group that provided data and a story on how the San Diego County jail faced similar issues.  Despite transitioning staff and competing newsroom priorities, Susan remained steadfast in stewarding the project to successful completion.”

 – Stephanie Williams,
Executive Editor of Black Voice News 

Editor: Susan Smith Richardson