Jerry Roberts
By Jerry Roberts of Newsmakers
In the wake of the George Floyd killing, investigative reporter Tyler Hayden undertook a methodical and meticulous examination of cases involving the deadly use of force by law enforcement officers in Santa Barbara County.
Over the past year, he has churned out a series of stories in the Santa Barbara Independent revealing, among other things, that the county quietly has paid out $9 million to settle five cases alleging misconduct by Sheriff’s deputies over the past decade – while several other similar lawsuits are still pending.
In a conversation with Newsmakers, Hayden goes behind-the-scenes on his reporting, discussing the difficulties and complexities of prying loose from law enforcement previously unreported information using California’s Public Record Act.
Among his findings: although one deputy has been involved in four deadly force cases, there has been a total lack of transparency about any accountability or discipline in the incidents — despite the costly settlements arising from his conduct.
It is notable that, while political pressure from Black Lives Matter organizers and others have led the city of Santa Barbara to agree to establish a citizen review process to help shed light on the actions of police officers, there has been no comparable response from the Board of Supervisors, Sheriff Bill Brown or District Attorney Joyce Dudley, so that internal investigations about use of force and misconduct allegations remain cloaked in secrecy.
Some of Tyler’s reporting on the Sheriff’s Department, including the recent killing of a transgender man in Lompoc under mysterious circumstances, is here, here, here, here here, here and here.
Watch our conversation with Tyler Hayden, including how he got the amazing story of the biggest drug bust in county history, his reflections on the bittersweet process of profiling community members who died of Covid and some tales from the Critter Beat, via YouTube below or by clicking through this link. The podcast version is here.
Police violence is bad for tax payers and for citizens ability to trust law enforcement. Let’s get rid of the sheriff and district attorney next election.
Most police departments need to be cleaned out. Get rid of the $%! officers who are there to bully, harass, and keep a long laundry list of citizen complaints hidden.. Keep the ones that actually want to protect and serve. And provide continual updated training and mental health checks. I do support the police. But (expletive) the BS needs to stopped. Get the racists and the ones with anger issues into another profession. Support the good cops.
Limit if not end qualified immunity. Make officers and police unions mostly responsible for a portion of the settlements and legal awards. Make those responsible for legal responsibility pay for it, not the taxpayers.
Hiring officers who played contact sports like football in school and then went into the military just supports their need to have power over others. Think of the concept “Peace Officer”.
Also a good (but scary) recent report by the FBI on White Supremacist Infiltration of Law Enforcement – https://oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/White_Supremacist_Infiltration_of_Law_Enforcement.pdf. Nice work Tyler.
How about some reviews of excessive force or intimidation, used against Law Enforcement Officials. “Excessive” is really subjective.
In how many of those cases was the citizen resisting arrest, either actively or passively? If you follow the orders of the police, they will not need to use any force other than verbal. Problem solved.
I read it. The title can be interpreted several ways. It is a historical look at White Supremecist groups as Terrorists, written in 2006. One of these sections starts with (in context):
“(U//LES) There is little corroborated reporting on current strategic attempts by white supremacist groups to infiltrate law enforcement communities. ” …
Yes there have been successful. and unsuccessful attempts to infiltrate. This report is very short and easy to read. It is short because there is little to report.