Statement on Critical Incident Review Board Reports 

July 17, 2023 - San Diego County Sheriff’s Department officials report that on July 11, United States District Judge Ohta ordered the release of certain Critical Incident Review Board (CIRB) reports to the public. The released records relate to 11 in-custody deaths that occurred between 2011 and 2017. The County of San Diego appealed that ruling and asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to allow the County to brief the issue fully with the appellate court. Sheriff Kelly Martinez respects the legal process and the decision made by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to allow a full briefing on the legal issues. 

Still, we believe it is important to remain transparent and discuss the Sheriff's Department's CIRB process.  

The CIRB process is designed to review multiple types of critical incidents for the primary purpose of assessing the Sheriff's Department's civil exposure and liability as a result of a given incident. 

The CIRB procedure has changed over time as all policies within the Sheriff's Department are constantly reviewed and updated. The current process can be found here under section 4.23 of our Policies and Procedures.  

When Sheriff Martinez was running for election, she ran on a platform of providing the highest quality public safety services and vowed to improve our detention facilities. She began releasing the findings of in-custody death CIRB reports, which can be found here. 

Sheriff Martinez will continue to be steadfast in her promise to improve our service delivery in jails and the community. Many of the updates and projects to our detention facilities were recently spotlighted in a news release, which can be found here. Sheriff Martinez believes in keeping the public apprised of how the Sheriff's Department is being managed.

We believe by being open and honest with the public, we will continue to enhance our partnerships with the communities we serve.

Source: San Diego County Sheriff’s Department