In a California county where the sheriff is also the coroner, families seek change

Families of people who died in one of Riverside county's jails say they lack confidence in the system investigating their loved ones deaths

In Riverside, California, the families of several people who have died in the county's jails are mounting an uphill battle: to force the creation of an independent coroner's office.

Their fight comes amid a headline-making spike in jail deaths in this sprawling county east of Los Angeles. In 2022, at least 19 people died while held in Riverside county detention facilities, according to California department of justice data. That's a higher rate of jail deaths than in LA county that year, which had three times as many inmates. Last year, at least 14 people died in the Riverside county detention centers.