The two largest law enforcement agencies in Kern County, California, labelled the deadliest police departments in America following a Guardian investigation, will be investigated by state authorities, California attorney general Kamala Harris announced on Thursday.



The Bakersfield police department and the Kern County sheriff’s office killed people at a higher rate than departments in any other county in America during 2015 and have been criticised for a culture of violence, corruption and impunity unearthed by the Guardian.

Harris, the US senator-elect for California who will step down as attorney general at the end of the year, said the decision to open the investigations was driven by media reports and community complaints alleging “use of excessive force and other serious misconduct”, which her department had been examining for over a year.



A source familiar with the investigations said the Guardian reports were reviewed before the decision to commence with proceedings was made.

The “patterns and practices” investigations will probe for civil rights violations at both department, Harris said in a statement, adding: “Excessive use of force and police misconduct erode and undermine the public’s trust in our law enforcement agencies.

“These investigations will objectively, impartially and thoroughly examine whether the Kern County sheriff’s office or the Bakersfield police department engaged in a pattern or practice of excessive force or other civil rights violations.”

In 2015, 14 people were killed by law enforcement in Kern County, a jurisdiction with a population of just under 875,000. In the same time frame, 10 people were killed by the New York police department in the five counties of New York City, which is populated by nearly 10 times as many people and has about 23 times as many law enforcement officers.

The rate of killings has significantly declined in Kern County in 2016. Earlier in December, however, a Bakersfield police officer shot dead an unarmed 73-year-old man suffering from dementia.

That shooting prompted further complaints of violent misconduct. The Bakersfield police department has requested that the FBI review the incident.

In a series of five extended reports, entitled The County, the Guardian examined how Kern County and law enforcement agencies reviewed fatal encounters involving police, revealing that the vast majority of investigators at the district attorney’s office were former police officers with the departments they were tasked to investigate.

The series also revealed that the Kern County sheriff’s office offered morally dubious cash payments to a number of women who had been sexually assaulted by sheriff’s deputies, in exchange for their right to sue. In some cases such payments were as low as $200.

Bakersfield police chief Lyle Martin said in a statement the department would fully cooperate with the review, and planned to meet state officials in January to discuss the scope and timing of the investigation.

“The trust and confidence of the public is vital to the credibility and effectiveness of the Bakersfield police department,” Martin said.

A spokesman for the Kern County sheriff’s office said it would “fully cooperate” with the investigation. The county sheriff, Donny Youngblood, was unavailable for comment.



The separate investigations could take up to two years to complete.



“We look forward to working collaboratively with the sheriff’s office and the police department,” Harris said, “as well as with the community, to address any civil rights violations or other issues that we may find during these investigations.”

