河滨县警长与验尸官“分家” 纽森签署 SB 1379 要求 2027 年 7 月前设独立法医办公室
州长纽森日前签署 SB 1379 法案（参议员塞万提斯提案），要求河滨县在2027年7月1日前拆分警长部门与验尸官办公室，成立完全独立于警长部门的法医办公室。多年来，河滨县警长一直兼任县验尸官，这一安排即将成为历史。
推动法案的人士指出，警长兼验尸官存在明显的利益冲突，尤其在涉警死亡和监狱内死亡案件中，负责调查死因的机构与涉事执法部门是“一家人”，难以保证独立公正。一项2022年的研究发现，采用警长—验尸官合署模式的加州各县，在官方数据库中少报涉警杀人案件的可能性更高；而河滨县2022年的监狱死亡率位居全州第二高，进一步加剧了外界对现行体制的质疑。
目前加州多数县仍沿用合署模式，全州仅10个县设有独立的验尸官或法医办公室。SB 1379 仅适用于河滨县，但外界认为此举可能引发全州对合署模式的重新审视。警长查德·比安科一贯否认针对警长部门战术与政策的批评，称指责多来自反执法活动人士。
为落实改革，县监事会下设的特设监督委员会将举行三场公众听证会：10月13日晚6点在河滨市县行政中心、10月22日晚6点在棕榈沙漠 Coachella Valley 水务局、10月26日晚6点线上举行（YouTube 直播，另设西班牙语场）。委员会将于明年1月底向监事会提交调查报告。（综合 Desert Sun、MyNewsLA 等报道，GSM改写）
Riverside County to Split Sheriff-Coroner Offices Under SB 1379
Governor Newsom has signed SB 1379 (authored by Senator Sabrina Cervantes), requiring Riverside County to separate its sheriff's department from the coroner's office and establish a fully independent medical examiner's office by July 1, 2027. For years, the Riverside County sheriff has also served as county coroner — an arrangement about to become history.
Supporters of the bill point to an obvious conflict of interest when the sheriff doubles as coroner: in officer-involved deaths and in-custody deaths, the agency investigating the cause of death belongs to the same "family" as the law enforcement agency involved, making independent and impartial findings difficult. A 2022 study found that California counties using the combined sheriff-coroner model were more likely to underreport officer-involved homicides in official databases, and Riverside County's 2022 jail death rate ranked second-highest in the state, intensifying scrutiny of the current system.
Most California counties still use the combined model; only 10 counties statewide have an independent coroner or medical examiner's office. SB 1379 applies only to Riverside County, but observers say the move could prompt a statewide reexamination of the combined model. Sheriff Chad Bianco has consistently denied criticism of his department's tactics and policies, attributing it largely to anti-law-enforcement activists.
To implement the reform, an ad hoc oversight committee of the Board of Supervisors will hold three public hearings: October 13 at 6 p.m. at the County Administrative Center in Riverside, October 22 at 6 p.m. at the Coachella Valley Water District in Palm Desert, and October 26 at 6 p.m. online (streamed on YouTube, with a Spanish-language session). The committee will submit its findings to the Board of Supervisors by the end of next January. (Compiled from Desert Sun, MyNewsLA and other reporting; rewritten by GSM)
图片来源：Norarobless，CC BY-SA 3.0，Wikimedia Commons
