IF YOU SHOOT THE BASTARD, MAKE SURE YOU KILL HIM

California sheriff once said it was 'better financially' to shoot suspects dead rather than seriously injure them

By Rory Tingle

Daily Mail
April 10, 2018

A California sheriff campaigning for re-election in a county with an unusually high rate of killings by police officers once said it was 'better financially' to shoot suspects dead rather than injure them.

Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood was taking part in an interview about police use of force and the cost of litigation in 2006 when he asked, 'Which way do you think is better financially – to cripple them or kill them – for the county?'

'Kill them' someone offscreen says before Youngblood answers, 'Absolutely. Because if you cripple them you have to take care of them for life and that cost goes way up,' he said.

The embarrassing footage was published on Monday by the Kern County Detention Officers Association, which is supporting the election of Youngblood's rival and current deputy, Justin Fleeman

Youngblood was discussing how a fatal police shooting would cost the force $3million in compensation to the family, making the comparison with a beating in a jailhouse witnessed by several officers.

He then went on to compare the costs of killing someone in a shooting against the cost of injuring them and having to pay long-term care fees.

Kern County had the highest rate of killings by police officers in the U.S. in 2015, when 13 people died compared to nine in the whole of New York City - which has 10 times as many residents, The Guardian reported.

The number of killings fell to five in 2016 and six in 2017. During 2017 up to November, NYPD shot nine people dead, according to the New York Daily News.

Youngblood defended the 'intent' of what he was trying to say, which was that the force would still face costs if a suspect was injured even if they were not shot dead.

'I stand by the intent of what I was trying to get across - that just because someone doesn't die doesn't mean we escape with less money or unharmed,' he told Eyewitness News.

'Do I wish I would've said it differently? Absolutely. When you listen to the verbiage, it doesn't sound good. But I think the people of this county know that's not what I mean.'

Kern Count Detention Officers Association said the footage of Youngblood was taken during an endorsement consideration interview.

It wrote on Facebook that Kern County 'desperately needed positive changes', before adding: ''KCDOA believes Kern County citizens deserve better.'

The union ultimately endorsed Youngblood in 2006 despite the footage, according to Eyewitness News reported.