Just 4 months after the entire country erupted in uprisings in the name of George Floyd and against systemic racism and police brutality on Black lives, Mr. Reinhold’s name was added to the long list of Black men and women killed by police under questionable and preventable circumstances. Time and again uprisings have spurred calls for police reform, including proposals to strip police of the routine responsibility of dealing with people who are mentally ill or experiencing homelessness.

On September 23, 2020, two deputies from OCSD Homeless Outreach Team stopped Kurt Andras Reinhold, an 42 year old unhoused Black man, for jaywalking in San Clemente — an encounter that ended with the death of Mr. Reinhold.

Community advocates [and Mr. Reinhold’s family through statements by their attorneys] continue to question why a jaywalking stop led to the violent death of the man the deputies were tasked with helping. The two deputies who initiated the jaywalking stop were assigned as "homeless liaison officers" in San Clemente. Their team was made up of 25 members whose job is to "assist the homeless population and provide them with access to available resources and services while protecting the quality of life for the citizens of Orange County through proactive enforcement." This specific group of deputies from the Homeless Outreach Team receive extensive training in crisis intervention and de-escalation. These same Sheriff's department employees had offered services to Reinhold at least once in the 30 days before the shooting, so they knew Mr. Reinhold, and he knew them.

Jaywalking should not get you killed in Orange County. Being unhoused should not get you killed in Orange County.