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When a deputy shoots somebody, which way is better financially? To cripple them or kill them? Absolutely [to kill them].

Sheriff Donny Youngblood of Kern County, Calif., caught on a recently released 2006 tape talking to a union of jail employees. In 2015, The Guardian found that the county had the nation's highest per capita rate of killings by police officers. He is up for reelection this year.

Sheriff Donny Youngblood of Kern County, Calif., caught on a recently released 2006 tape talking to a union of jail employees. In 2015, <i>The Guardian</i> found that the county had the nation's highest per capita rate of killings by police officers. He is up for reelection this year.

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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