The Kern County Sheriff's Department is now being enforced to stop the usage of chokeholds while on duty as well as stopping other officers if they decide to make that action, said the California Attorney General's Office last Tuesday when announcing a major settlement between the county and the state.

From police dog attacks to deadly shootings done by KCSD, particularly against unarmed people and people of color, an investigation begun by the state attorney general almost four years ago.

Attorney General Xavier Becerra said that the settlement will begin that direction again of trust and teamwork, with the community and law enforcement.

“It won't happen overnight, and we'll all have to stay on task,” Becerra said at a press conference. “But these are the steps our communities want to see us launch for safer neighborhoods. We look forward to working with Sheriff Youngblood and Kern County's civic leaders to make today's settlement a success.”

Around 840,000 people live in the County of Kern, north of Los Angeles and is mostly rural.

This settlement includes a five-year plan that will tackle issues brought on by the community to counter aggressive policing.

Parts of the settlement that consists of 59 pages were filed in Kern County Superior Court that accompanied Tuesday's settlement announcement.

Youngblood disagrees with Becerra's office that they had found during the investigation.

“I do not believe the men and women of this organization have ever violated constitutional rights, have ever used excessive force that we didn't deal with punitively,” the sheriff said in the press conference with Becerra. “That just doesn't happen in our organization.”

Even with his strong disagreement with the results, Youngblood does say the findings do help understand the cracks in their policies.

More information on this leading story once updates are discovered.