A decision by the state attorney general's office to revisit findings by the county district attorney in seven officer-involved shootings that occurred over the last two years in North County doesn't go far enough, leaders of two citizens groups said Thursday.

Spokesmen for El Grupo in North County, and the Coalition for Justice, a countywide group, said they had asked the attorney general's office for independent investigations of the seven shootings, and, in the future, for investigation of all officer-involved shootings in the county.

Instead, they say, they got what amounts to a paper review of the shooting investigations performed by the Sheriff's Department.

The groups, in a letter to the attorney general, said they had asked for the investigations because they were "concerned about police practices and apparent racial bias in light of incidents over the past 24 months."

One of the seven shootings cited by the groups involved Chargers linebacker Steve Foley, who is black, and six of the shootings involved Latino men in Vista.

While the state review is "a good first step," they said, they still want independent investigations by the attorney general's office of all officer-involved shootings in the county.

"The attorney general is an elected official," said the Rev. Arthur Cribbs Jr., co-founder of the Coalition for Justice. "We are using our voice and our presence, as voters in this state, to say, 'Do your job.' "

Gary Schons, senior assistant attorney general in charge of the San Diego regional office, said that his staff routinely reviews about six to 10 officer-involved shooting cases annually as well as assaults, sexual assaults and other cases for six Southern California counties.

About one of those every year is from San Diego County, Schons said.

"There is nothing extraordinary about this," he said of the review.

The only difference this time, said Schons, is that seven cases will be reviewed, all of them originally investigated by the Sheriff's Department.

Right now, each law enforcement agency in the county investigates its own officer-involved shootings, and the district attorney's office reviews those investigations to determine only whether the shootings were lawful or not.

Bill Flores, a retired San Diego County assistant sheriff who is a spokesman for El Grupo, said the district attorney's office has increasingly hired more former law-enforcement officers who are now involved in shooting reviews.

"Now what we're seeing is the people you're sending (to review officer-involved shooting investigations) are former cops," Flores said, explaining the group's concerns.

He said the citizen groups hope that the attorney general's review of the seven North County cases will include looking for a pattern in the shootings.

That number over two years is "alarmingly high" compared to similar small, semirural cities as well as other sheriff's stations in the county, Flores said.

"So, we think that this anomaly in Vista needs to be examined by a legal authority to determine whether that is a coincidence or there's any evidence of racial bias in the use of force or the application of the law in Vista," he said.

Flores said the groups did not send their concerns to the county Citizens Law Enforcement Review Board because it does not have the legal authority that the groups felt was needed to address the issues.

"We could have gone to the federal attorney general, but we felt the state attorney general was the more appropriate agency to take the appeal to," Flores said.

The citizens review board was created by a voter mandate in 1990 that started when an unarmed Vista man, Jeffrey Bray, was shot and killed by a sheriff's reserve deputy who mistook Bray for a suspect in a vehicle theft. The board is charged with reviewing civilian complaints of misconduct against sheriff's and probation department personnel, as well as deaths arising from the actions of those officers.

The board has no authority to discipline or fire those they investigate, but it can make recommendations if it finds wrongdoing or problems with policies and procedures.

Ernie Carrillo, the new president of the San Diego County Deputy Sheriff's Association, said that organization has no problem with the attorney general's office reviewing the seven cases.

"I don't think (independent investigations of any shootings) are necessary at this time," Carrillo added.

Chief Frank McCoy of the Oceanside Police Department said he "wouldn't be adverse" to independent investigations.

"We have nothing to hide in our shootings," McCoy said. "Any prosecuting agency that wants to get involved with that, we have no problem."

Sheriff Bill Kolender and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis couldn't be reached for comment.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Dumanis said her office "is a transparent governmental agency and we welcome the review (of the seven North County shootings) by the Attorney General."

Capt. Glenn Revell, Sheriff's Department spokesman, said that agency hopes the attorney general's review of the seven shootings "will be valuable to all parties."

Two of the seven investigations, a Vista shooting last year and the Foley shooting, haven't been completed yet by the Sheriff's Department, said Schons. He said the review is expected to produce some answers within four months.

"We're going to review everything the district attorney looked at," but it won't be an investigation, he said. "We're not second-guessing, because we're reviewing for an abuse of discretion. The district attorney has wide discretion.

"If the review reveals a reasonable investigative avenue that wasn't pursued or another crime that could have been filed wasn't, that information will be sent to the district attorney's office," Schons said.

At a public forum earlier this month, Dumanis drew criticism when she noted that only two of about 148 officer-involved shootings were found unjustified over 10 years.

Contact staff writer Jo Moreland at (760) 740-3524 or jmoreland@nctimes.com.