Report recommends more specific training for officers to conduct pat-downs, purchasing full body scanners to screen inmates and visitors
A Santa Barbara County Grand Jury investigation determined contraband in the Main Jail has remained a problem for the Sheriff’s Department for more than a decade and has led to inmate overdoses over the years, according to the group's report released this week.
The investigation was conducted to determine how well the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office (SBSO) prevents contraband from entering the Main Jail facility at 4436 Calle Real near Santa Barbara.
Contraband includes cell phones, money, cigarette lighters, matches, tobacco, drugs and alcohol, and weapons such as knives and guns.
The Grand Jury was prompted to investigate contraband “in large part by its belief that many arrestees who enter or re-enter the jail are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. This disturbing situation creates a built-in, captive marketplace for persons who are more than willing for a variety of motives to serve the drug addictive needs of many in the jail population,” according to the report.
A Main Jail inmate died from a heroin overdose in November 2009, presumably from drugs he got inside the facility since he was booked into jail two weeks before he died, according to the report.
“Although there does not appear to have been a drug overdose death in custody since then, the continued introduction and presence of dangerous substances in the Jail, despite ongoing preventative efforts to control it, poses a constant risk of a fatal repetition,” the Grand Jury concluded.
Two non-fatal drug overdoses were reported in January 2019, and both inmates were hospitalized for multiple days. One inmate had ingested LSD and ecstasy, and the other had taken prescription medications phenobarbital and Klonopin, a potentially fatal mixture, the report said.
According to SBSO data, there were 214 drug related incidents in 2018 in which controlled dangerous substances or alcohol were found in the Main Jail or attempted to be brought into the Main Jail.
In August 2018, $15,000 to $20,000 worth of heroin, methamphetamines and prescription medications were found on an inmate’s person.
“While there are many possible reasons for the contraband we are seeing, it is most likely connected to the epidemic national opioid addiction problem, as well as the on-going local methamphetamine problem,” sheriff's spokeswoman Kelly Hoover said.
Contraband is found on inmates’ persons where it cannot be easily detected, around the jail facility’s perimeter, and mailed to inmates. Most contraband has been found through unannounced cell searches, odor detection, information provided by other inmates, and screening mail items sent to inmates, according to the report.
The Grand Jury previously investigated the contraband issue in 2009 and in response to that report, the Sheriff's Department conducted hundreds of inmate and cell searches.
Yet a decade later, the the contraband problem has remained the same, according to the 2019 report.
To address the large volume of contraband items found in the Main Jail, the Grand Jury report recommends that officers be trained to pat-down arrestees more effectively at jail intake, and that the department purchase another drug detection dog and full body scanners to screen incoming inmates and visitors.
The Main Jail currently does not have any full body scanners and there is one drug sniffing dog, Krypto, who is used periodically at the Main Jail to detect contraband, the Grand Jury found.
SBSO has 60 days to respond to the report and its recommendations.
The Sheriff’s Office is still studying the recommendations from the Grand Jury and will submit a formal response to the Presiding Judge of the Santa Barbara Superior Court by Aug. 6, Hoover said.
Hoover said contraband is an issue for many correctional facilities, and said inmates will continue to “thwart” SBSO’s efforts to detect drugs coming into the Main Jail.
The investigation consisted of multiple interviews with senior Sheriff’s Department custody officials who monitor the daily efforts to prevent contraband from entering the jail facilities, and a review of SBSO statistics.
The Grand Jury also released a report this week on its investigation into the death of a Main Jail inmate who suffered from multiple chronic medical conditions and died at Cottage Hospital in March 2018.
The inmate died from natural causes and no further action was required, the report determined.
June 11, 2019
Noozhawk
By Maura Fox
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