The Santa Barbara County grand jury released reports on two of its investigations into the Santa Barbara County Jail on June 11—one looking into the prevalence of contraband inside the jail and another exploring the reasons behind an inmate’s death in March 2018.
In the first report, the jury found that despite efforts to keep illegal drugs, alcohol, and other contraband out inmates’ hands, many of those substances are still being found inside the jail. Although the report states that there haven’t been any drug overdose deaths recorded in the jail since an inmate died of a heroin overdose in 2009, two inmates were treated for drug overdoses in January of this year.
The jury also found that in 2018, 118 attempts were made to bring drugs and alcohol into the jail. That same year, there were also 96 recorded instances in which alcohol or drugs were found in the jail itself or in an inmate’s possession.
The jury concluded that despite the sheriff’s response to the overdose death in 2009—which includes hundreds of random, daily inmate and cell searches—little has changed.
“Now, over nine years later, this challenging situation has remained the same,” the report reads. “Indeed, one experienced custody officer the jury interviewed candidly observed that in the last few years the contraband problem actually worsened.”
In the report, the jury recommends that the Sheriff’s Office require all custody officers be trained specifically to pat-down arrestees more effectively at intake. The jury suggested that at least one or more X-ray scanners be purchased and installed at both the Main Jail and Northern Branch Jail, and that the Sheriff’s Office purchase one more specially trained drug sniffing dog for each jail.
The Sheriff’s Office has until Aug. 6 to formally respond to the report. In a written statement to the Sun, Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover said the contraband issue is most likely connected to the national opioid and local methamphetamine problems.
“There is a supply and demand situation that unfortunately does not stop at our walls,” Hoover wrote in the statement. “Given a sufficient market and a high level of criminal sophistication, inmates will continue to find ways to thwart our efforts at detecting drugs coming into the facility. Our job is to continue interdicting them in the facility and cutting off the pathways into the facility as we find them.”
The Sheriff’s Office is still studying the recommendations from the grand jury and will submit a formal response by the due date, Hoover said.
In the second report, the jury investigated the death of a 60-year-old inmate in March 2018. The jury concluded that the inmate had a recorded history of serious health issues, that jail staff followed all pertinent rules and regulations prior to his death, and that he died of natural causes.
This article appears in Jun 13-20, 2019.