SACRAMENTO, Calif — The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office is addressing the fentanyl crisis as it happens not just on the streets but inside the jail.
In last 14 months, there have been six confirmed or suspected in-custody fentanyl deaths in the Sacramento County jail. According to Sheriff Jim Cooper, 60% of in-custody deaths were related to drugs in that time period. There are three confirmed overdose deaths in 2024.
In the jail, opioid overdose kits are everywhere, located in both holding cells and general population areas.
“Since the beginning of the year, deputies have recovered over 500 grams of narcotics and fentanyl that arrestees have tried to smuggle into the jail. That’s enough fentanyl to kill the entire population of Elk Grove,” Sheriff Cooper said.
In the last nine months, the sheriff’s office says 110 doses of Narcan have been administered to inmates either by a deputy or another inmate.
The sheriff’s office knows their deputies have administered 75 doses.
Sheriff Cooper says fentanyl seizures primarily come from new arrestees and inmates turning themselves in for weekend sentences.
“This person knows they are coming to the jail, so what do they do, they secrete drugs in their body cavity. Due to our inability to conduct cavity searches and the limitations of body scan equipment, it is impossible for us to catch it all,” Sheriff Cooper said.
They showed two examples of body scans with a woman hiding substances under her breast and a man hiding drugs inside himself.
The sheriff’s office also said family members on the outside are orchestrating drug deals for inmates using hard to trace methods like Venmo and Cash App.
However, Sheriff Cooper says he is most troubled by the relaxed attitude on such a dangerous subject captured in the following phone call from an inmate:
“I overdose twice on fentanyl. I died twice here in my cell, they brought me back. You know, they said like they pronounced you dead. They said you were blue.”
To combat the crisis, Cooper says they recently changed the strip search policy at the jail to include everyone who is staying at the jail and for it to happen immediately. Those in the jail on misdemeanors are not searched in compliance with the law.
“Since we changed the policy a month ago, we’ve recovered 35 grams of fentanyl, 60 grams of methamphetamine in 11 different cases of snuggling,” Sheriff Cooper said.
Incoming inmates are also shown a video on the dangers of fentanyl.
The sheriff says he also increased staffing on the jail's fentanyl investigation unit.
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