YAKIMA, Wash.- A trend of in-custody deaths at the Yakima County Jail is not unusual, according to Chief Bill Splawn with the Department of Corrections.
The jail has seen six inmate deaths in the last 12 months. Law enforcement agencies are still investigating, but Chief Splawn says there is another trend that is playing out in his jail.
“Fentanyl, as you see, is taking over the streets,” says Splawn. “And we’re at war with it here in the facility as well.”
The battle against fentanyl in jails starts before anyone in custody. Chief Splawn says oftentimes, the overdose deaths are isolated to people who used the drug before being arrested.
To combat ill-effects of the addiction, everyone who goes to the jail is put in a pre-class unit where medical staff can provide a full work up to find what every person needs.
That time in the unit is often a tough one for inmates with history of drug abuse.
“People come in off the streets, they’re extremely ill and they’ll go in, they’ll start detoxing” says Splawn. “So, the first couple of 3 to 4 days, they’re extremely sick and ill.”
Usually, this is where jail staff find inmates trying to smuggle drugs into the facility. If it gets past the full-body scanners, the Department of Corrections hopes to find it here and avoid exposing it to the general population and jail staff.
In 2023, the jail saw 22 overdose incidents, averaging one every 16.5 days. Those incidents were made up of 14 inmates and 8 staff members.
Though the jail is only required to submit Unexpected Fatality Review Reports when someone dies, it’s more likely for the jail to save someone.
With four of the in-custody deaths happening in 2023, that means 18 incidents were resolved, and 18 lives saved.
“We save the vast majority of people,” says Splawn. “These deaths hardly ever happen, and I wish they never happened.”
That’s a sentiment many jails echo.
The Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office reports the last in-custody death happened in 2019, and wasn’t drug related.
Inspector Chris Whitsett says the expectation is morbid when working with the jails.
“It’s a primary responsibility and constant threat that inmates are going to succumb to medical crises, to suicidal behavior or to the ingestion of deadly controlled substances,” says Inspector Whitsett.
The Yakima County Jail has steps in place to prevent the deadly overdoses.
Splawn says this jail is just one of four in the state to have medical staff on call 24/7. Jail staff also carry Narcan to be able to spring into action right away.
A full body scanner is already in place, but the jail was approved to bring in an upgraded scanner to catch anything that’s missed.
In April, a K-9 unit will work at the jail to sniff out drugs on the premises.
In the pre-class units, inmates will soon be wearing Vital Sign Readers, that would alert staff of any changes when they are most vulnerable.
“My job is to keep people safe, and that’s inmates and my staff both,” says Splawn. “The last thing I want is to tell another loved one that their family member died here.”
