Inmates ingesting drugs, dying

A deadly trend in Riverside County Jails: inmates overdosing.

Overdosing inmates is turning into a deadly trend in Riverside County jails.

There are three suspected cases in the last two weeks; one in Riverside, the other two in Indio.

The Riverside Sheriff’s Department believes inmates are trying to get around drug charges but instead, are paying the ultimate price.

“We are seeing it a little more frequent this year than we have in the recent past,” said Riverside County Assistant Sheriff Jerry Gutierrez.

Getting caught with narcotics has consequences, but those consequences are far less than the ones three inmates paid in the past two weeks.

“The coroner hasn’t determined the cause of death with many of the deaths that have occurred this year, but at least three of them we suspect, based upon the statements of the individuals once they have gone into medical duress, that three are could be related to narcotics ingestion,” said Gutierrez.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s department believes people ingest the drugs to avoid getting caught in possession of them.

“What can end up happening is the packaging used to hold these narcotics can either rupture or open up,” said Gutierrez.

Even a small amount can be deadly because by the time an inmate shows symptoms, it’s more than likely too late.

“A person who may have ingested narcotics may be completely initially completely normal vitals, but the medical emergency wouldn’t take effect until it’s already too late. It’s already in the blood stream. That’s what makes it difficult,” said Gutierrez. “But to try to combat that, we are asking arrestees if they have swallowed narcotics or maybe secreted narcotics to try our best to catch it as early as possible.”

Sheriff’s deputies are now looking out for the behavior.

“We now have registered nurses at all of our intakes in all our jail systems doing medical screening of individuals before they even get booked into the jail system,” said Gutierrez.

The department posts warning signs in the jails along with routine sweeps by drug sniffing dogs.

“We have a vigilant effort in trying to combat this,” said Gutierrez.

But ultimately, it’s up to the inmate to speak up before it’s too late or not to do it in the first place.

“It’s just not worth the risk, it’s not worth your life,” said Gutierrez.