Earlier this year, a Maricopa County detention officer was arrested and accused of smuggling roughly 100 meth and fentanyl pills into jail. Over the past few years, the number of drug-related inmate deaths has been on the rise.
Maricopa County Sheriff Paul Penzone said drugs, especially fentanyl, are a primary concern regarding the rising number of inmate deaths.
“Proportionately, it's not that we had the same population and there was a considerable surge in deaths in the jail,” Penzone said. “It is that our population rose and proportionately, the loss of life rose with it.”
Penzone added that the number of drug-related deaths is worrying, and most of them are linked to fentanyl; 2,000 grams of fentanyl have been seized in jails so far this year, he said.
“Basic math tells me that’s going to be 8,000 grams at the end of the year if we keep pace,” Penzone said.
Penzone said measures like new body scanners have been put in place. He also noted that he has directed the Tactical Operations unit, or SWAT team, and a special response team to do surprise searches in inmates’ pods.
“Everyone coming into the jail system will go through some form of search to make sure that we're not contributing to the problem and violating the law,” he said.
There are four K-9 dogs trained to detect fentanyl in use already, and potentially more on the way.
I'm considering purchasing four more dogs and dedicating four detention officers to solely manage those dogs specifically for searches in the jails.
Penzone said the jail system is “an exaggerated reflection of the problems that go on in society,” and that he wanted to address the community in the interest of transparency.
