Drug Overdose Deaths Increase Sharply in Jails and All Demographics

Vera Institute is a non-profit organization seeking criminal justice reform. In particular, Vera strives to end mass incarceration. The organization published a report on national trends and racial disparities, which reveals the tragic escalation of custodial deaths resulting from overdose.

Although the opioid crisis affects all levels of society, research shows that individuals who are incarcerated are at a higher risk for overdose death. One of the reasons for this among people who use opioids could include tolerance loss during periods of abstinence. Limited access to naloxone and medication-assisted treatment (MAT) can also have devastating results.

Drug overdose took more than 300,000 lives in the U.S. from 2014 to 2018, which represented the sharpest acceleration of overdose deaths in more than three decades. Long-term, chronic tobacco and alcohol use was formerly connected to substance-use fatalities. That has changed as the level of lethality of opiates has increased to the point of being unprecedented. Fentanyl is among the deadly synthetic opioids contributing to increased overdose deaths in jails and elsewhere.

Due to the risk of overdose deaths and many other factors, it is imperative for the safety of inmates that jail staff properly supervise them as required by standards established by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS).

Dallas County Jail is Cited for Lack of Inmate Supervision After a Custodial Death

Under Chapter 275-Supervision of Inmates, Rule §275.1-Regular Observation by Jailers requires all jail facilities to maintain the appropriate number of jailers in the facility around the clock. Face-to-face observations of inmates in the general jail population must be conducted in intervals not to exceed every 60 minutes. In areas where inmates are at risk, observations are required in intervals not to exceed every 30 minutes. After an inmate’s death, the Dallas County Jail was recently cited for noncompliance with these requirements. More to follow in this continuing series. Also see Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

This website seeks to provide resources that will be helpful to Texas inmates incarcerated in local city and county jails. Making accusations that organizations or individuals have participated in misdeeds is never intended.

–Guest Contributor