Investigation shows officials wrongfully let drugs into San Diego County jails – San Diego Union-Tribune

The civilian oversight board that reviews complaints against the Sheriff’s Department has found misconduct by sheriff’s deputies in two more cases related to two recent deaths in San Diego County jails.

In a report reviewed by the Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board late last week, investigators said prison guards were partly responsible for the deaths of Ryan Patrick Thuresson and Joshua Fosbinder last year.

“Despite the SDSD (San Diego Sheriff’s Department) taking measures to prevent drug trafficking in the prisons, Fosbinder obtained fentanyl, which subsequently contributed to his death,” the investigative committee’s report said.

“Despite all efforts to stop the crime, there is no doubt that Fosbinder, while in custody and under the care of the SDSD, purchased and consumed fentanyl, which contributed to his death,” investigators said.

The board of inquiry came to virtually the same conclusion after investigating Thuresson’s death at the Vista Detention Facility in February 2023, about four months after his arrest.

“Ultimately, this investigation could not determine how the decedent obtained the drugs that contributed to his death,” the report states. “However, the evidence indicated that the decedent used illegal drugs while in the custody of the SDSD.”

“The evidence supports the allegation and the act or conduct was not justified,” investigators said.

The findings are the latest in a long line of independent investigations accusing the Sheriff’s Department and its employees of contributing to deaths in San Diego County jails.

Sheriff Kelley Martinez and her predecessors have said for years that they are doing everything in their power to protect people in county jails.

Yet people continue to die in custody, and taxpayers continue to pay for officer negligence or misconduct, records show.

Department officials are currently pursuing a multi-year, nearly $500 million modernization of the county jails. They have also hired additional doctors, nurses and mental health workers and now spend more than $100 million annually on health care for the roughly 4,000 people incarcerated daily.

The sheriff has rejected a persistent recommendation from the Civilian Oversight Board, the county grand jury, the California State Auditor and others: to conduct body scans of officers every time they enter jails. Martinez said the practice is unnecessary.

The agency has numerous methods in place to prevent drugs from entering prisons, and there is no evidence that officers have been involved in smuggling illegal drugs or other contraband into county jails, officials said.

“We have developed a strategy to close the security gaps through which drugs could enter our facilities,” officials wrote in a response to the oversight committee released earlier this year. “This includes, but is not limited to, searches, investigations, intelligence gathering, body scanners and drug detection dogs.”

“This comprehensive strategy has reduced the influx of drugs into our facilities to virtually zero,” the response continued.

At least one of the six in-custody deaths this year involved the use of Narcan, a drug designed to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, suggesting that drugs continue to find their way into county jails.

In recent years, officers have been arrested and charged on prison grounds on two occasions for drug-related offenses. Both were convicted and relieved of their duties with the Sheriff’s Department.

Agency records and outside investigations show that more than 240 men and women have died in San Diego County jails since 2006.

So far this year, six people have died in local prisons, including a 42-year-old man who was found unconscious on the floor of a shower at San Diego Central Jail on Wednesday.

The case remains under investigation and the cause of death has not been released. An attorney representing the plaintiffs suing the county said she believes the death was due to improper treatment of withdrawal symptoms.

Deaths in San Diego County jails continue to draw criticism from families of those who died in custody, and activists are also calling on investigative committees and other public officials to do more to protect inmates.

“Drug overdoses are not the problem; access to drugs while incarcerated is the problem,” said Yusef Miller of the North County Equity and Justice Coalition. “We need to make sure all employees are drug screened.”

David Settles, whose brother Matthew committed suicide two years ago in the George Bailey Detention Facility despite a long history of mental illness, said the Sheriff’s Department needs to do a better job of providing medical care to people in county jails.

“(Matthew) didn’t get the treatment he needed; that’s why he’s not here,” Settles said. “We keep hearing the same story, so we have to do better.”

The Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board is charged with overseeing the sheriff’s and parole departments. The volunteer board is supported by 10 staff members and $2 million.

The board is also looking for a successor to former CEO Paul Parker, who resigned in frustration earlier this year after several of his reform initiatives stalled.

Parker was named top manager of the City of San Diego’s Police Practices Commission last week. The county’s law enforcement oversight agency expects to hire a new manager this summer.