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The death toll in Maricopa County Jail is too high. A bracelet could stop it

Maricopa County is suffering from staff shortages and an inexcusably high death rate in its prisons. To save lives, the county could now turn to wristband monitoring devices.

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Sheriff Russ Skinner risked his long career as a law enforcement officer to win the office to which he was temporarily appointed, only to fail when he unexpectedly dropped out of the July 30 Democratic primary.

In addition to completing the task of his former boss, Paul Penzone, to free the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office from judicial oversight, his biggest challenge has been to reduce the alarmingly high number of deaths in county jails in recent years.

Serious efforts to address this problem will not begin until the winner of the November 5 general election takes office, but Skinner has started the ball rolling.

Skinner's team is researching wrist-worn devices similar to the Fitbit that would monitor inmates' vital signs and alert authorities to a medical emergency.

And in Maricopa County jails, this is extremely common.

Death rate in prisons is worryingly high

What is even more problematic is that the number of fatal emergencies is worryingly high.

As Arizona Republic reporter Jimmy Jenkins reported earlier this month, deaths in Maricopa County jails have skyrocketed over the past five years, even as the average daily incarceration rate has declined, with the death rate more than four times higher than the national average.

In 2019, there were 11 deaths in prisons. This number rose to 43 people in both 2022 and 2023.

Skinner and county officials point out that they are seeing more people addicted to opioids, sometimes in conjunction with methamphetamines. They are also treating more people who were exposed to the oppressive heat during the summer, which put greater stress on their bodies.

Monitoring bracelets set to thresholds for specific values ​​of heart rate, oxygen levels and body temperature would theoretically provide an automatic detection method that would not be possible with a visual examination.

This could be particularly useful given the ongoing staff shortages in prisons.

Wristband monitors could save lives

A number of prison and jail authorities are currently experimenting with health-monitoring bracelets, some for the same reasons as the MCSO: deaths in custody from suicide, overdoses, and other health issues.

The prison systems in Bernalillo County, New Mexico – home to Albuquerque, the state's most populous city – and in some counties in Georgia have made similar efforts.

Police in Avondale, about 20 miles west of Phoenix, began a wrist-monitoring program last summer, issuing a bracelet to every inmate admitted to their jail. Police reported being very pleased with the results.

According to police officer Daniel Benavidez, the device saved the life of at least one inmate last year. Authorities were alerted when the man's heart rate dropped. When prison staff arrived, he was unresponsive and not breathing.

Staff began CPR and revived the inmate before transporting him to a hospital.

Elsewhere the results were mixed

Nevertheless, about 3,500 people were incarcerated in Avondale last year. daily The prison population was more than 6,500 people in 2023.

And while providers only boast about benefits, the results are mixed.

The Fulton County Sheriff's Office in Atlanta reached a deal with a Georgia company in 2023 to monitor inmates with electronic bracelets, but Fulton County commissioners rejected the deal months later.

Fewer than 50 prisoners were equipped with the devices, far fewer than the 500 promised for $2.1 million in taxpayer money.

I sent a man to prison for 290 years: It still haunts me

Resistance is also being expressed by civil rights activists, who believe that the devices – which can be programmed to detect excessive exertion such as running or fighting and to track the location of prisoners to within one or two meters – amount to unjustified surveillance.

A Florida Department of Corrections requirement that inmates wear electronic bracelets recently raised concerns among attorneys and family members that their heartbeats would be monitored for drug use and that refusing to wear the device would result in punishment.

The Maricopa County Sheriff is on the right track

Skinner has a much narrower target group in mind: people who are addicted to substances, have mental health problems, are at risk of suicide or suffer from a worrying illness.

The sheriff believes the monitoring bracelets would give Maricopa County jail staff a real chance to intervene in medical emergencies and suicide attempts.

The district is currently preparing a request for information to potential providers.

Skinner is unlikely to be able to make this program a reality, even if the process and approval by the county commissioners were expedited.

But it does promise to reverse the trend of prison inmates dying at alarming rates, and Skinner should be commended for initiating this effort.

Reach Abe Kwok at [email protected]. On X, formerly Twitter: @abekwok.

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