New County Sheriff's Department Program Puts Monitoring Device on Detainees - NBC San Diego

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department announced they are moving connected a caller aviator programme involving a monitoring instrumentality which volition beryllium placed connected a detainee's wrist successful bid to grounds their captious signs. SDSO said the programme volition absorption connected immoderate of their astir at-risk individuals.

There person been 18 in-custody deaths truthful acold this twelvemonth according to the SDSO, arsenic instrumentality enforcement, metropolis and region leaders and assemblage members are searching for ways to halt the deaths.

4Sight Labs is the institution down this wellness monitoring instrumentality that’s akin to a Fitbit oregon Apple Watch. The CEO John DeFalco said the instrumentality is made unafraid and rugged for usage connected individuals successful custody and it tin show things similar bosom complaint and however radical are physically moving.

"It's not capable with quality effort unsocial to ticker radical that are successful custody, you person to show their captious signs continuously from the infinitesimal they get arrested and transported into constabulary stations and region jails to support them around-the-clock," said DeFalco.

But, there’s a cautious optimism from families who’ve had a loved 1 dice portion in-custody.

"I deliberation it's a measurement for the San Diego Sheriff's to accidental we're trying," said Sabrina Weddel.

According to the county, determination person been 15 specified deaths truthful acold this year, with 5 successful July alone. NBC 7's Mari Payton has more.

Weddel’s brother, Saxon Rodriguez, died successful a San Diego County jailhouse past summertime from a fentanyl overdose. She said she is skeptical of the aviator program, but hopes that inmates' information improves.

"I mean I'm blessed that the creators created thing to assistance effort and prevention lives and if this helps, I anticipation that possibly they tin instrumentality a look into the instrumentality that looks for drugs, due to the fact that that is failing," said Weddel.

Paloma Serna’s girl died successful the Las Colinas Detention Facility backmost successful November of 2019.

"It volition enactment if we person deputies that are really doing what they're expected to beryllium doing," said Serna. "First of all, they person to beryllium checking connected inmates, they can't conscionable trust connected a device."

Both the women bring up concerns of transparency and accountability from the Sheriff's department.

The outgo of the programme is astir $1,000 per portion and is funded by the Sheriff's Department's existent budget. 

SDSO said the devices volition beryllium consensually placed connected those who are deemed medically vulnerable. Their vitals and question volition beryllium monitored by deputies and aesculapian unit who volition beryllium alerted erstwhile determination is simply a alteration successful information to the person's health.

The instrumentality enforcement bureau admit immoderate challenges similar artillery life, the size of the instrumentality and the accrued unit enactment needed to enactment the program.

"The world of today's detainee is precise challenging, wherever the situation successful the state with the opioid epidemic, intelligence health, the things that are unfolding connected streets successful cities each implicit the state each extremity up coming into the hands of instrumentality enforcement and corrections arsenic radical arrested successful process of the system," said DeFalco.

The Sheriff's Department said they program to update the nationalist connected the advancement of this program, which volition beryllium implemented successful the coming weeks.

In August San Diego County's Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an exigency measurement aimed astatine addressing the fig of cause overdose deaths successful San Diego County jails.