Five people have died while in the custody of the Denver Sheriff Department as of early October this year, matching 2023’s numbers.
Fentanyl was involved in two of those deaths, another reminder of how pervasive the drug is in Colorado.
The deaths in Denver are higher than other jails in counties with similar populations.
Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins, who was sworn in in 2020 and has worked for the department for 30 years, said he actually believes the number of deaths is on par with other counties with the same size.
He called the deaths an “unfortunate circumstance” that happens in America’s jails.
“One of the things that we deal with in our field is deaths in custody,” he said. “It happens in jails across America. In larger facilities, the number of deaths is higher than smaller jails… It’s an unfortunate circumstance that happens in our field and we certainly do everything that we can to avoid people passing away in custody.”
Noting the numbers, Jason Vitello, the equity and community development manager for the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, said, “I always knew I didn’t want to go to prison, but now I know I don’t want to go to jail, either.”