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."
"This is not meant to diminish or disparage any of the staff there. I think these are good people doing the best with what they have," Vitello said.
A look at the numbers
There were five inmate deaths while under Denver Sheriff Department custody in 2023, according to Denver Health — the state body that is paid by the city for jailhouse health care services. There we over 23,000 people booked in the jail that year.
There were three deaths in 2022.
"We are the largest jail system in the state of Colorado," Diggins said. "In fact, we booked 23,000 people through our system every single year. That’s important. That context ... when you book 23,000 people through your custody, there may be the unfortunate circumstance of people passing away based on a number of different reasons."
By comparison, El Paso County, which has a higher population than Denver county — 747,834 compared to Denver's 719,701 — only saw two inmate deaths between January and the beginning of October.
The El Paso County jail had four deaths in 2023, one lower than Denver, though the jail only booked 15,758 people throughout the year, according to the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice dashboard.
The jail saw 11 deaths in 2022, according to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office.
Jefferson County, which has a resident population smaller than Denver's with 576,921, has only seen two deaths between January and the beginning of October, as well, with three in 2023 and two in 2022.
The local jail mortality rate in the country in 2019 was 167 deaths per 100,000 inmates, up 11% from 2000 (151 per 100,000), according to a 2021 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Taking in account Denver's estimate of around 23,000 inmates booked each year, the five deaths would place Denver lower than the country's average mortality rate.
All five of the Denver deaths occurred at the city jail, located near Civic Center Park.
The deceased inmates, according to the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner, included the following:
- On Feb. 27, 38-year-old Toby Porter was found dead at the jail. The cause of death was from the combined toxic effects of methamphetamine and fentanyl.
- On May 16, 53-year-old Phillip Martinez was found unconscious in a housing united and later died at a nearby hospital. The cause of death was from choking on food.
- On May 31, 36-year-old Michael Blume was found dead at the jail. The cause of death was the toxic effects of fentanyl.
- On Sept. 7, 65-year-old Julian Reyes was found unconscious. He was transported to a nearby hospital and later died on Sept. 10. The cause of death was from sepsis due to pneumonia and enteritis.
- On Sept. 19, 45-year-old Jason Jones was found unconscious and died, despite life-saving measures. The cause of death is still being investigated by the medical examiner's office.
Two of the five deaths involved drug use, which may or may not have been ingested prior to being booked into the jail.
The standard booking process is meant to eliminate the potential of health and drug-related deaths that began prior to being jailed.
“If someone needs to go to the hospital when they come to our custody, we do not accept them,” Diggins said, noting that whatever agency arrested the person would take them to Denver Health first. “When they come into our custody, every single person is assessed by Denver Health. They get a medical, as well as a mental health screen.”
Diggins did not say whether the people arrested undergo a cavity search.
A medical concern
David Lane, an attorney for Killmer Lane, LLP in Denver, blamed what he described as a lack of correct care by contracted healthcare services for the increase in jail deaths nationwide.
“Most jails these days, at least in the metro areas, have private companies they contract out for healthcare services," Lane said. "These companies are in it for the money. The less money they spend per inmate, the more profit they put into their bank.”
Lane contrasted this to when the counties had their own health staff and unit at jails, which was paid through taxdollars and no one was under the pressure of how much inspections and procedures would cost.
“Now, it’s coming out of these providers’ pockets," he said. "Now, they have a financial incentive to do nothing or the very bare minimum. That has been a serious issue in jails and prisons all over the country.”
Denver Health is the contractor for Denver's jail health services.
In 2022, both Denver Health and the Denver Sheriff Department faced criticism and a lawsuit for the handling of 71-year-old Leroy Taylor, an inmate who died on Feb. 9, 2022 after several days of begging for medical care as he experienced chest pains, trouble breathing, nausea and losing his ability to swallow medication.
Medical staff repeatedly sent Taylor back to his cell even as fellow inmates and sheriff’s department officials noticed his deteriorating condition and tried to get him care in the days leading up to his death.
Taylor also contacted his family, pleading for a visit to his personal doctor because he believed he was dying.
Taylor's son filed a lawsuit against Denver Health shortly after. In an Aug. 20, 2024 order, U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney rejected Denver Health's attempt to dismiss the claim that its the employees were deliberately indifferent to Taylor's serious medical needs, so the case is ongoing. No trail date has been set.
"Here, the symptoms were so obviously dangerous that laypeople did recognize them: multiple prisoners and (jail) staff members commented on Mr. Taylor’s need for medical attention, indicating that the seriousness of the symptoms was obvious and would be especially obvious to a medical professional," Sweeney said.
In the Denver's Citizen Oversight Board 2022 annual report, Denver Health told the board that it receives over 150 inmate complaints each month.
In response to the report, a spokesperson for Denver Health told The Denver Gazette's news partner, 9News:
"The Denver Health care team at the Denver County jails strives to provide the best possible care. Any in-custody death is difficult, and we have sincere sympathy for anyone experiencing the loss of a loved one. The circumstances of each death are reviewed, and we are committed to ongoing efforts to improve processes and care."
In an act of improving transparency, the Denver Sheriff Department hired a liaison as a go-between for the department and Denver Health in 2023.
“We value every life that is in our custody," Diggins told The Denver Gazette. "We do everything that we can to help the people that are here go back to the community better than how they came to us... Sometimes, folks come here in very poor health, and through the work of Denver Health, they leave here better than how they came.”
On Oct. 16, Denver Health CEO told a Denver City Council committee that the hospital system may have to drop the contract in 2026 due to the city not paying for the entirety of the healthcare costs it provides.
This November, Denver voters will decide whether to pass a 0.34-point sales tax increase to support funding for Denver Health. If approved, Denver's sales tax will go from 8.81% to 9.15%, generating an additional $70 million in revenue a year for Denver Health.
Denver Health said the increase in taxes, if approved, will not impact its decision on whether to stay in contract with the county jail.
"Denver Health negotiates with the city of Denver annually on funding to support uncompensated care costs and contracts for specific health care services provided to the city. It's well documented that funding for uncompensated care from the city has not substantially changed in over 25 years, despite significantly increased costs to Denver Health," a spokesperson for Denver Health told The Denver Gazette.
While reimbursements have been adjusted every year, the funding has not grown for total costs, according to Denver Health.
"For Denver Health to continue executing these contracts, adjustments must be made in the contracts to mitigate losses associated with administering the contracts," the health system said.
Establishing care
Regardless of the way a medical provider handles inmates, some say the issue of inmate deaths across the country starts with the deputies in charge themselves — or the lack thereof.
“It’s a lack of compassion and concern for the lives and the health of the inmates," Lane said.
Lane pointed toward an example in Boulder County in which Lane settled with former Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle and Boulder County for a total of $2,550,000 in connection to the injuries sustained by Ryan Partridge, an inmate at the Boulder County jail in 2016.
Patridge gouged his eyes out in the jail while experiencing a psychotic episode and also attempted suicide multiple times.
The lawsuit filed in December 2017 claimed that Partridge was actively psychotic and nothing was done to treat him for the psychosis.
According to the suit, jail staff never sought a court order, which would have allowed them to administer anti-psychotic medication.
“All the jailers were doing was calling the state hospital and saying he was desperately in need of help. The state hospital kept saying they were full and didn’t have room for him,” Lane said. “Deputies in the jail are obligated to respond to the serious medical needs of an inmate, that includes psychiatric needs. But here they did nothing ... I said, ‘Did you call Boulder Memorial Hospital? They have the ability to forcibly medicate people.’ And they said, ‘Well, we don’t do that.’"
"You should do that," Lane said.
Regarding how this is a concerning trend with jails across the state, Lane added: “It’s a combination of ‘not my department’ and ‘I did what I was supposed to do and called medical'."
“Even if they take them to medical, the deputy thinks, ‘Well, I took him to medical. It’s out of my hands now, even if I see further problems,’” Lane said. “They are still obligated to do something to help the inmate.”
In a local note, though, Lane said that he has not received many calls regarding Denver jails in comparison to what the law firm used to receive.
Vitello said that the biggest issue with both jails and prisons currently is a lack of staffing, both nationally and locally.
During research for a report published by the CCJRC in January regarding the staffing crisis in prisons, Vitello said the conditions they saw were "nightmarish."
While that was only in prisons specifically, Vitello said they can make assumptions that jails are seeing similar situations.
In March, the Denver Sheriff Department had 604 sworn staff, according to a department spokesperson. This translates to 70.3% of its authorized strength.
“People don’t want to be in jails or prisons even when they have the keys," Vitello said. "Even when fully staffed, it’s a tough place to work. When you have a staffing crisis in the mix where people are concerned for their safety and people are working more than one shift, it’s like a powder keg.”
To Lane, the way forward would include more work from supervisors making sure that the job is done properly. Filtering out workers that don't care for the inmates would also help, but he notes that as a near impossibility.
To Vitello, the way forward, in the short-term, is increasing the workforce. But, in the long-term, the solution is attempting to keep people out of jails and prisons altogether.
"There has to be a balance between programming, staffing and the inmates. Right now, things are really out of whack," Vitello said.
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