Campbell Jail in narcotics crisis; 27 inmates overdose in 2023

“Types of drugs” are “contributing” to overdoses- Campbell County Sheriff Wayne Barton

A look inside a cell at the Campbell County Jail.

By SUSAN SHARP

CAMPBELL COUNTY, TN. (WLAF)- Narcotics inside jails are not a new problem. But overdoses inside the confines of a locked facility are.

In 2023, the Campbell County Jail requested emergency medical services for narcotics overdoses on 18 occasions.

These 18 calls involved 27 inmates, according to county 911 records.

The most recent call came last Monday when a male overdosed, needing two doses of Narcan to be revived, 911 records said.

The calls placed by the jail for additional medical assistance included notes that said inmates were being given CPR, had received Narcan, and that some were “turning blue,” the records said.

Campbell County Sheriff Wayne Barton believes the “the type of drugs” people are using is “contributing” to the problem.

Sheriff Wayne Barton speaking at the Rotary Club luncheon in January.

An overdose on Methamphetamine “is not as life threatening as what it is on Heroin,” Barton said recently.

The inmates are frightened and call out for help now when a Heroin or Fentanyl overdose occurs as opposed to a time when they would not have with a different type of overdose, he said.

BY THE NUMBERS

On Oct. 11, just before 1am, three calls were placed from the jail to 911 asking for assistance because multiple female inmates had overdosed. CPR was in progress, and Narcan was being administered. In all, 14 doses of Narcan were administered to six women. For two of them, it took three doses to “bring them back,” according to WLAF’s sources.

Barton disputed that number saying seven doses were given that night.

What is not in dispute is that six women were transported to the hospital for medical care. Additional jail staff had to be called in to sit with these women at the hospital while others had to cover various parts of the jail.

While this is a troubling situation, the more disturbing part is that this is not an isolated event.

From Jan. 1 until Nov. 20, the jail called 911 18 times because inmates had overdosed, and their medical needs were greater than what the on-duty jail nurse could provide. These 18 calls resulted in 13 ambulance transports, according to 911 records.

Examining 911 records for the last 15 years, staff at the Campbell County Jail has asked for outside medical assistance for a variety of reasons 133 times; 62 of those calls have been in 2023. That is 46.2 percent of the calls. Prior to 2023, there were only two overdose calls. In 2023, there have been 18 documented overdose calls.

Barton contends when the number of inmates housed in 2023 is evaluated versus the number of inmate overdoses reported it “is a very, very small percentage of the inmate population.”

A supervisor’s view inside the Campbell County Jail.

HOW THE DRUGS GET IN AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY DO

Jails are supposed to be a controlled environment, thus making it difficult to obtain narcotics. However, corrections experts WLAF spoke with said there are numerous methods for getting drugs inside the jail.

Newly arrested people can smuggle narcotics into the jail by hiding them in body cavities, the illegal substances can be brought in by a third party, or the drugs can be “fished” from the outside. This method involves finding a broken window or a small crevice in the building where someone on the outside places the drugs in a small pack, ties it to a piece of string and then sends it into the jail.

Regardless of how the drugs get in the facility, once it is in the jail, inmates will use it. They will share it either by choice or by force, according to sources familiar with this behavior.

That is what appears to have occurred on that night in October when six women were taken to the hospital for overdoses. Sources further confirmed that other inmates were drug tested, but the results weren’t conclusive.

The employees working the night of the October overdoses “did a good job,” Barton said. “They did what they were supposed to. Everybody’s alive.”

In May, eight men overdosed, sources said. That wasn’t called into 911, so those inmates aren’t accounted for in the 27 WLAF discovered.

“If they would have overdosed, medical would have called 911,” Barton said.

CAMPBELL COUNTY VERSUS OTHER COUNTIES

Given the similar cultural and economic composition of East Tennessee, WLAF called other jails in the area to ascertain how many overdoses had occurred. Most of the jails reported having no overdoses in recent memory. One rural jail did report having three overdoses earlier this year. Anderson County Jail was the only one to report a large number of overdoses at the same time. Eight inmates overdosed earlier this year, an Anderson County employee reported. It should also be noted that was its only overdose for the year.

The Commons at the Campbell County Jail.

Regarding the number of overdoses reported in the local jail versus other counties lack of overdoses, Barton said he would question if those counties had the same level of drug use Campbell County has.

A new body scanner has been delivered to the jail. Purchased with a grant, Barton thinks the unit will prompt honesty about contraband being brought into the jail. He also thinks it will be a deterrent for those who are intentionally arrested with the goal being to bring drugs into the facility. One call has already been “intercepted” in which a woman refused to smuggle in drugs because of the scanner, according to Barton.

The scanner is not yet operational, but staff has been trained, he said.

Barton acknowledges the scanner will not eliminate contraband entering the jail but believes it will be a deterrent to some.

“We never will be able to get ahead of the inmates, because they have 24 hours a day, seven days a week to sit and think of ways to try and beat the system,” Barton said. “It seems like we are always one step behind with every precaution, every protection, everything we put in place.”

(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 11/27/2023- 6AM)