{"id":425036,"date":"2024-05-06T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/?post_type=newspack_nl_cpt&p=425036"},"modified":"2026-03-27T10:02:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T17:02:05","slug":"california-jail-deaths-tulare-county","status":"publish","type":"newspack_nl_cpt","link":"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/_zh\/newsletter\/california-jail-deaths-tulare-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Tulare County find a way to reduce California jail deaths?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"A
A mental health staff member speaks with an inmate through their cell door in an inmate housing unit at the Tulare County Adult Pre-Trial Facility on Sept. 18, 2023. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters\/CatchLight Local<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

The number of people dying in California jails continues to increase even as the state\u2019s elected officials urge greater transparency around inmate deaths. In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom called for more scrutiny<\/a> of California’s 57 county jail systems and signed a law last year to require jails to disclose more information about deaths behind bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as CalMatters criminal justice reporter \u675c\u8d5e\u5947<\/a> explains in his multipart series<\/a>, death rates remain well above 2019 levels. In the first installment of his investigation, Nigel found that the state hit a record-high of 215 inmate deaths in 2022<\/a>. Aside from natural causes, the two major causes of death were suicide and overdoses, particularly fentanyl-related drugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In part two, Nigel reported the roadblocks some local officials and advocates face when attempting to compel sheriff departments, which run the jail systems, to make changes. He chronicles how the head of a San Diego County review board abruptly quit<\/a> after the board and sheriff rejected his recommendations to reduce jail deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his latest story, Nigel reports from San Joaquin Valley, where one sheriff hopes the small changes he implements will meaningfully help curb inmate death and suicide rates<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year before Lt. Buddy Hirayama took charge of Tulare County jails, the jail system had one of the deadliest years in its history, with eight deaths in 2022, including four suicides. When Hirayama assumed his leadership role in June 2023, the death of a 32-year-old inmate named Ignacio Garcia marked the second death in Tulare County jails that year and the first death on Hirayama\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n