8-23-2022
Rutherfordton- On Monday night four (4) people overdosed at Rutherford County Detention Center…..AGAIN. EMS was called and messages went out over social media. On Tuesday the Sheriff’s Department released the following Nixle statement concerning the incident at 1:24 pm.
“Detention Center Investigation”
“On August 22, 2022 an investigation revealed that a total of four inmate’s, at the Rutherford County Detention
Center, overdosed on some type of narcotic. Three of the inmates were administered Narcan by officers and were transported to Rutherford Regional Medical Center where they were treated and released back into the custody of the Rutherford County Detention Center. The fourth inmate was administered Narcan on a precautionary status and remained at the Rutherford County Detention Center.
This investigation is still active and being conducted by investigators of the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division to determine how the narcotics were brought in to the Detention Center.
Address/Location
Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office
198 N Washington St
Rutherfordton, NC 28139″
Many excuses have been given about these incidents, however excuses are running thin as it just keeps happening over and over again. It is time to stop making excuses and start doing something about this issue. We got lucky this time because no one died. How many more deaths will it take for something concrete to be done?
What will it take to shut down the jail until they can get a plan in place and some real oversight? The current administration says they are doing all they can. Obviously that is not enough. Is it going to take the death of an officer for them to open their eyes about the dangerous situation going on there? The death of inmates does not seem to be enough of a catalyst to change policy.
Who exactly is investigating the occurrences at the jail?
Is Sheriff Chris Francis actually investigating his own department?
How does that work? Not too well it seems.
Has there been any SBI investigations of previous overdoses and deaths? If so why have those results not been released?
It seems that the detention center has been operating with autonomy from Sheriff Francis’ oversight. They all tell each other what a good job they are doing yet people are overdosing and dying there. Change must happen.
Where is DA Ted Bell in all this? Is he not supplied with information as to what is happening? Crimes are obviously being committed but by whom? Are the drugs coming in from visitors or from staff? It is hard to tell when no one talks about it. Are there not cameras at the jail? Between weapons and drugs it seems to be a very dangerous place to work and it is no surprise that staff is afraid for their safety.
Why are inmates allowed to prepare food and serve it to the prisoners? They are considered trustees but with all this going on how can you trust any inmate? How hard would it be to slip drugs into food? At this point how can the public trust anything they are hearing?
I am heartsick over this as the entire community should be. Sheriff Francis is responsible for the
safety and well being of those incarcerated under his watch. This negligence is a recurring theme for him. I know he is out of there as soon as the new Sheriff is sworn in but how many “incidents” will happen before then? If he can’t control it then shut it down until someone else can come in, or take it away from him and hire a consultant to run it until a new administration is appointed. Even after he leaves office he is still responsible for what happened during his tenure.
Something must be done. This is totally unacceptable.
