PHOENIX — Tactical teams stormed into Lower Buckeye Jail Wednesday morning without warning, inmates hitting the ground as part of a surprise contraband search aimed at keeping officers and inmates safe.
The search began with crews planning their approach just a few hundred feet away from those inmates. Flash bangs signaled the start of the operation as tactical teams moved in, ordering inmates to hit the deck and putting card games on hold.
"We're looking for drugs, weapons, homemade jail weapons,” Deputy Chief Jesse Spurgin told ABC15.
Inmates were searched and moved to the recreation yard while drug-sniffing dogs swept through every cell in the block.
Officers quickly detected the smell of “hooch," a homemade alcohol made with bread and fruit, in several cells. They also discovered creative inhalants made using muscle creams and towels.
"A towel they shredded up. They pretty much just take all the threads out, put it in there, and then get Icy Hot, Bengay stuff they're allowed to have, muscle creams, they put it in there and just inhale it," one detention officer explained.
Detention officers carefully stripped beds of sheets and towels, taking extra precautions not to shake items due to powdered fentanyl found in previous searches.
"We are finding a lot more powder [fentanyl] now than we did before. So, please do not shake things out," Lt. Noble instructed officers.
"Once that powdered fentanyl gets airborne that can affect a lot of people and can cause an overdose," Noble said.
Overdose deaths remain a significant issue inside the nation's fourth-largest county's jails. Sheriff Jerry Sheridan identified the problem as a focus after being elected.
"It's our job to run a safe jail system, not only for our officers that work there but for the inmates themselves," Sheridan said.
The sheriff's office has implemented body scanners at all facilities to limit contraband entry, though employees no longer must be scanned. Earlier this month, scanners caught an inmate attempting to bring a gun inside.
"It was in the front of the gentleman's underpants, and it was a full-sized weapon with a large magazine in there," Deputy Chief Spurgin said.
Contact visits for inmates have been limited, with exceptions only for privileged visits including clergy, attorneys and paralegals.
"A lot of the things they're getting in are coming in through the mail or it's being brought in through the body cavities of the inmates as they're being booked in through our facilities," Spurgin said.
These surprise searches represent part of a comprehensive approach to maintain safety for both officers and inmates.
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