Cleveland Co. Sheriff’s Office Launches Program To Help Prevent In-Custody Deaths

This story originally reported by KOKH.

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office is launching a new product that would monitor a detainee's heart rate. The program, Custody Protect, is an innovation to public safety brought about from 4Sight Labs. The sheriff's office says Custody Protect is their current solution for helping prevent in-custody deaths.

Custody Protect is a monitoring system that assesses the health and safety of persons in custody in real-time, allowing officers to go from arrest to rescue in the blink of an eye if necessary. This program would be the new standard for Corrections and Law Enforcement professionals to assess arrest's and inmates' critical safety needs.

"As highlighted by several high visibility events involving in-custody deaths, it is evident that more needs to be done to protect our citizens and give those responsible for protecting and serving new tools to preserve the health and safety of people during their most fragile state," The Cleveland County Sheriff's Office said in their news release. "It is time to restore trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve and protect."

The goal of Custody Protect is to give officers the ability to identify the need for medical help sooner. The program will help prevent accidental deaths associated with alcohol withdrawals, drug overdoses, positional asphyxia, and suicides from happening while in custody.

"The use of Custody Protect takes a new step in that direction by helping prevent unnecessary deaths and increasing transparency and accountability throughout the arrest process, including the initial arrest, transportation of the custody, and continued monitoring in detention," Cleveland County Sheriff's Office said. "By using [Custody Protect], public safety professionals stand a better chance of saving lives, saving careers, and protecting communities."