The rising death toll comes just months after the jail regained compliance with the Texas Commission on Jail Standards<\/a>, following a November citation that required procedural changes in inmate holding areas and medication distribution.<\/p>\n That same month, the sheriff\u2019s office entered the final phase of \u201cOperation Lifeguard,\u201d a four-part plan launched to curb in-custody deaths through expanded medical screening, cell monitoring technology and staff training.<\/p>\n But with this year\u2019s death count already double what it was at this point in 2024, the impact of those reforms remains unclear.<\/p>\n Of the eight deaths, three were ruled suicides and two were tied to complications from substance withdrawal symptoms, according to public records and media reports.<\/p>\n Two others were the result of assaults in custody \u2014 including the death of Francisco Bazan, in which a former Bexar County Sheriff\u2019s Office deputy, Clemente Lopez<\/a>, was charged with murder and engaging in organized criminal activity. Lopez is accused of opening a cell door and allowing other inmates to carry out a violent assault on Bazan.\u00a0<\/p>\n The deaths underscore the complexity of challenges still facing the jail, even as new policies roll out.<\/p>\n Some reforms under Operation Lifeguard \u2014 like CPR and suicide prevention training \u2014 have become standard practice, Sheriff Javier Salazar told the Report in an interview on Thursday. Others remain stalled or only partially implemented, often due to staffing shortages<\/a> or legal barriers.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are certain things that have not yet been fully implemented,\u201d Salazar said. \u201cWe\u2019ve sent some [deputies] through EMT training. They have the training behind them, but we can\u2019t start using them in that capacity yet \u2014 the district attorney\u2019s office has yet to approve that.\u201d<\/p>\n Other reforms have expanded. Radar-based heart rate monitors, originally installed in 14 infirmary cells, are now being used in 100 cells across the jail.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re still the only major county jail in the state to be utilizing the technology. We\u2019re big proponents of it,\u201d Salazar said. \u201cWe actually haven\u2019t had a death in those areas where the radar technology is being employed.\u201d<\/p>\n The system currently only works in single-occupancy cells, he said, though upgrades allowing for multiple occupants are in development.<\/p>\n Salazar said staffing shortages and inmate overcrowding continue to make prevention difficult \u2014 even with reforms underway.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit of everything. There\u2019s always a staffing perspective to it. There\u2019s drug interactions or drug withdrawal aspects to it. We\u2019re overcrowded,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been a big proponent of, if somebody doesn\u2019t absolutely need to be in this jail, if there\u2019s somewhere else they need to be, then we need to have them there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Bexar](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Scott-Ball_Bexar-County-Commissioners-Court-Salazar-Calvert-Sakai-Rodriguez-Clay-Flores_pig-stand-br.jpeg\")
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar speaks during a Commissioner\u2019s Court meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. Credit: Scott Ball \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n