The custodial death report (CDR) for Dallas County Jail inmate Willie Florence Love, Jr. has a very brief summary how of his death occurred. He was taken under the care of medical staff in the unit because of his medical conditions. On February 22, 2023, Mr. Love stopped breathing and he was transported by ambulance to Parkland Memorial Hospital. There, the medical staff pronounced him deceased on that same day.

Impact on Jails

The nine state psychiatric hospitals for adults in Texas, altogether, have been making about a third of the beds (about 800) unavailable to patients. Workforce issues created by the pandemic have been the primary reason recent upgrades in mental health care are negligible.

Much of the pressure falls on the jails, where the amount of care a mentally handicapped inmate receives while in jail differs from one county to the next depending on the resources that are available. Some jails have developed their own mental health team to deal with the waitlist.

Dallas County has been attempting to identify trends and connect to the people on assistance. They do this by tracking and monitoring people who enter the county jails and are identified as pregnant, homeless, or have veteran status.

But not every county can take these types of actions. In Texas, there are 254 counties and few have the resources of Dallas County.

Learn more in Part 1 and Part 2 of this continuing series.

This website aims to provide resources helpful to Texas inmates detained in county and municipal jails. There is never an intention of insinuating that persons or organizations have been participants in wrongdoing.

–Guest Contributor