Location of Jail Suicides

The location of suicide events in jails can provide insight into methods of suicide prevention. The following are statistics from 2000-2004:

• 79.4% of suicides took place in the inmate’s cell
• 9.1% of the inmates took their own lives in temporary housing
• 4.0% were in a common area of the jail facility
• 1.1% were outside of the jail facility when they committed suicide
• 5.2% were in a location designated as “other”

To show a potential progression as far as where suicides occur in jails, the following percentages are from the years 2010-2014:

• 72.5% of suicides took place in the inmate’s cell
• 5.8% in temporary housing
• 4.3% in a common area of the jail facility
• 8.1% in a segregation unit
• 3.2% in a special medical unit/infirmary
• 1.1% in a special mental health services unit
• 1.8% occurred elsewhere within the jail facility
• 0.8% were outside of the jail facility
• 1.3% were in a location designated as “other”

The following shows the locations of suicides for the entire span of 2000-2019:

• 72.5% of suicides took place in the inmate’s cell
• 6.1% in temporary housing
• 4.2% in a common area of the jail facility
• 8.1% in a segregation unit
• 3.3% in a special medical unit/infirmary
• 1.0% in a special mental health services unit
• 1.7% occurred elsewhere within the jail facility
• 0.6% were outside of the jail facility
• 1.9% were in a location designated as “other”

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, and Part 10 of this continuing series.

Helping Texas jail detainees and their families with resources is one of the purposes of this website. There is no intention of suggesting that people or organizations have been involved in misdeeds.

–Guest Contributor