A Warning Call Falls on Deaf Ears Continued

On the day the man died, his family called the jail and spoke to a deputy. They recounted details of a conversation they had had earlier that day. The deputy provided a written statement that he had determined mental staff did not need to be notified to conduct an immediate evaluation because the inmate never stated explicitly that he was going to commit suicide. Just hours later, a jailer found the man hanging in his cell. He was pronounced deceased two days later.

Local Jail Suicide Statistics

In the study covering the years 2001 to 2019, 5% to 8% of the suicides occurred among state and federal prisoners. For local jails, that number was much higher, with 24% to 35% of suicides occurring in local jails The first weeks of incarceration are particularly high risk, with 66% of suicides occurring within the first month of incarceration. Suicides occurred within the first week of incarceration 44% of the time.

Local jails have high rates of suicide, experts say, because of the trauma of being arrested and loss of freedom. The case above calls into question whether institutions have provided proper training and policies to assess risks for the purpose of preventing suicides.

See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, and Part 17 of this continuing series to learn more.

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