Twenty-five-year-old Rick Dillion Criswell was booked into Hale County Jail in Plainview, Texas, on April 10, 2021. On June 22, 2021, he was found dead, hanging by his neck in a single medical cell.

Suicide is either the first or second leading cause of death in virtually all county jails. A tremendous amount of research has gone into custodial suicide. The results of one study found that the following are indisputable truths about managing inmates for purposes of suicide prevention:

• Thousands of inmates in custody across the nation, at any given moment, are making plans to act on suicidal intentions.
• Budgeting hardships frequently result in inadequate levels of staffing that hinder the capability of effectively monitoring ultra-high-risk offenders.

County jail administrators do not seem to recognize that staffing shortages do not justify instances of inmate suicide. At the same time, it is nonsensical to think that every inmate who is potentially suicidal can be kept on constant observation. Thankfully, supervision is not the only measure that can hinder the efforts of inmates to commit suicide. Providing inmates with smocks, paper sheets, and break-away showerheads are among the affordable means for helping to prevent custodial suicide.

In Part 2 and Part 3, of this series, learn specific measures to affordably prevent inmate suicide.

There is no intention on this website to assert that any person or entity has been involved in misdeeds. Each post added to this site is intended as a resource to specifically benefit county jail inmates in Texas, whether currently or formerly incarcerated.

–Guest Contributor