After 74 days in Hale County Jail in Plainview, Texas, Rick Dillon Criswell committed suicide. He was 25 years old at the time of his death on June 22, 2021. On that day, when he was being called for outside recreation time, Mr. Criswell was found hanging in his cell.

Another cost-effective tip for preventing inmate suicides follows.

Establish Strategic KPIs

To accentuate the importance of making cell checks, mandate that face-to-face cell checks constitute a key performance indicator (KPI) for continued employment, pay raises, and promotions. Stress that failure to fulfill this particular KPI is grounds for termination or suspension.

Training of jail staff members should include knowledge that a cell check is more than being there to glance into cells every 15 or 30 minutes, depending on where the inmates are housed. A cell check includes:

• If inmates are lying down, watch for signs of life, such as the rise and fall of their chest.
• Monitor and, when necessary, log whether an inmate is facing the wall or laying on the left or right side. Record any movement observed.
• Randomization of cell checks and security rounds is essential. Avoid predictable patterns of behavior among staff members. For instance, it is unacceptable for a jail staff member to frequently log a cell check every 13 minutes because the pattern lacks randomization. Essentially, detainees should not be able to accurately predict when the next cell check will occur.

Learn more in Part 1 and Part 2 of this three-part series.

On this website, there is never an intention to suggest that a person or any entity has participated in wrongs. The posts on this site are added to help inmates currently and formerly incarcerated in Texas county jails.

–Guest Contributor