On February 10, 2022, 54-year-old David Lee Tumey was booked into Medina County Jail in Hondo, Texas. He was placed in a detox cell because he was intoxicated at that time. On February 13, 2022, during a cell check, Mr. Tumey was found unresponsive and he was pronounced dead that day.

Screening for Suicide Risk

The Suicide Prevention Resource Center has online information about suicide prevention that is relevant to county jail settings, including the following:

• An essential aspect of suicide prevention is to detect the risk of suicide before the inmate acts.
• For each individual who makes a suicide-related chief complaint in an acute care setting, at least twice as many have suicidal tendencies that go undetected.
• The best practice for increasing detection rates is to conduct universal suicide screening.
• When a person with suicidal ideation is directly asked whether they consider taking their own life, they will share that they do. Unfortunately, many are simply not asked.
• By asking every inmate, the stigma associated with suicide screening is removed.
• In the face of an opposing myth, it is crucial to understand that asking about suicide does not cause suicide.
• If the inmate perceives that the person involved in intake screening is engaged in the process, their level of honest, self-reporting, and discloser is higher.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of this series.

Accusatory statements that people or entities have been involved in wrongdoing are never intended on this website. Posts are meant as resources that can be of help to prisoners now or previously held in Texas county jails.

–Guest Contributor