To continue with stories out of jails in a state that is currently holding the jail inspection process under scrutiny, another custodial death that has been a concern happened in May 2016. Records show that the jail where this death occurred had failed to provide a plan for suicide prevention and intervention. Five months after this requirement was made known to the jail, a woman who was booked for a violation of probation managed to commit suicide less than an hour after entering the jail facility.

Court records reflect that in the case of this suicide, jail staff failed to follow basic measures for suicide prevention. Those measures included properly filling out a mental health screening assessment and removing the inmate’s shoelaces.  

After this custodial suicide, another two years passed and the Sheriff in charge of that jail stated in a sworn deposition that the jail manual still lacked a suicide prevention policy. As of November 2019, however, the suicide prevention plan has finally been adopted at that particular facility.

See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of this six-part series.

Among the requirements for jail facilities is that inmates’ Constitutional rights must be upheld. A lawsuit can be brought against a jail if a custodial death occurs as a result of any jail practice, custom, or policy.

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–Guest Contributor