To address problems associated with custodial deaths, some jails have made adjustments, including the following:

• Improved staff training
• Four additional hours of suicide prevention training for jail staff
• Additional mental health staff
• Add a registered nurse to the staff
• Suicide-resistant mattresses in cells
• Larger monitor for guards to surveil troubled inmates
• Track cell checks with an electronic system instead of paper logs
• Synchronized jail clocks to monitor inmates at correct intervals
• Replace blankets with tear-resistant blankets

Jails in Texas have also made changes to address the common problems jails face today. The following are among the actions being taken at certain jails:

• A specially trained group of deputies roam the jail for the purpose of identifying inmates who may be suicidal.
• A sheriff began working with county officials to determine which nonviolent mentally ill inmates are only in jail because they were unable to pay the $250 bond.
• In one county, a pilot program was launched giving inmates access to a suicide hotline.

Find out more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, and Part 8 of this nine-part series.

Inmates have constitutional rights that cannot be denied because they have been incarcerated. Reasonable medical care is among inmates’ rights, as is not having excessive and unreasonable force used on them by jailers.

The purpose of all posts on this site is to help Texas inmates, current and former, as well as their families. At no time is it intended to suggest that a person or institution has in any way engaged in misdeeds.

–Guest Contributor