Recommendations for enhanced suicide prevention methods made to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS) continue below.

Continually Monitor Suicide Statistics

In each Texas jail, TCJS should continually monitor the total number of suicides and re-evaluate compliance in jails with a high incident rate. Troubled jails should be provided with referrals to experts on suicide prevention for the purpose of identifying practices and policies that may be contributing to the problem.

• In one particular Texas county jail, six prisoners committed suicide within a one-year period, which was three times the national average at the time. The following year, the number of suicides in that same jail was five. In the subsequent year, there were three custodial suicides at that county jail. It was during that third year that the county sought assistance from an outside source, that being an expert in suicide prevention. TCJS is encouraged to have vigilance in tracking Texas custodial suicides and in taking the steps necessary to identify and address ineffective policies for the purpose of avoiding further suicides.

The recommendations that follow are not necessarily suited to regulation and oversight by TCJS. However, they should be considered as an outline for more effectively combatting custodial suicides more generally.

Increase Communication and Interaction

TCJS was advised to increase communication and interaction between the following entities to avoid preventable suicides:

• Mental health staff and jail staff
• Jail staff and arresting officers
• Inmates and jail staff

See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of this ongoing series to learn more.

This website purposes to provide assistance to inmates in city and county jails in Texas, whether current or former prisoners, and their families. It is never meant on this site to suggest that wrongs on the part of any individual or entity have occurred.

–Guest Contributor