Category: City Jails|County Jails|Custodial Death|Observation Records|Outside Texas|Suicide|Texas Commission on Jail Standards

Four corrections officers at a county jail outside of Texas have been suspended because of an alleged failure to immediately intervene during an inmate’s attempt at suicide. No criminal charges have ever been filed against any of the jail staff, however. The four jailers allegedly watched as an inmate tried to hang himself from a pipe in his jail cell. The inmate allegedly dangled from the pipe for seven minutes, which has resulted in brain damage caused by lack of oxygen.

The officers have referred to the suicide attempt as a manipulative gesture, and it has been used as a defense of their actions. There is an ongoing investigation with regard to the inmate’s suicide attempt, and it is estimated that matters will not be resolved until sometime in 2021.

Suicide Prevention in Texas Jails

Suicide prevention is a matter that is addressed in Texas jails by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS). Frequent face-to-face observations are proven effective in preventing suicides and other custodial deaths. Of course, this assumes that if an officer observes that an inmate appears to be unresponsive or is attempting to commit suicide, intervention would be immediate.

In recent months, at least a couple of jails were cited for alleged violations of the safety standards regarding inmate observations. In one tragic custodial death, an inmate was supposed to be observed every 15 minutes because he was in a WRAP restraint system. The jailers exceeded the 15-minute maximum time frame, and the inmate was found unresponsive.

In this ongoing series, learn more about Texas minimum jail standards designed to prevent inmates from committing suicide.

The posts on this website are meant as informational resources that could help current and former inmates as well as their families. At no time is it intended on this website to make an indication of any kind that an institution or individual has engaged in impropriety.

–Guest Contributor

In a jail outside Texas, a 17-year-old recently died by hanging himself in his cell using a sheet. Officials in the state are currently investigating whether officers at the jail performed the required observation checks of the teen. Under the jail standards in that state, jailers in county jails are required to check on each prisoner at least every 30 minutes. A review of the records during the timeframe when the teen took his own life shows that he was last seen before noon when he was given his lunch. The time of his death is unknown.

At about 1:50 PM on the day the tragic custodial death occurred, a jail detention officer discovered the teen unresponsive. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was administered by medical personnel at the jail and first-responders, but the juvenile was never revived.

A chief deputy with the jail said that he examined records at the juvenile detention center going back 15 years and discovered no cases of a juvenile committing suicide in the county’s jails. The Sheriff in charge of that jail said that the care of inmates is taken very seriously and that the jail gears all that they do toward ensuring the safety of each individual.

Many studies on custodial deaths have revealed that frequent observation of inmates is the top way to prevent custodial injuries and deaths.

When Texas jails are inspected by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards annually, observation records are checked against electronic records to determine whether inmates are being observed as required. In Texas, the general population is observed every hour and at-risk inmates must be personally checked every 30 minutes.

The posts on this site are provided as informational resources. It is never intended on this site to denote that a person or institution has engaged in wrongdoing or impropriety of any sort.

–Guest Contributor