|
|
| Inmate suicide an ongoing problem |
| By ocala.com |
| Published: 03/19/2009 |
|
Marion County Jail, now facing federal investigation, had adopted expert's recommendations on prevention By Naseem Sowti Miller Staff writer Published: Thursday, March 19, 2009 When Lindsay Hayes finished studying suicides in jails across the United States back in the 1970s, he was struck by what he found. A lot of suicides were not reported and no one paid much attention to the issue, said Hayes, a project director at the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, a nonprofit organization. The attitude back then, he said, was, "Yes, we know they [commit suicide], but that's part of the difficulty of running a jail." Over the past 30 years, that attitude has improved, partly due to Hayes' studies, which led to development of suicide prevention manuals and trainings, and partly because more and more jail accrediting organizations have added suicide prevention to their protocol. This week, the U.S. Justice Department announced it would begin an investigation of the Marion County Jail's suicide prevention efforts as well as its use of force. Since that first study by Hayes, the rate of suicides in jails has dropped from 107 cases in 100,000 inmates to 38 in 100,000. But that rate is still much higher than the suicide rate in the community, which stands at 11 cases in 100,000 people. Hayes repeated his study on jail suicides again in the mid-1980s and found very similar data: Not only had jails not changed their attitudes toward suicides, but many inmates continued to commit suicide 24 hours after arrest and many were intoxicated. "At that point I thought we'd done enough research, and we knew who does it and when. So we said let's try and look to see where we can reduce the risk," he said. The answer boiled down to two things: staff training and a thorough inmate screening at intake. The recommendations have been since put in a suicide prevention manual. One of Hayes' jobs now is going to various jails across the nation and offering recommendations for reducing their suicide rates. "Nine times out of 10 I get calls from jails that have had a rash of suicides and they're concerned, because they've looked at it internally and they just want a fresh pair of eyes," said Hayes. He got such call from the Marion County Sheriff's Office in March 2008 - three months after Ocala Community Care, a local nonprofit organization, took over Prison Health Services in delivery of medical care to inmates. The jail had three suicides in 2007, the highest number since 2000. And its rate over the past nine years is higher than the national jail suicide average. It is unclear what prompted the federal investigation into the county jail's suicide prevention efforts, which is expected to take several months - but officials say it was not based on any single incident. "They haven't really divulged a whole lot of information other than that they're going to come investigate our jail," Sheriff's Office spokesman Jimmy Pogue said Wednesday. No legal counsel has been appointed yet to guide the Sheriff's office through the process, he added. Chief Assistant Public Defender William Miller, who previously represented one of the inmates who committed suicide at the jail in 2007, said news of the investigation caught him by surprise. "It seemed to me, based on the information that I had, that things had improved since the changes were made [in 2007]," he said. Many of the improvements, officials say, were based on Hayes' recommendations. In his visit to the Marion County Jail, Hayes made a list of 25 recommendations - most of which have been implemented, jail officials say. Among them was staff training. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
Comments:
Login to let us know what you think
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Waco has developed a reputation for a rocket-docket in patent litigation. It’s an important choice to find the right lawyer in Waco for your important patent litigation matter. When people in the know make the hire, they hire Dunnam & Dunnam. Lawyers that are competent, hard-working, focused are a rare find. Few attorneys have the commitment to quality, collegiality, and loyalty of the Waco personal injury attorney, You can search for attorneys with loyalty, leadership, accountability. These attorneys show financial generosity and a sense of fairness to their colleagues. For nearly 100 years, people in Waco have hired the firm when the results matter. at Dunnam & Dunnam are among the most respected in the Central Texas area. They have the experience in trials and mediations to guide your case in the right way. There are few important decisions at the outset of the case that can turn the tide in your favor. Choosing the right lawyer is one of them.