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| Jail Suicides Spark Changes at Ill. Jail |
| By Belleville News-Democrat |
| Published: 03/18/2003 |
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Madison County Sheriff Robert Hertz unveiled a remodeled portion of the County Jail on February 24 that he hopes will deter suicides by prisoners. Hertz ordered the renovation after three suicides were committed in the jail within the past five years, two of them within the past seven months. The 16-prisoner cellblock, formerly used to hold people arrested for misdemeanor and traffic offenses, has been modified so that it has no double bunks, clothing hooks or other fixtures that could be used for hanging. Prisoners will wear 'safety smocks' made of a heavy, Gore-Tex fabric that can't be ripped and used for a hanging. They'll get sleeping bags made of the same material. In the two most recent suicides, prisoners used strips of their clothing or bed sheets to hang themselves. The new unit is next to a guard station, so Hertz said prisoners will be observed more often than every 30 minutes, which is the state-mandated requirement for the jail's general population. Hertz said he wants the jail's prisoners to 'be able to walk out of here, and not carried out.' He said the cost of the remodeling has been minimal, with county employees doing most of the work. The Madison County Mental Health Board had been providing a mental-health clinician at the jail 20 hours a week, but the clinician now will be available for prisoners in the unit 40 hours per week, said Marcia Wickenhauser, director of the board. The board reallocated its current funding to increase the hours, Wickenhauser said, and the board is seeking state funding for a psychiatrist to visit the jail a few hours a week. The Mental Health Board has purchased a few of the smocks, which cost about $240 each, and a few of the sleeping bags, which cost about $225 each. The additional smocks and bags needed will be bought by the jail or Mental Health Board, or both. The Mental Health Board also is considering the purchase of a video monitoring system for the cellblock. Hertz said a variety of factors will be used to determine who goes in the unit including suicide-risk evaluations that are already conducted on prisoners through a contract with a mental-health agency. The sheriff said jailers might also hear about a person being suicidal through fellow prisoners, lawyers, relatives or friends. Hertz added, however, that some people who are suicidal don't give any warning signs, and a 'code of silence' among prisoners could prevent warnings from being passed on to the officers. 'We have to get the information,' he said. State's Attorney Bill Mudge noted that independent investigations of the suicides have concluded there was no wrongdoing on the part of jailers. Mudge said Hertz is 'not satisfied with simply being in compliance with codes. He wants to put the bar higher.' Hertz consulted with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill on how to create the cellblock. Robert Roennigke, a spokesman for the group, joined a tour of the cellblock Monday and said Hertz has done 'an excellent job of addressing the needs of the mentally ill.' The practice for handling prisoners who are 'acutely' suicidal will remain the same -- holding them in segregated cells and checked at least every 15 minutes, Hertz said. Hertz said prisoners being held for misdemeanor and traffic offenses will now be kept in a cellblock that was used for prisoners serving weekend sentences. He said courts are moving away from weekend sentences. |
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