Prison suicides on the rise- Gee, I wonder why?
- From: "kathleen" <kathleen.dickson@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: 2 Aug 2005 15:24:53 -0700
States combat rise in prison suicides
Measures include increased patrols, recreation time
LUCASVILLE, Ohio (AP) -- Troubled in love, prison inmate Garry Owens
wrote a suicide note with a suicide-resistant pen, then asphyxiated
himself with a bedsheet laced through his jail cell window.
Owens was the fifth Ohio prisoner to kill himself this year, following
a record 11 deaths in 2004 and four in 2003.
Ohio, Connecticut and Iowa have dealt recently with spikes in inmate
suicides. Prison systems have responded by ordering more frequent guard
patrols, replacing lace-up shoes with slippers, increasing the
recreation time for prisoners in mental health units and removing
fixtures in cells that inmates could use to hang themselves, such as
smoke detector covers.
State officials in Connecticut also asked courts, prosecutors and
police to tell prisons more about an incoming inmate's mental health.
"Some of the people that end up committing suicide show very little in
terms of indicators," said prisons spokesman Brian Garnett. "The more
you can delve in what's in their head and their background, the better
chance you have of protecting them."
In Connecticut, where jails and prisons are operated under the same
system, there have been 14 suicides since April 2004, including five
this year. The most recent was July 24, when a 17-year-old hanged
himself at Manson Youth Institution, the state's high-security prison
for boys and men age 14 to 21.
Four inmates committed suicide in two years in Iowa on a new unit for
mentally ill prisoners, raising immediate concerns since the unit was
meant to improve life for such inmates, said Dr. Ed O'Brien,
Corrections Department medical director.
Among several changes, the prison system began checking suicidal
inmates every five minutes instead of every 15 minutes, searching cells
for material inmates could use to attempt suicide and training staff to
better recognize suicidal behavior.
Consultants caution prison systems against ever letting their guard
down against suicides.
"You're constantly putting out fires, dealing with one crisis after
another, so after a period of time, when inmate suicides are no longer
a daily concern or a daily crisis, then a system will turn to something
else that happens to be on the front burner," said Lindsay Hayes, a
prisons consultant Ohio hired last year.
Officials at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility say Owens, 31, was
distraught over the end of a relationship with another inmate and his
death was probably not preventable. One guard was fired and two more
are being investigated for whether they monitored him closely enough.
In 2002, 166 inmates in state prisons committed suicide, or about 5
percent of the 3,101 inmate deaths that year, according to the most
recent data available from the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.
About 6 percent of inmate deaths in 2001 were suicides.
On average, the suicide rate is 13 to 15 deaths per 100,000, compared
to 11 deaths per 100,000 in the general community, Hayes said.
Prisoners most at risk for suicide include new inmates, those with
mental health problems and those segregated as punishment -- in a
smaller cell, with no recreation time or personal belongings.
In New York State, the country's fourth-largest prison system, two of
the eight inmates who killed themselves last year were in segregated
cells. In 2003, four of 14 inmates who committed suicide were in
segregated cells.
"Just like in the outside world, there are people whose suicides are
long-term decisions, and there are people whose suicides are snap
decisions," said James Flateau, spokesman for the New York Department
of Correctional Services.
At the prison consultant's recommendation, Ohio in April began
screening segregated inmates with previously identified mental health
problems, as well as inmates in protective custody, for suicidal
tendencies. Inmates whose condition raises concerns are placed on
suicide watch, which can include 24-hour-a-day monitoring.
Owens was in a cell by himself for attacking his ex-lover as the two
passed in lines on the way to lunch, said Ed Voorhies, warden at the
maximum-security prison. Owens was serving a sentence of 15 years to
life for a 1993 slaying.
The next evening, on June 4, sitting in Cell 13 on the north wing of
Lucasville's J2 block, Owens wrote a note addressed to his ex-boyfriend
on a prisoner complaint form. He used a short, bendable pen designed to
keep inmates from hurting themselves.
Voorhies said Owens then threaded a bedsheet through the bars of the
small window in the door of his 6- by 8 1/2-foot institutional green
cell, wrapped the sheet around his neck and dropped down, strangling
himself.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/08/02/cellblock.suicides.ap/index.html
Click Here to Print
SAVE THIS | EMAIL THIS | Close
Check the box to include the list of links referenced in the article.
.
- Follow-Ups:
- Prev by Date: Re: Off-What-Topic GI's in Iraq hit by ABX resistant Bacterial Infection
- Next by Date: Re: Off-What-Topic GI's in Iraq hit by ABX resistant Bacterial Infection
- Previous by thread: Disgruntled NIH "worker"
- Next by thread: Re: Prison suicides on the rise- Gee, I wonder why?
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
