Quickly, but carefully

Suicide prevention efforts at jail must be done right

After months of foot dragging, concrete efforts are finally underway to improve suicide prevention at the Allegheny County Jail. But, regrettably, it seems that the jail may be throwing around money

too hastily rather than taking the time necessary to make the most meaningful reforms.

There is no question that the jail’s suicide problem needs to be addressed swiftly. Eight inmates have taken their lives at the jail over the past three years. That is one of the worst rates in the country.

And until recently, not much was being done to address the issue. Earlier this year, Allegheny County Judge David Cashman, chair of the jail oversight committee, publicly balked at paying a suicide prevention expert $18,000 to make an assessment of the jail.

Fortunately, sustained public pressure overruled Judge Cashman. In February, the board secured the money to pay the expert.

But it was recently reported by the Post-Gazette’s Shelly Bradbury that an additional $237,000 was allocated for the purchase of suicide prevention blankets, made with heavy, some say uncomfortable, material that is difficult to rip or form into nooses.

Considering that $18,000 was once considered a controversial expenditure, it seems positive that the jail is finally willing to spend money, a necessary step toward improving inmate safety.

But the blanket purchase was made without the consultation of the soon-to-be-hired suicide prevention expert. This is concerning because other jails have discovered that the wholesale distribution of certain items, like suicide prevention

blankets, are not a cure-all.

At the Spokane County Jail in Spokane, Wash., an expert found that jail staff practices had the most conseqeuential impact on suicide prevention. The findings recommended changes such as private medical screenings upon booking to allow inmates to more comfortably detail mental health concerns — most jailhouse suicides occur in the days immediately following detainment — and downplaying or removing the punitive elements of suicide watch, such as taking away an inmate’s shower privileges.

Purchasing suicide prevention mattresses was ultimately a part of the recommendations, but the mattresses were not purchased for every inmate in the jail. This more targeted approach not only saved the Spokane jail money, but it allowed non-suicidal inmates to not feel punished in the process.

Bret Grote, legal director of the Abolitionist Law Center, echoed this in his criticism of the Allegheny County Jail’s blanket spending spree, calling it “lazy, counterproductive and inhumane.”

There is no question that the Allegheny County Jail must become a safer place for inmates, and fast. But speed cannot overtake good sense and measured action. The jail should have waited for the expert’s assessment before spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. Money that went toward a heavy, uncomfortable and costly suicide prevention blanket for an inmate that may not need one could have gone toward improving specialized treatment.

Lives are at stake and the powers that control the purse strings of the Allegheny County Jail must get this right.