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Fla. jail revamps suicide policies after inmate’s suicide

This process calls for more eyes on inmates and to redesign cells to make it physically impossible for inmates to hang themselves

By C1 Staff

ESCAMBIA, Fla. — Following the death of an inmate, the Escambia County Jail is revisiting its suicide prevention policy for the second time this year.

The Pensacola News Journal reports that county administrators are implementing a four-point strategy to make the jail as “suicide-proof” as possible.

This process calls for more eyes on inmates and to redesign cells to make it physically impossible for inmates to hang themselves.

The new plan will also require more than one mental health professional to review an inmate’s “step down” from high-risk status. When those inmates do “step down,” they will be housed with a cellmate.

The county lost roughly half of its inmate bed capacity in an explosion last April; crowding is cited as a major contributing factor to the recent inmate deaths at the facility.

None of the inmates who committed suicide reported thoughts of suicide prior to their deaths, and jail personnel are reported to have followed appropriate protocols in all incidents.

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