By C1 Staff
MULTNOMAH COUNTY, Ore. — Despite overall overtime costs dropping at the Multnomah County Jail, one area is gaining special focus: suicide watches.
The Corrections Grand Jury, a citizen panel, were concerned with the fact that nearly $900,000 was spent on overtime when it came to monitoring potentially suicidal inmates in 2014, reported the Oregon Live.
Currently, there is only one full-time position for suicide watches, which requires a deputy to check on an inmate every 15 minutes at a cost of over $650 a day. Additional watches are staffed with overtime.
The grand jury visited five sites and interviewed 75 people, along with watching videos of responses to inmates threatening suicide.
Such groups review jail operations once a year under state law and have been expressing concerns about suicide-watch overtime since 2011.
Suggestions from the jury on potential fixes for the budgeting issue included increasing video monitoring or using lower-paid officers for suicide watches.
They also recommended folding suicide watch costs into the sheriff’s office budget.
A spokesman for the sheriff said that the sheriff appreciates the work of the jury and is considering all options. He hesitated to comment further due to potential labor issues involving the deputies’ union.