Chesterfield’s Sheriff’s Office began specialized training Nov. 1 to help prevent suicides at the jail (above).
This was the group working at the Chesterfield County Jail on Nov. 11 when deputies discovered an inmate hanging in his cell. He was still alive, and staff members administered first aid after he was brought down.
In a time when local and regional jails in Virginia have come under increased scrutiny because of deaths of inmates in their custody, deputies at the Chesterfield County Jail recently accomplished a near-impossible good deed: They saved the life of a young prisoner who was in the act of killing himself.
It’s a story that rarely gets told.
Depending on how carefully and frequently jailers check on inmates housed in their facilities, the odds of saving an inmate committed to taking his or her own life are exceedingly rare. Every year, dozens of inmates die in custody in Virginia jails, many by their own hand.
“We can’t watch everybody every second of the day,” said Chesterfield Sheriff Karl Leonard. “When somebody is really committed (to taking their life), they’re really committed. Sometimes they’re so desperate.”
But four Chesterfield deputies on Nov. 11 managed to intervene just in time to save the life of a 28-year-old inmate who tried hanging himself in his cell with his bedsheet.
The inmate, whose name is being withheld by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, was in an individual cell that day when, at 4:52 p.m., he tied around his neck a sheet that was secured under the ceiling-mounted light fixture in his cell.
The Chesterfield deputies, who are trained to randomly check all inmates every 15 minutes, discovered the inmate hanging; he was still alive. Three lifted up the inmate to reduce the strain on his neck while another cut him down.
“Fortunately with (the inmate), we were able to find him eight minutes after our last check of him,” Leonard said. “So we know what he did in the last eight minutes.”
Jail staff members immediately administered first aid until Chesterfield paramedics arrived, and he was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. He recovered and was released from the hospital Nov. 15.
The inmate had recovered physically earlier, but he was held at the hospital until his mental well-being could be stabilized.
“The psychiatrists and psychologists wanted to make sure that he was no longer a threat” to himself, Leonard said.
After being discharged, the prisoner was transferred to Riverside Regional Jail because the facility has a dedicated medical housing unit. But he was released on bond within hours, pending trial.
Inmate deaths are relatively rare at the Chesterfield jail. The last inmate to die in custody — a suicide by hanging — occurred 2½ years ago.
In contrast, 13 inmates have died in custody at Riverside Regional Jail in Prince George County, according to Virginia Department of Corrections records. Three inmates have committed suicide by hanging in less than a year — the most recent on Oct. 31.
And unlike Riverside, Chesterfield has adopted a policy of transparency when an inmate dies. The jail immediately and voluntarily notifies the news media of any in-custody deaths and, in the most recent case, of the attempted suicide.
Riverside releases information on inmate deaths only when news outlets learn about them. After a local TV station inquired about the Oct. 31 suicide of Riverside inmate Alex Tripp, the jail released details to all local outlets.
But a jail spokesperson said Riverside does not “voluntarily” release such information. The Times-Dispatch later learned three other inmates died in the jail’s custody earlier this year.
Sheriff Leonard said Chesterfield has learned much from past incidents involving inmates who take their own lives.
In the May 30, 2015, suicide of inmate Correy Lee Davis, for example, jail authorities discovered just how dedicated the 27-year-old man was in carrying out his death.
A jail surveillance camera showed that Davis timed his suicide to the minute, wasting little time after a jail deputy last checked on him.
Camera footage showed that Davis tied his sheet around his neck and to the door handle of his cell, but was interrupted in carrying out his suicide by a deputy making his rounds.
“He scurried real quick to untie everything, got in his bunk and covered himself with his sheet,” Leonard explained. “The deputy came by, checked on him, and he was OK.”
But as soon as Davis heard the deputy leave, he sprang into action.
“He knew he had 15 minutes, and right away went right to it the second the deputy left,” Leonard said.
Because nothing in the cell is elevated to a height that would allow someone to easily hang themselves, the inmate got on his knees and simply leaned forward with the sheet around his neck.
“Jails are designed so you can’t hang yourself,” Leonard said. “But we know we have some very innovative people. So if they can’t hang themselves from above, they tie a sheet to something low on the ground and they just kneel forward. That’s how they have to do it. You can never make anything 100 percent foolproof.”
Leonard said jail deputies also are trained to check on inmates once every 15 minutes or so, which exceeds the 30 minutes mandated by Virginia Department of Corrections rules.
Regulations also require that inmate checks are conducted randomly, so they can’t precisely estimate when a deputy will be walking by.
“So in other words, the inmates can’t know whether you’re doing checks on the same half hour,” Leonard said. “You have to alternate them all the time so it keeps the inmates off guard.”
Leonard said when the jail is short on personnel, the 15-minute checks are more difficult to carry out “because our jail is massive and inmates are spread all over the jail,” he said.
On Nov. 1, the Chesterfield Sheriff’s Office began providing specialized training to its jail deputies in an attempt to keep inmate suicides at a minimum. Every year from Nov. 1 through New Year’s Day, inmate suicide attempts typically increase in most jails and correctional facilities, Leonard said.
“We know you cannot prevent every single one,” Leonard said. “So we give our deputies specialized training ... and they practice it.”
“We also teach them to be aware of suicidal tendencies and to talk to inmates and try and see if anybody is going through depression, to get them the help they need,” the sheriff added.
Leonard said such attention may “sound funny for the common person,” but when inmates are incarcerated for extended periods, deputies get to know them and their personalities. Deputies can discern when an inmate starts to become more reserved, less talkative and withdrawn, he said.
“A lot of people just think we throw them in jail and throw away the key,” Leonard added. “And that’s the farthest from the truth.”
Leonard
(804) 649-6450
