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Version 1.3 by Ryan Larkin on 2019/09/25 00:21
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1 **Washington County Sheriff's Office**
2
3 **CORRECTIONS DIVISION**
4
5 Policy Manual
6
7
8 Volume: CG
9
10 Inmate Management
11
12 Chapter: 02
13
14 Suicide Prevention and Threats of Harm
15
16
17 Replaces and/or Supersedes:
18
19 CG 02 09/01/2012
20
21 Published:
22
23 09/01/2011
24
25 Date Reviewed:
26
27 10/26/2015
28
29
30 Sheriff Cory C. Pulsipher
31
32 Chief Deputy Jake Schultz
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34
35 __**TABLE OF CONTENTS**__
36
37 CG 02_101 Definitions
38
39 CG 02_102 References
40
41 CG 02_103 General
42
43 CG 02_104 Admission Screening
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45 CG 02_105 Managing Known Risks
46
47 CG 02_106 Investigation
48
49 CG 02_107 Documentation
50
51 CG 02_108 After-Incident Review
52
53
54 **CG 02_101 __DEFINITIONS__**
55
56 1. WCSO: Washington County Sheriff's Office
57 1. PCF: Purgatory Correctional Facility
58
59 **CG 02_102 __REFERENCES__**
60
61 1. Utah Counties Insurance Pool:
62 11. ML-V.A.7.
63 1. Utah Sheriff's Association Jail Standards:
64 11. D08.01.01: Written Suicide Prevention Policies and Procedures Required
65 11. D08.01.02: Proactive Policies and Procedures
66 11. D08.02.01: Suicide-Risk Screening
67 11. D08.02.02: Suicide-Risk Evaluation
68 11. D08.03.01: Classification of Suicidal Prisoners
69 11. D08.03.02: Assigning Risk Levels
70 11. D08.03.03: Housing of Suicidal Inmates
71 11. D08.03.04: Observation Cells
72 11. D08.04.01: Proactive Management of Suicide Risks
73 11. D08.04.02: Crisis Intervention
74 11. D08.04.03: Crisis Intervention: Mental Health Provider
75 11. D08.04.04: Crisis Intervention: Assessment of Risk
76 11. D08.04.05: Crisis Intervention: Documentation of Notification
77 11. D08.04.06: Removing Implements of Suicide
78 11. D08.04.07: Identifying Implements of Suicide
79 11. D08.04.08: Cell Furnishings as Implements of Suicide
80 11. D08.04.09: Supervision and Monitoring of Suicide Risks
81 11. D08.04.10: Surveillance Rounds for Suicidal Inmates
82 11. D08.04.11: Surveillance Rounds for Suicidal Inmates: Frequency
83 11. D08.04.12: Suicide Prevention Monitoring and Enhanced Welfare Monitoring
84 11. D08.04.13: Suicide Prevention Monitoring
85 11. D08.04.14: Enhanced Welfare Monitoring
86 11. I01.03.05: Removing Clothing and Bedding from Cells
87
88 **CG 02_103 __GENERAL__**
89
90 1. Policy:
91 11. All PCF staff shall receive annual training on suicide prevention for incarcerated inmates.
92 11. All inmates admitted into PCF shall be evaluated for suicide risk factors.
93 1. Rationale:
94 11. For jail officials to be successful in preventing suicides, it is necessary to be proactive in evaluating inmates and detecting risk factors. In order to accomplish this, staff must receive sufficient training.
95
96 **CG 02_104 __ADMISSION SCREENING__**
97
98 1. Policy:
99 11. Inmates shall be screened for suicide risk factors during initial admission process. Screening shall include, but not be limited to:
100 111. Previous suicide attempts;
101 111. Current state of mind and suicide ideation;
102 111. Family history of suicide or suicide attempts;
103 111. Scars or other physical manifestations of previous suicide attempts; and
104 111. Suicidal threats or remarks.
105 11. PCF admission officers (a.k.a., Booking Officers) should obtain known suicide risk factor information from the arresting officers.
106 11. PCF admission officers (or medical staff) shall, when possible, question each inmate regarding suicide risk factors prior to assigning a housing location.
107 1. Rationale:
108 11. Suicide risks should be addressed as soon as possible in order to implement prevention procedures as soon as possible.
109
110 **CG 02_105 __MANAGING KNOWN RISKS__**
111
112 1. Policy:
113 11. Suicide prevention procedures shall supersede all other classification and housing procedures.
114 11. Upon notice of a suicide, suicide attempt, or self-harm incident, PCF staff shall respond immediately and appropriately with priority for safety and security. All known suicide risk information shall be reported:
115 111. Immediately to the on-duty supervisor;
116 111. Immediately to the Medical Branch Director or on-duty medical staff; and
117 111. Through documentation in the jail computer system (JMJLOG). Notification of suicide risks shall be documented in the jail computer system.
118 11. Upon notice of self-harm risk (and after initial response to immediate medical, safety, and security needs), PCF staff shall reassign and move the inmate to an observation cell. Inmates may be reassigned to an observation cell for non-current suicide risks or any other self-harming behavior risks. A lower degree of observation may be appropriate for lower risk level situations. Observation risk levels and step-down safety check requirements shall be evaluated and set by the Medical Branch Director on a case-by-case basis.
119 11. Safety checks shall be conducted on all inmates housed in observation cells, as specified by the Medical Branch Director. Frequent safety checks (elevated monitoring) or step-down safety checks (decreased monitoring) may be conducted, as directed by the Medical Branch Director. The frequency of these safety checks should be determined by the Medical Branch Director, but will be at least every fifteen minutes when full safety precautions are in place.
120 11. Inmates shall be visual-body-cavity searched prior to being moved to an observation cell.
121 11. Observation cells shall be searched prior to assigning an inmate for housing. All non-authorized items shall be removed from the cell.
122 11. Inmates assigned to an observation cell due to self-harm risk shall not initially be given any items (including clothing, personal property, or PCF property) except for a:
123 111. Suicide suit; and
124 111. Mattress.
125 11. Additional items (e.g., a blanket) must be approved by the Medical Branch Director prior to being issued to the inmate.
126 11. All inmates assigned to an observation cell for suicide risk shall be evaluated by the Medical Branch Director.
127 11. Inmates shall not be reassigned from an observation status without the approval of the Medical Branch Director.
128 11. Inmates housed on observation status should not be given, without specific authorization, utensils to eat with. Inmates should be provided meals that do not require the use of a utensil.
129 1. Rationale:
130 11. While classification and housing procedures do address safety concerns, suicide prevention procedures address known and/or immediate safety risks.
131
132 **CG 02_106 __INVESTIGATION__**
133
134 1. Policy:
135 11. Deaths by suicide shall be investigated in accordance with policy: CY 06 Prisoner Death.
136 1. Rationale:
137 11. Following proper investigation procedures may aid in fact finding and may aid the WCSO in answering lawsuits.
138
139 **CG 02_107 __DOCUMENTATION__**
140
141 1. Policy:
142 11. All events involving a suicide, suicide attempt shall be documented as a jail incident.
143 1. Rationale:
144 11. Proper documentation memorializes events and actions taken and may assist the WCSO in answering lawsuits.
145
146 **CG 02_108 __AFTER-INCIDENT REVIEW__**
147
148 1. Policy:
149 11. An after-incident review shall be held after an inmate suicide.
150 11. The after-incident review should be conducted by the Sheriff or designee.
151 1. Rationale:
152 11. After-incident reviews are a tool for discovering and correcting problems with policies, procedures, implementation of procedures, incident management, and individual performance.