NCJ Number
130499
Date Published
1988
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Once a potential suicide victim or mentally ill arrestee has been identified, arresting, transporting, and custodial officers must have an appropriate course of action to follow for adherence to appropriate supervisory techniques and preplanning of physical facilities for confinement of high risk individuals.
Abstract
The perceived risk involved determines in large measure an appropriate course of action. For an arrestee who is acutely disturbed or at high risk of suicide, referral to a local mental health facility is the most appropriate course of action. All means should be taken to ensure that an arrestee who must be held within the lockup will not harm himself or others. Adherence to sound supervisory and management principles can help to create a climate in the lockup facility that minimizes inmate emotional and behavioral problems such as suicide. Officers should attempt to calm the individual, to encourage the individual to express his or her feelings in as private a setting as possible, and to help the individual put his or her problems into perspective. First aid procedures for suicide are outlined along with some major factors in facility design that should be considered when assessing the suicide risks present in the police lockup. 1 reference