With an inmate death in recent weeks, a local official shares what staff at Washington County Jail does to attempt to keep the incarcerated safe.
Washington County Sheriff Jerry Dunbar tells KCII News there are hourly checks conducted on inmates, while inmates that have mental issues or are likely to commit suicide are checked on every half hour. The jail also utilizes video cameras, but Dunbar says the problem is they can be sued by inmates for invasion of privacy.

Dunbar adds before someone can work in their jail they go through 40 hours of training, with an emphasis on mental health profiling.  That involves looking for warning signs and considering factors that might go into a person’s decision when contemplating suicide.

When building the new jail they also made sure to include safety measures including structural designs to make suicide less likely and breakaway coat hangers inside cells.