Wave of Suicides at Wayne County Jails Raises Red Flags

WAYNE COUNTY, MI — Five inmate suicides and the past four months at Wayne County’s three jail facilities have “raised many flags” with Wayne County Circuit Judge Timothy Kenny, who is overseeing a lawsuit — filed decades ago, in 1971 — that challenges jail conditions.

The suicides, separate incidents which happened from April 20 to July 24, involved men ages 21, 24, 49 and 54, the Detroit Free Press reported, citing information from the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Jail officials say the antiquated conditions at the county’s three jails, two in Detroit and another in Hamtramck, make it difficult for them to monitor inmates and create dangers to both inmates and jail staff.

The recent wave of suicides is “unprecedented,” Deborah Choly, a staff attorney with Michigan Legal Services, which filed the 1971 lawsuit, told the newspaper.

“Any suicide is a tragedy and is unconscionable in my opinion, but to have multiple suicides, that's unprecedented with my experience in the jail that goes back decades,” Choly said.

The suicides happened in all three jail facilities, and all were by hanging, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office. However, Robert Dunlap, chief of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, told the Free Press that one inmate jumped from an upper level and landed on his head.

The conditions at the jails has made it difficult to retain medical services, and County Executive Warren C. Evans has proposed privatizing them under a three-year, $59 million contract with Nashville-based Correct Care Solutions. CCS already provides medical services in 38 jails across the country, including those in Macomb and Oakland counties.

At a meeting Wednesday of a committee of the Wayne County Board of Commissioners that is discussing jail conditions and the possible private contract, Commissioner Burton Leland, D-Detroit, described jail conditions as “third world.”

“I don't know how you can walk out of that environment and not get sick to your stomach,” he said.

» For much more on this story, go to the Detroit Free Press.

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