Bristol County Sheriff's Department says new policies could help prevent inmate suicide

NORTH DARTMOUTH - The Bristol County Sheriff's office is in the process of implementing more than 20 recommendations to improve inmate care and reduce the suicide rate of inmates.

"In January 2023, I inherited a jail system that had a suicide rate three times the national average. We are changing that," said Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux.

One of the issues - suicide-resistant cells - is a project that inmates at the county jails have been able to fix as part of their job training. 

Old bunk beds, which had horizontal bars that inmates could useto hang themselves, have been redesigned to eliminate the hazard. According to Heroux, all seven of the most recent inmate suicides were done using the cells' bunk beds.

The cost in materials to retrofit the bunkbeds was about $15 per bed. Inmates did the welding as part of the county's vocational welding program, designed to teach inmates a marketable job skill.

Stainless steel mesh screens were also added to cover cell windows, which had vertical bars that could be used to commit suicide.

"We can never fully eliminate inmate suicide. But we can reduce it. There were a lot of different ways that inmates could hang themselves and commit suicide. We are changing that," Heroux said.

After a review of Bristol County's policies and procedures by prison suicide expert Lindsay Hayes, the Sheriff's Department is implementing all 24 of the recommended policy changes. The full report can be seen here.

Among Hayes recommendations was suicide prevention training for staff, improved intake screening and increased privacy during the screenings, and policies to manage suicides attempts, including treatment plans and morbidity reviews. Last year, the Sheriff's Office added a director of Inmate Services position to improve inmate care.