In the Pinellas jail, some deputies spend their days watching up to six video screens showing suicidal inmates in their cells. They can stare at screens for hours and days without seeing anything of concern. The challenge, Deputy Doug Willis says, is "just making sure you're paying attention."
In Hillsborough, inmates considered suicidal lie on mattresses set at floor level. One officer sits inside a ward with up to four inmates. Prisoners are typically put in a
"suicide prevention suit," a quilted outfit that is extremely hard to rip, so that no one can tear it into strips for a noose.
Dealing with the mentally ill soaks up jail resources. "We get a lot of very unstable people that we spend a fortune on trying to keep them alive," said Colonel David Parrish, who supervises Hillsborough's jails.
Even when inmates stay physically safe, jails can make them sicker mentally. Jails are not happy places for anyone and they can be even more traumatic for people suffering from anxiety, depression and other illnesses.
Inmates don't always get medications because of restrictive formularies used in some jail pharmacies, said George Thomas, president of the Hillsborough County chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. Jail officials say they work hard to provide medicine, but freely admit they can't provide the extensive counseling provided by actual treatment centers.
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