July 24, 2010
BY CHELSEA SCHNEIDER KIRK, (219) 648-3072
Sheriff officials from around the state gathered inside a Merrillville conference room on Friday to learn how to help inmates who are suicidal or inflict self-injury.
"You guys are in the business of public safety," said Melissa Caldwell, director of mental health services for a Peoria, Ill., health care company. "But the kicker is you'll be held accountable when something goes wrong."
The session was one of three offered Friday during the Indiana Sheriffs' Association annual conference. The conference runs through this weekend at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza.
Caldwell, who works for Advanced Correctional Healthcare, went through what motivates inmates to harm themselves and discussed measures jails can take to prevent the at-times fatal activities. She told those who attended the session to check items deemed as "suicide resistant" and to ensure that inmates don't have access to objects that can be used for self-infliction.
She also advised that deputies look at the physical condition of cell blocks when they do their rounds to ensure there aren't abrasions on the wall. Those marks could hint that an inmate is sharpening an object.
Sometimes inmates act out in an attempt to prove that a jail can't handle their conditions in hopes of being released on house arrest, Caldwell said.
She's seen some inmates act out so they can be found incompetent to stand trial.
"Jails are not supposed to be nice places to be," Caldwell said. "They are supposed to be deterrents for this kind of behavior."
Porter County Sheriff David Lain, who attended a separate training session on Friday, said the conference is a working event.
Lain was the only attendee from Porter County because county police officers were busy at the fair.
He attended a session that involved training police officers are required to complete with the state each year and liked its interactive delivery approach.
"This morning I learned a new training model that I'll bring to Porter County," Lain said.
"One of the most dry segments (for a police officer) is state-mandated training. It's important but stagnant. The way this is being presented was interactive and more of a role-play."
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