By Jenny Zou
The State
LANCASTER — An internal investigation into the suicide of a Lancaster County jail inmate has “revealed several policy violations” that led to the firing of two employees and the suspension of others, Lancaster County Sheriff Barry Faile said Tuesday.
The State Law Enforcement Division also is investigating the suicide of Randy William Stevens, 44, who was found dead in his cell on May 20.
Stevens used bedsheets to hang himself, Faile said in a statement. He was arrested a day earlier and charged with drunken public disorderly conduct. Stevens was “possibly suicidal,” Faile said, but he denied that he was when asked by officers on several occasions.
In both his statement and in an interview with The Herald, Faile would not name the employees who were fired or disciplined, saying such personnel matters were confidential. The “serious” policy violations affected several inmates at the detention center and were not specifically related to Stevens’ case, he said .
Three employees have been suspended without pay and others are receiving counseling and other forms of “swift and appropriate disciplinary action,” Faile said. The violations were “related to the amount of time between the routine jail checks,” he said.
In the statement, Faile said Stevens’ death was not preventable, despite the violations the internal investigation found.
“Proper procedure would not have prevented Stevens’ suicide,” Faile said.
Full story: 2 jail workers fired after Lancaster inmate’s suicide