By Tony Hernandez
The Oregonian
PORTLAND, Ore. — Suicide watch at Multnomah County jails dropped by 88 percent, as the Sheriff’s Office appears to be making headway in reducing overtime from watching suicidal inmates.
Since at least 2011, the Sheriff’s Office has paid millions in overtime because suicidal inmates require consistent supervision, and the county only employs one deputy dedicated to suicide watch.
Last month, a citizen panel commended the Sheriff’s Office because it has placed more mental health professionals to evaluate inmates on suicide watch -sometimes several times a day - and move them back into the general population. The panel’s report evaluated jail operations during the 2014 fiscal year, which ended June 30, and noted it cost taxpayers $900,000 in overtime to watch suicidal inmates.
Linda Yankee, chief deputy of business services division, and Shae Marshman, the director of planning and research, said Tuesday the Sheriff’s Office recorded 303 hours of uninterrupted observation of suicidal inmates in December, an 88 percent drop from the 2,725 hours in December 2013.
Watching a suicidal inmate during a 24-hour period costs the county $1,700, Yankee said.
The number of hours of constant supervision dropped to 52 hours per person on average from 78 hours, according to the Sheriff’s Office report.
Jail deputies also do “active watches” by checking on multiple inmates every 15 minutes. Those inmates are thought to display less severe signs of potential suicide. The sheriff’s office noted 2,827 hours for active watches in December compared to 6,088 the year before.
The average number of hours, per inmate, dropped to 31 from 39 for active watches, according to the report.
Last month’s citizen report also noted the Sheriff’s Office is considering using lower-paid security officers for suicide watches to save money.
Yankee told the county’s Board of Commissioners that the Sheriff’s Office and the deputies’ union would go to an arbitrator in May. The arbitrator should determine if the transfer of suicide watch duties from deputies to security officers requires negotiation between both parties, Yankee said.