By Dan Kelley
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
Correctional Officer Max Nelson makes the rounds, every 30 minutes, checking on inmates in the segregation unit for suicide attempts, at California State Prison, Sacramento. (AP photo) |
NUECES COUNTY, Texas — Incidents occurred when inspector was checking on the jail
Correctional officers at the Nueces County Jail failed to check on suicidal inmates every 15 minutes, the Texas Commission on Jail Standards found during an annual inspection this week.
That finding comes less than a week after the county voted to enter mediation in a federal lawsuit with the family of Roberto Garcia, who strangled himself in the jail in August.
Two jailers in that incident are awaiting trial on allegations that they falsified logs indicating that Garcia was monitored every 15 minutes.
In the most recent inspection, jailers were said to have missed the mark by between two and five minutes. All of the incidents occurred while the inspector was at the facility.
Sheriff Jim Kaelin said the most recent finding has been corrected.
“August 2008 is in no way comparable,” Kaelin said. “That was a forgery of documents, and no checks were made, period.” In this incident, jailers performed the checks but were late.
Kaelin said his jail is minimally staffed. When operations are normal, there’s adequate staff to ensure jailers perform the suicide watch correctly. But if something happens, such as a prisoner needing medical attention, other areas of the jail feel the pinch.
“As the sheriff of Nueces County, I’d love to have more people,” Kaelin said. “I’ll work every time my budget comes up to add staff to the jail.”
He said jailers were on edge trying to make sure everything was perfect.
“Our folks were misdirected in taking care of the inspector,” Kaelin said.
But he said he was proud of the jail and its performance in the two-day inspection.
“For those who aren’t aware of this, there are 500 to 700 items that jail inspectors look at,” Kaelin said, noting that the inspector went into nearly every cell and flushed every toilet in the 1,020-bed facility.
But he said three guards face discipline in the matter. Two had been disciplined in the Garcia incident, though they weren’t directly involved.
“When we did the investigation, we found entries on other shifts that were wrong,” Kaelin said.
Garcia was found unresponsive in his cell on Aug. 28, 2008, and died three days later.
His family had urged, and a judge ordered, county jailers to send him to a mental health facility after he was arrested on charges of making terroristic threats. He had made one unsuccessful suicide attempt while in the jail.
Copyright 2009 SCRIPPS Howard Publications