By C1 Staff
WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. — A corrections officer was fired for violating what she says is a “commonly ignored” policy after an inmate committed suicide in a county jail.
Former Wood County Jail Corrections Officer Amanda Miller was fired a day after the March 4 suicide because she “failed to enforce a jail policy that prohibits inmates from hanging things from cell bars, leading to an inmate’s death,” according to the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune.
After submitting an open records request, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reported that the inmate who committed suicide, Eric Casperson, hung a sheet in the cell that prevented Miller and other officers from monitoring him.
According to WHBL, Casperson was initially charged with drug possession, freed on bond, and then rearrested for violating the terms of his bond a month before ending his life.
Surveillance video of Casperson’s cell shows Miller saw Casperson covering the cell doorway with a sheet on the day of his death, according to reports.. Documents also included that after Miller questioned Casperson’s actions, he told her he wanted privacy while using the toilet. Miller told the inmate to remove the sheet before she left. However, when Miller returned, she found Casperson had hung himself in his cell.
Corrections officers, a Wisconsin Rapids police officer, and members of the Wisconsin Rapids Fire Department attempted to revive Casperson, but to no avail.
The report indicates that Miller did not enforce the department’s policy on prohibiting inmates from hanging anything from cell bars; she said she did not think it was a big deal. Moreover, when Ashbeck asked Miller why she didn’t ask another officer to supervise Casperson via video feed, Miller replied that she didn’t think to.
In a note written by Miller and provided to news outlets as part of the open records request, she said Casperson’s behavior did not indicate to her or any other correctional officers that he was suicidal. Miller also wrote that it was not unusual for inmates to hang items in their cells, and that “many corrections officers, or their supervisors, for that matter, do not strictly enforce this policy and have inmates immediately remove the items.”
The reports also showed that when Miller told Ashbeck that firing her was too severe of a punishment, Ashbeck said her “disregard for enforcing policy resulted in a man’s death.”
When asked about Miller’s firing or Miller’s allegations that she was singled out for violating a policy that other officers also violate, Ashbeck declined to comment.
Included in the documents sent to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin was a copy of a Sept. 28 email to all corrections officers stating that Jail Lieutenant Susanna Knapp had seen towels and sheets hanging from bunks, and that officers needed to enforce policy.
No charges have been filed in Casperson’s death.
Wisconsin Counties Mutual, the county’s insurance carrier, has hired an attorney in the event that the county is sued in connection with the incident, according to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin.