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Message from Sheriff Timothy B. Howard


Timothy B. Howard,
Sheriff

"The Erie County jails have five times that national rate for suicide as others". That's a memorable sound bite. But that is all it is- other than it being completely and utterly FALSE.

Much has been written and said about the recent suicides at the Erie County Holding Center- from salacious headlines to inaccurate and sometimes spiteful reporting. I would like to set the record straight.

First and foremost we are very concerned when an inmate commits suicide. These people who choose to end their lives are oftentimes somebody's father, brother, uncle and cousin. We do everything reasonable to prevent such an occurrence. When an inmate comes into our custody we ask them questions from a state approved and authorized form designed to indicate if they are at risk to commit suicide. We follow this protocol directed by the New York State Commission of Correction. Depending on how the inmate answers the questions, they are then deemed a suicide risk or not. However, we don't rely solely on an inmate's answers to us, but rather we take into account their demeanor and in many cases, their prior history, when we fill out his form.

Please take the time to read the following link from the Bureau of Justice Statistics Report (http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/shsplj.pdf A 2005 document discussing suicides in jails, all jails not specifically the Erie County jail). There is a quote within that report that says the suicide rate in jails (different that state facilities) is five times the suicide rate in the general population. (General population means within our communities).

The same Justice Department, the same federal government- in an accusatory tone, is now saying that our suicide rate is five times the standard, when it is the average rate for all jails in the country. This same document goes on to say however, it is not fair to compare the suicide rates of the jail to the general population because the population of the jail is not representative of the general population.

Isn't that called doublespeak? Are you confused yet? It gets better.

The per 100,00 that the feds state in their study of general population includes infants, adolescents, well adjusted families, and working families that don't have many worries, or health concerns (so they would tend not to have a high suicide rate). It also includes women and ethnic groups who are less inclined to commit suicide than the makeup of the jail population.

When the federal government standardized the two (jail and general populations), the suicide rate within jails is actually less than in the general population. That holds true in Erie County as well. If we looked at our rate over a 10 year average, it comes out to be 1.3 per year (far below the five times the national rate sound bite that is being bandied about)

Our suicide rate in the jail is NOT worse than the general population rate when you compare apples to apples. What is the suicide rate in Erie County's general population? Is it above or below the national average?

On another matter: We NEVER resisted the federal government from making an inquiry into our jail. We have simply asked that we accompany them in our building by members of our staff and or the county attorney's staff. It is the right of any individual in American society. It is NOT the government's function to come in here and say 'we are going to steamroll through your building and we are going to see what we want to see and we are going to talk to whoever we want to talk to and we will tell you about it when we are good and ready.'

That has happened in the past and that is what we are resisting now. I can point to a number of occasions when outside investigative agencies have come in the jail and have cited claims of things that staff members have supposedly told them and we have (BOTH MANAGEMENT AND UNION) gone back to our employees and ask them if they said this and they deny ever making the comments that have been cited in federal and/or state reports.

So for us to say "no" to the federal government is no different than a member of the public to get a knock on the door tonight saying: 'I am here from the EPA and I want to investigate and look at your cars to see if they are putting out too high of an emission and the homeowner asking, Which car? What emissions? And the EPA saying 'We don't have to tell you and furthermore when we inspect your car you can't be there'.

We ARE NOT resisting anybody coming in to our jails do these interviews. We are exercising our right to be present when the interviews are done. The court cases up to this point have said exactly that: 'Yes, you have the right to come in and do this but yes, the county has the right to be present when these interviews are conducted to know what is being said'. It is a normal form of legal discovery. It is part our legal system within the United States. That is what the county's fight is about- not the way it is being depicted by others.

Please rest assured I have the citizens' best interest at heart. Sometimes in life you have to take an unpopular stand to stand up for what is right. For ethical people there really is no other choice.