Wednesday’s suicide in the county jail, following a breakout on Feb.

Friday, February 22, 2002

Wednesday’s suicide in the county jail, following a breakout on Feb. 8, refocused concerns on vulnerable security in the facility.

Although the suicide happened outside a secured detention area, the sheriff’s office says a planned new jail would significantly improve the overall oversight capability in the building.

The suicide by a 14-year-old juvenile from Ramsey County occurred around 12:50 p.m. in the attorney conference room on the third floor of the Law Enforcement Center.

According to Sheriff Don Nolander, the juvenile used her shoestrings tied to a ceiling panel frame on one end to asphyxiate herself. A jail staffer found her on the floor and performed CPR, but she was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at Naeve Hospital.

The room was located in a jail booking area outside an inmate detention zone.

Nolander explained that jail staff accompanying the juvenile left the room around 12:40 p.m. The door was closed because an inmate was passing a hallway in front of the room.

Before that, the juvenile had eaten lunch and was talking with jail staffers. &uot;There was no indication of a suicide,&uot; Nolander said. &uot;She seemed to be happy to go back to Ramsey County.&uot;

This is a second suicide in the jail since it was built in 1974, according to Nolander.

Sources that do not want to identify themselves said that the juvenile had been living in a juvenile care facility in the county. She was taken into custody in connection with a recent assault incident in the facility, and then detained in a juvenile correction center in Rochester.

Minnesota law mandates that juveniles tbe held in their county of residence, so the girl was to be transported to Ramsey County.

On Wednesday morning, the juvenile was transported to the county district court from Rochester for a court hearing starting at 10:30 a.m. Around 10:40 a.m. she was moved to the Law Enforcement Center to wait for the arrival of Ramsey County officials to transport her.

Nolander said he thinks the suicide was not directly related with an ongoing overcrowded jail situation, which he blamed for the recent escape. But, he said, a new jail facility would contribute to increasing the oversight capability of jail staff and might prevent similar incidents.

A study conducted by BKV Group, the Minneapolis-based engineering firm designated by the county to design the new Law Enforcement Center, shows that the current jail has five staff per shift, but no one is specifically designated to the booking area used for temporary placement for juveniles.

A proposed staffing plan for the new jail employs eight staff members per shift. One of them would be exclusively in charge of the booking area. The new facility also has special management cells, where a juvenile can be detained if necessary. They are located in a maximum security zone in a detention area and are under tight supervision by jailors.