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Inmate suicidesprompt summiton preventionBy KEN KUSMERThe Associated PressINDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Department of Correction is taking steps to prevent inmate suicides after the deaths of three prisoners at state facilities this month.The department plans a daylong summit March 1 in Indianapolis to discuss ways to deter suicides and help those who witness them, said J. David Donahue, the state correction commissioner.affect not only thedeceased inmates and their farmlies, but other offenders and prison staff who might have grown close to the inmates, Donahue said.“We try to promote communi ty, academic opportunities, lots ol relationships: We have neighbors we have associates, we have friends,” Donahue said.Prison staff who might havetried to prevent a suicide but ultimately were unable to can be particularly devastated, said Kellie Meyer, criminal justice director for the Indiana chapter of the National Alliance for the Mental-11, a partner in the summit. Suddenly, we have a trauma them that needs to be workedthrough,” Meyer said. Three state inmatesmitted suicide since Jan. 10, wdeath row inmate Charlesfr„ 42, was found hanging bed sheet at the IndianaPrisonsaying he was tired of the pressures of death row and objecting to new policies on inmates’ correspondence.On Thursday, Jerome Barker was found hanging in a utility closet at the Pendleton Correctional Facility, where he was serv ing a sentence for rape and crimi nal deviate conduct.
Newspaper Details
Anderson Herald Bulletin
Anderson, Indiana, US
Wed, Feb 01, 2006
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Monroe C.
IN, USA 08 Mar 2021
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