About half of the people in county jails in Pennsylvania have some diagnosed mental health issue. About 15% of people in jail have a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia that warrants the highest level of behavioral health care.
A WITF investigation found that almost one in three uses of force from 25 jails during the last three months of 2021 involved a person who was having a mental health crisis or who had a diagnosed mental illness.
The situation brings risks ranging from lasting psychological trauma to death.
The option to use physical force is essential for corrections officers to prevent violence against others. However, records obtained by WITF show that a significant number of uses of force are against people who are not hurting anyone else.
In these records, just one in 10 uses of force are in response to a prisoner assaulting someone else. Another 10% describe a prisoner threatening staff.
WITF found that one in five of uses of force — 88 incidents — involve a prisoner who was either attempting suicide, hurting themselves or threatening self-harm. Common responses by prison staff included a restraint chair and pepper spray. In some cases, officers used electroshock devices such as stun guns.
Records also show 42 cases where corrections staff noted someone appeared to have a mental health condition but still used force when the person failed to respond to commands.
When someone in jail is injured or dies, it’s usually the corrections officers and wardens who are targeted in lawsuits. However, the broader culpability extends from jails to state governments that set policies and fail to fund the mental health services that could keep people out of jail.
The state Department of Corrections has limited authority over county correctional institutions. It inspects jails every year or two years as required by state law. In addition, some county jails send their new hires to the state’s corrections training academy.
Supporters of these techniques say they save lives, but some jails in the U.S. have moved away from the practices, saying they’re inhumane and don’t work.
Cook County, Illinois has done away with prison wardens and has put psychologists and other mental health professionals in charge of the jail. Some inmates are permitted to stay in a “college campus” setting where they have access to classes and job training. The jail doesn’t use restrictive housing and has significantly limited uses of pepper spray and other painful control measures.
To change the circumstances for people in county jails, experts say county and state leaders need to reimagine them as a place where mental health care is prioritized.