Nassau jail suicides cause for alarm

So far this year, according to state figures, there've been six suicides in county jails across New York State.

Three of them have been in Nassau County.

While it's far too early to make any determination of what happened, that's cause for alarm.

Sifting through the circumstances of each inmate's death is essential to understanding what happened to them. Those investigations could take many months.

The probes will have to address significant questions. Three suicides in so short a time could indicate that the jail needs stronger mental health screening. Or maybe, in a county facing a budget squeeze, more staffing. Or simply more monitoring of inmates for whom a simple bedsheet can become an instrument of death.

A county jail is home to a vulnerable population - a mix of those awaiting trial and unable to make bail, those presumed innocent, along with those newly convicted like Herve Jeannot, awaiting sentencing, and those serving sentences of less than a year. It is a high-pressure, crowded environment that is no more than a way station for many.

Wednesday, officials in Nassau County weren't saying much about the latest suicide - Jeannot was found hanging in his cell Tuesday night - except that it is under investigation. Unlike Suffolk, where the sheriff's job is an elected post, the jail in Nassau reports up to County Executive Edward Mangano. In a brief statement issued Wednesday afternoon, Mangano's office said: "The New York State Commission of Correction conducts a review of all suicides that occur within local correctional facilities. We look forward to reviewing their findings."

"It's something we take very seriously," said John Caher of the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.

And so it is that the division, for the third time this year, very quickly opened up a preliminary inquiry. In the weeks to come, staff members will review medical records, health records, mental health records and autopsy reports.

The division will also review criminal records and will make field visits to see where the inmates were held, and to talk to correction officials about jail procedures, including the intake screening process.

Eventually, the investigative material will make its way to a medical review board, which will make recommendations. Although there are three ongoing investigations, Caher pointed out, they will cover some of the same ground because screening and other policies in place during the first suicide may have still been in place for the last.

"I wouldn't read anything into any of this, however," Caher said. "It's too early."

At some point, however, the division's report, along with recommendations it deems fit, will become available to the public.

For most of the last five years, Nassau appears to have had a system that worked well. What changed? Could any of the suicides have been prevented? Are there policies that need changing? State investigators will find out. And it's important that they do.