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DA: Officer’s shooting at Warren County ice cream stand appears justified

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Mr. and Mrs. Thomas V. Amico celebrate their 40tth wedding anniversary

<p>Two &#8212; and possibly three &#8212; female inmate suicides since June clearly raises the proverbial red flag at Luzerne County prison. As these cases have unfolded, the outrage has become palpable, but it&#8217;s hard to picture any easy fix.</p><p>Correctional Division Head Mark Rockovich said he is reviewing prison suicide prevention protocol, including screening at booking, and that all officers undergo annual suicide awareness training.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re looking to make changes because this is not right. It&#8217;s not normal,&#8221; Rockovich said. &#8220;We want to put an end to this.&#8221;</p><p>The need for action is made more apparent when attempted suicides are considered: Seven attempts in 2016, compared to three in 2015.</p><p>So, yes, this issue deserves to be high on Rockovich&#8217;s to-do list. But a big picture look is warranted. Luzerne County is not the only place where prison suicides have increased.</p><p>A report released in December by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in the U.S. Department of Justice noted a sharp rise in suicides at state prisons, from 192 in 2013 to 249 in 2014. That meant 7 percent of state prisoner deaths in 2014 were suicides, the highest rate since the bureau started keeping track in 2001.</p><p>And while the largest cause of death in state prisons remains illness (about 87 percent of all deaths), suicide was the leading cause of death in local jails, accounting for a whopping 35 percent.</p><p>What&#8217;s up?</p><p>In the case of state prison suicides, one out of five was by inmates in solitary confinement, suggesting use and implementation of such punishment deserves national scrutiny.</p><p>But a recent Huffington Post article noted local prison suicides are often &#8220;shock of confinement&#8221; cases, suicides by inexperienced inmates, particularly those being held for trial rather than serving a sentence following conviction.</p><p>That seems to be the case in the Luzerne County prison suicides. Brook Griesing, 23, was incarcerated because she couldn&#8217;t post bail following an arrest for theft charges. Tricia Cooper was behind bars on a bench warrant awaiting a preliminary hearing on a DUI charge.</p><p>As Times Leader reporter Jennifer Learn-Andes <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/local/670216/coroner-issues-determination-on-two-luzerne-county-prison-female-inmate-deaths" target="_blank">reported </a>this week, County Coroner William Lisman said the third case, Joan Rosengrant, is more complicated. He declared the death accidental because the cause was a combination of prescription drugs and her physical condition.</p><p>But Lisman also said suicide can&#8217;t be ruled out, though there&#8217;s no evidence she stockpiled drugs with intent of a deliberate overdose.</p><p>While the county prison almost surely needs to update suicide prevention efforts, the reality is that suicides are more common in prison than out, and there may be a simple reason: Bureau of Justice statistics say 55 percent of male inmates in state prisons suffer from mental health problems, compared to about 20 percent in the U.S. overall.</p><p>So, yes, improved screening upon prison entry and new anti-suicide protocols may help, but there may be a more controversial, more complicated and more costly answer: improved mental health services behind bars.</p><style>
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Our view: Suicides raise question of mental health services in prison