Deputy Attorney General Announces Over 50 Actions to Reduce the Risk of Suicide for Adults in the Department’s Custody
A Working Group of Justice Department Experts Recommends Reforms to Reduce the Risk of Suicide by Adults in Federal Pretrial and Correctional Custody
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco today announced over 50 new actions the Justice Department will take to reduce the risk of death by suicide of adults who are detained or incarcerated in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) or Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP). These actions follow from recommendations developed by a working group of experts, from across the Department, tasked by the Deputy Attorney General with creating a multifaceted approach to reducing the risk of suicide and self-directed violence among those in the Department’s care and custody.
The Justice Department’s mission to uphold the rule of law, keep our country safe, and protect civil rights includes safely and humanely caring for those in its custody. While the Department has long worked to reduce the risk of suicide in the populations it serves, too many individuals die by suicide in federal custody while they await trial or serve a sentence. Even though the suicide mortality rate in federal custody is generally lower than that in local jails and state prisons, the Department must strive to avert every preventable death of an individual in its custody.
