Deputy Intervenes on Suicide Attempt

February 09, 2009
Contact: Elise Schaffer, PIO Phone: (608) 284-6142 Email: schaffer@co.dane.wi.us
Sheriff's Office

Madison, WI. February 9, 2009 – On Sunday, February 8th, at approximately 5:15 p.m. a Dane County Sheriff’s Deputy working in the Dane County Jail-City-County Building was able to intervene on a suicide attempt by an inmate. While viewing the camera monitoring system in the jail, the deputy witnessed an inmate putting a sheet around his neck and then draping one end of the sheet through the cell bars. The deputy and his two partners immediately responded to the cellblock and prevented the attempt. Medical and Mental Health Staff immediately evaluated the man. The inmate was moved to an area of the Dane County Jail where he could be more closely monitored and was placed on suicide watch. The 37-year-old man, from Madison, is being held in the Dane County Jail on a probation violation. In 2008, the Dane County Jail added 71 cameras to the Dane County Jail-City-County Building along with updating the video monitoring system. This system was instrumental in deputies being alerted to and preventing this suicide attempt.