NEW YORK – Officials say they're launching a systemic review of suicides and acts of self-harm in New York City jails using an approach that's commonly applied when things go wrong in the medical and aviation industries.
The director of the mayor's office of criminal justice said Tuesday that officials have obtained a $400,000 federal grant to apply "sentinel event" policies to in-custody suicides and self-harm.
Elizabeth Glazer says the approach seeks to understand how and why a large system can break down to allow adverse events such as suicides — and what can be done to fix the problem.
The Associated Press reported in June that protocols weren't followed in nine of 11 suicides since 2009.
Officials say there were 2,514 incidents of self-harm on Rikers Island between 2007 and 2011.
