Tennessee Sheriff Blames Two Suicides on Overcrowding, Understaffing
Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold maintains that his jail is safe, in spite of recent events that suggest otherwise. In a period of eight days, two inmates committed suicide. Additionally, the Sheriff’s department is facing a $20 million lawsuit because of injuries received by a former inmate while he was incarcerated in the jail. The inmate, who had been arrested on misdemeanor charges, was beaten unconscious by his cellmate and no longer has cognitive brain function. The cellmate, whose own mother warned corrections officers that he was dangerous and should be segregated, is now charged with attempted homicide.
Sheriff Arnold says that overcrowding is a huge issue. The jail is supposed to house 450 inmates, each in a single cell. At one time, the jail population reached 1,100. Currently, there are more than 900 inmates, over twice the jail’s rated capacity.
Arnold also says that he needs more staff, mostly due to the size of the inmate population. Since 2011, the jail has undergone three analyses; each one showing that the facility needs at least 43 more corrections personnel. Other issues at the jail, according to the sheriff, include an outdated jail management system used to monitor the offenders.
What may be most surprising about the situation is that the Tennessee Correction Institute (TCI) used the Rutherford County Jail as its “model facility” in 2014. The TCI brought new county sheriffs to the detention center to see how it was operated.
There is evidence that some residents do not believe that the sheriff is doing everything he can to keep the inmates safe. One evening shortly after the second suicide, his home was shot at multiple times. The sheriff hopes that the National Institute of Corrections will be able to help him find ways to better use the resources currently available.