Goody's Girl
05-16-2002, 07:41 PM
Another jail inmate found hanged in cell
By Sam Stanton -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Thursday, May 16, 2002Another
inmate has committed suicide at the Sacramento County
jail -- the fifth this year -- and officials say they
thwarted a similar attempt hours earlier.
The suicide, the latest in a record number of inmate
deaths at the jail, occurred about 9 p.m. Tuesday,
sheriff's officials said.
The victim was identified as Julien Louis Provencher,
47. Officials described him as a transient who was
arrested May 7 on loitering charges and for an
outstanding misdemeanor drunken-driving warrant.
Provencher was found dead in his cell by his cellmate
at 9:03 p.m., sheriff's Sgt. James Lewis said. He
hanged himself with a bedsheet after wedging part of
the sheet through a gap between the cell's upper bunk
and the wall.
The suicide comes as the Sheriff's Department finds
itself on the defensive over the sudden upturn in
deaths at the jail. One jail critic renewed his call
Wednesday for an independent investigation of jail
operations.
"There's something wrong, and you can't blame it on
the inmates," said Tommy Clinkenbeard, assistant
public defender.
Clinkenbeard represented accused mass-murderer Nikolay
Soltys, who hanged himself in the jail in February.
Provencher had a history of minor drug and
drunken-driving violations but had shown no signs of
psychological or medical problems, sheriff's officials
said.
His cellmate told investigators that Provencher seemed
fine and didn't appear suicidal when the cellmate left
to see a visitor about 8 p.m., Lewis said.
Provencher was last seen alive 30 to 40 minutes later
by a jail deputy making a routine check, officials
said.
That left about a 20-minute window for him to hang
himself. Officials said a note he left behind
indicated he was depressed but gave no clear reason
for the suicide.
Sheriff's officials would not release copies of the
note, but sources indicated the one-page, handwritten
letter decried his treatment by "bad police" in Los
Angeles and dissatisfaction with his life.
"I hate my life," Provencher wrote at one point.
The note gave no clear indication of problems inside
the jail, but Provencher made a vague reference to an
unsuccessful effort to meet with Don Casimere,
director of the city's Office of Police
Accountability.
Casimere said his files indicate Provencher called his
office April 10 to complain that he had been arrested
and his car impounded. Provencher told Casimere that
after his arrest he was taken to a mental facility for
two weeks and that he was concerned about getting his
car back because he was homeless and needed it.
Casimere said he referred Provencher to a city hearing
officer and did not know whether Provencher had
followed up.
Sheriff's officials said that Provencher's comments to
Casimere did not match with any prior arrests they
knew of and that there was no record of him being
evaluated at a mental facility.
Deputies discovered Provencher's death about 12 hours
after another inmate tried to hang himself in an
adjacent area on the jail's sixth floor.
In that incident, an inmate arrested last Thursday for
probation violations and other charges tied a sheet
around his neck and a railing and lowered himself over
the rail, sheriff's officials said.
They said that he made the attempt in full view of a
guard and that the inmate was rescued quickly and
treated for minor injuries.
Some officials questioned whether Provencher may have
noticed the first incident and attempted his own
"copycat" suicide.
Tuesday's death comes as the Sheriff's Department is
under scrutiny for the number of suicides at the jail.
"Five in five months is well above anything we've ever
seen before," Lewis said. "There's no question that
the number of suicides is unusually high."
The jail's suicide rate traditionally has been much
lower than the national average, sheriff's officials
said last week as they prepared to brief county
supervisors on the deaths.
A study found that, based on national averages, the
Sacramento jail should have dealt with 38 suicides
over the past 10 years, but instead had experienced 14
before Tuesday's death.
Lewis said sheriff's officials already have taken
every possible step to thwart suicides, including
recent work to plug holes in metal bunks that some
inmates had used to secure bedsheets they used to hang
themselves.
That work was completed recently at a cost of several
thousand dollars, he said.
But Clinkenbeard, who called for grand jury, FBI and
state attorney general investigations of the jail
after Soltys died, said he believes the nature of the
jail itself is responsible for the suicides.
"There's this detachment going on; you've got control
pods basically with people sitting up in towers," he
said.
Clinkenbeard added that he believes some deputies have
abused inmates, exacerbating the problem.
Sheriff's officials said they have taken swift action
against problem deputies in the past, including a move
in August to fire six jail workers for alleged abuse
of inmates.
County Supervisor Roger Dickinson said that although
the latest suicide was unfortunate, he believes the
Sheriff's Department is taking steps to prevent such
deaths.
"Every time there's a suicide in the jail it's a
concern for all of us, and each case needs to be
examined for its particular circumstances," he said.
"But I believe they're making all the reasonable
efforts to try to prevent suicides."
By Sam Stanton -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Thursday, May 16, 2002Another
inmate has committed suicide at the Sacramento County
jail -- the fifth this year -- and officials say they
thwarted a similar attempt hours earlier.
The suicide, the latest in a record number of inmate
deaths at the jail, occurred about 9 p.m. Tuesday,
sheriff's officials said.
The victim was identified as Julien Louis Provencher,
47. Officials described him as a transient who was
arrested May 7 on loitering charges and for an
outstanding misdemeanor drunken-driving warrant.
Provencher was found dead in his cell by his cellmate
at 9:03 p.m., sheriff's Sgt. James Lewis said. He
hanged himself with a bedsheet after wedging part of
the sheet through a gap between the cell's upper bunk
and the wall.
The suicide comes as the Sheriff's Department finds
itself on the defensive over the sudden upturn in
deaths at the jail. One jail critic renewed his call
Wednesday for an independent investigation of jail
operations.
"There's something wrong, and you can't blame it on
the inmates," said Tommy Clinkenbeard, assistant
public defender.
Clinkenbeard represented accused mass-murderer Nikolay
Soltys, who hanged himself in the jail in February.
Provencher had a history of minor drug and
drunken-driving violations but had shown no signs of
psychological or medical problems, sheriff's officials
said.
His cellmate told investigators that Provencher seemed
fine and didn't appear suicidal when the cellmate left
to see a visitor about 8 p.m., Lewis said.
Provencher was last seen alive 30 to 40 minutes later
by a jail deputy making a routine check, officials
said.
That left about a 20-minute window for him to hang
himself. Officials said a note he left behind
indicated he was depressed but gave no clear reason
for the suicide.
Sheriff's officials would not release copies of the
note, but sources indicated the one-page, handwritten
letter decried his treatment by "bad police" in Los
Angeles and dissatisfaction with his life.
"I hate my life," Provencher wrote at one point.
The note gave no clear indication of problems inside
the jail, but Provencher made a vague reference to an
unsuccessful effort to meet with Don Casimere,
director of the city's Office of Police
Accountability.
Casimere said his files indicate Provencher called his
office April 10 to complain that he had been arrested
and his car impounded. Provencher told Casimere that
after his arrest he was taken to a mental facility for
two weeks and that he was concerned about getting his
car back because he was homeless and needed it.
Casimere said he referred Provencher to a city hearing
officer and did not know whether Provencher had
followed up.
Sheriff's officials said that Provencher's comments to
Casimere did not match with any prior arrests they
knew of and that there was no record of him being
evaluated at a mental facility.
Deputies discovered Provencher's death about 12 hours
after another inmate tried to hang himself in an
adjacent area on the jail's sixth floor.
In that incident, an inmate arrested last Thursday for
probation violations and other charges tied a sheet
around his neck and a railing and lowered himself over
the rail, sheriff's officials said.
They said that he made the attempt in full view of a
guard and that the inmate was rescued quickly and
treated for minor injuries.
Some officials questioned whether Provencher may have
noticed the first incident and attempted his own
"copycat" suicide.
Tuesday's death comes as the Sheriff's Department is
under scrutiny for the number of suicides at the jail.
"Five in five months is well above anything we've ever
seen before," Lewis said. "There's no question that
the number of suicides is unusually high."
The jail's suicide rate traditionally has been much
lower than the national average, sheriff's officials
said last week as they prepared to brief county
supervisors on the deaths.
A study found that, based on national averages, the
Sacramento jail should have dealt with 38 suicides
over the past 10 years, but instead had experienced 14
before Tuesday's death.
Lewis said sheriff's officials already have taken
every possible step to thwart suicides, including
recent work to plug holes in metal bunks that some
inmates had used to secure bedsheets they used to hang
themselves.
That work was completed recently at a cost of several
thousand dollars, he said.
But Clinkenbeard, who called for grand jury, FBI and
state attorney general investigations of the jail
after Soltys died, said he believes the nature of the
jail itself is responsible for the suicides.
"There's this detachment going on; you've got control
pods basically with people sitting up in towers," he
said.
Clinkenbeard added that he believes some deputies have
abused inmates, exacerbating the problem.
Sheriff's officials said they have taken swift action
against problem deputies in the past, including a move
in August to fire six jail workers for alleged abuse
of inmates.
County Supervisor Roger Dickinson said that although
the latest suicide was unfortunate, he believes the
Sheriff's Department is taking steps to prevent such
deaths.
"Every time there's a suicide in the jail it's a
concern for all of us, and each case needs to be
examined for its particular circumstances," he said.
"But I believe they're making all the reasonable
efforts to try to prevent suicides."