Suicide statistics
Deaths in Middletown’s city jail are rare. The last death before the April 10 suicide of an inmate happened more than three years ago in December 2008.
According to the latest statistics by the U.S. Department of Justice Statistics, suicide was the second-leading cause of death from 2001 to 2007 among local jail inmates.
Illness 3,412
AIDS 352
Suicide 2,072
Drug/alcohol 529
Accident 204
Homicide 150
Other/unknown 469
Source: U.S. Department of Justice Statistics
MIDDLETOWN — Police aren’t likely to change any procedures after a 51-year-old man committed suicide in a Middletown City Jail cell earlier this month.
There were no indications that James Kelhoffer of Middletown would have taken his life the day he was arrested on a domestic violence charge, but officers will be more aware, said Maj. Mark Hoffman.
“Just by the nature of any critical incident, we will be more sensitive to it for a while,” he said.
The last suicide in the jail was in December 2008 and the last non-suicide death was at least 20 years ago according to Hoffman.
According to the Butler County Coroner’s Office, Kelhoffer’s death was ruled a suicide and died from asphyxiation.
According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than 2,000 inmates in local jails, or 29 percent, killed themselves between 2001 and 2007. Of those who committed suicide, more than 90 percent were men and nearly 70 percent were white. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death in local jails in the country to illness, which was the cause of 47.3 percent local inmate deaths. That does not include AIDS-related deaths, which accounts for 5.1 percent of local inmate deaths.
If Kelhoffer had given any indication they had suicidal thoughts, Hoffman said they would have been placed in a special cell where a video camera is fixed on the cell, and given special jail clothes. If an inmate continues to attempt to hurt him or herself, he said police can restrain the person in a chair or check them into the hospital.
Hoffman does not know the specifics surrounding the 2008 suicide, but said Kelhoffer had his clothes longer than what’s normally allowed, he said.
“We expect their clothes to be taken fairly quickly, within an hour,” Hoffman said. “That didn’t happen in this case. That’s something we’re looking at, why the clothes were there ... pretty much the whole time.”
Kelhoffer was arrested mid-afternoon on April 10 for domestic violence, after fighting with his step-son, and was throwing objects during an argument with his wife, according to the police report. He was found not moving in his cell close to midnight.
Hoffman said many inmates who have suicidal thoughts are “at a critical time in their life” sitting, often alone, in a jail cell.
“It’s a crisis for them. They could be facing fines, they could be facing time in prison, they could be facing public humiliation,” Hoffman said. “I can see people at this point in their lives doing drastic things like that.”
Michael W. Nelson III, professor of psychology at Xavier University, said people who commit or attempt suicide are more likely to come from broken or dysfunctional families, or don’t have a strong support system. These are intricacies that police officers are more than likely not familiar with, he said.
“They don’t’ know the history of these individuals,” Nelson said. “But you have individuals in the families who will know if there are any particular warning signs, and most individuals give some warning signs.”
Hoffmann said they do rely on others’ input, as well as the actions and statements of the arrestee. There are several times during the arrest and booking process officers interact with the arrestee.
Nelson said someone who commits suicide, or even attempts it, is experiencing a stressful time in their lives and have a feeling that “things are not working out” and have a sense of hopelessness about their future.
“Rarely do these things come out of the straight blue,” he said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or michael.pitman@coxinc.com. Follow at
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