Courthouse incident reflective of jails mental health challenges – Aspen Daily News

After her first appearance in Pitkin County court Monday morning after being arrested Saturday on an outstanding warrant, a female Pitkin County Jail inmate created a disturbance while being escorted out of the courtroom.

That disturbance included her attempting to jump over the railing of the third floor of the courthouse, explained Alex Burchetta, chief deputy of operations for the Pitkin County Sheriffs Office. Once we were able to calm the situation down and preventing her attempting to jump, we contacted Aspen Ambulance. She was taken back to the jail for further medical assistance.

The incident was kept from escalating primarily because of the combination of detention deputies and the deputy on security duty stationed at the top of the courthouses staircase. On Monday morning, deputy Josh Bennett held that post and was able to catch the inmate before she fell.

He did a great job, Burchetta said. It further reinforces why we have a patrol deputy up there providing security. We never know whats going to happen up there the situation was fairly dynamic.

In addition to the sheriffs deputies immediately on scene and Aspen Ambulance responders, our co-response clinician responded to do an evaluation and assist with mental health evaluations, he continued.

That co-response clinician is part of the Pitkin Area Co-Responder Teams, or PACT, community program that pairs local law enforcement agencies with mental health specialists. Still in its first six months, the partnership between Mind Springs Health, Pitkin County Public Health, Pitkin County Sheriffs Office and Aspen and Snowmass police has already proved valuable in better handling situations in which a persons mental health is a concern. Monday was no exception.

Pitkin County Sheriff Joe DiSalvo echoed Burchettas praise for Bennetts immediate response and underscored that Mondays incident was just the latest in a string of outbursts his deputies have to manage at the jail, where many inmates struggle with mental health issues, he said.

He reacted incredibly quickly and heroically and no doubt saved her from serious injury and possibly death, DiSalvo said. Were not clinicians; were not mental health workers. I don't know how to even start to deal with this.

On Friday, the sheriffs office released the investigation reports following the Nov. 3 suicide of Jillian White, which occurred in her jail cell. White, whose next court appearance had been for Nov. 4, had been found mentally incompetent to stand trial and thus sentenced to in-patient psychological restoration services.

I dont want to go to a loony bin. Ive been in a lot of looney bins now. Im just done with my life, White told her mother during a phone call, according to transcripts included in the reports.

Those transcriptions, bolstered by video surveillance footage of Whites behavior in her cell and interviews with responding deputies, created a larger picture and offered data about training and policies that came into play in the days before the suicide.

While jail commander Kim Vallario has not been available for comment since the release of that information largely due to the holidays, DiSalvo said the information learned from the investigation has kept everyone working diligently.

Shes reviewing all those reports, scrutinizing them, he said.

Whether official changes in the jails internal policies will emerge in the aftermath of the suicide remains to be seen. DiSalvo is hopeful that his department will be afforded resources for such things as surveillance upgrades his is the only law enforcement agency in the valley that does not have vehicle-mounted cameras, for instance and staff training. He was vocal when presenting his budget request to county commissioners in October that the jails population had reached a tipping point. Hed requested eight new deputies; three were approved.

Im sounding the alarm, he told commissioners at that meeting.

On Monday, he said, Jill White was the alarm.

Pitkin County Manager Jon Peacock acknowledged that Whites suicide has shifted internal conversations surrounding funding priorities.

We definitely need to be taking a step back and looking at all these facilities, considering what investments need to be made ... given the changes in the clientele, frankly, that were serving, he said.

While Pitkin County Commissioner Greg Poschman did not feel comfortable commenting specifically on Whites suicide, as more investigations and possible litigation are pending, he lauded PACT on Monday.

The fact that always comes back to me is that 70 percent of the inmates in our jail have severe mental illness, and its [a] known [phenomenon]: Every jail in the state basically says they are the psychiatric facility in their county. We still are working on it, he said. Im so grateful for the PACT program. Its in its infancy still, but we have other counties all across the state are looking at us and trying to replicate what were doing with PACT.

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Courthouse incident reflective of jails mental health challenges - Aspen Daily News