Chair asks about inspections, training, and discipline for deadlocking
Brooks-Powers asks whether mental health units are regularly inspected for deadlocking and whether staff have received training or discipline. Conroy describes a tiered supervisory system, memoranda and training against unauthorized lock-ins, but says he does not know of any discipline and will follow up.
Still with deadlocking, are there regular inspections done of the mental health units around deadlocking?
I wouldn't categorize it as that specifically.
Obviously, any of these types of lock-ins, we have an obligation and supervisor responsibility to ensure that any lock-in, if they are taking place, are documented, appropriate, and within guidelines.
So that's a department-wide thing.
I wouldn't necessarily limit that to the mental health spaces.
And who would be the...
The one doing that type of like regular inspection or check-in?
It's a tiered system, obviously, on a supervisory level.
It starts with the supervisors at the housing area and then moving up into the facility and then, of course, going to our overarching executive staff on a uniform level.
Have correctional staff received any additional training or support to avoid them feeling that they need to resort to deadlocking?
At the time and continuing since that, this was raised as an issue, we've issued memoranda or teletypes and trainings to indicate that this is not an appropriate method to...
At all.
It's not an approved practice whatsoever.
So I would say overall, yes.
But again, I don't think it's necessarily focused or pointed to be specific.
that word deadlocking.
This is something that we do overarchingly for the entire department about what is the appropriate use in any circumstance of a lock-in or otherwise.
Have any staff been disciplined for deadlocking?
I would have to get back.
I don't know that I have that data.
You know, this goes back a couple of years for that investigation, but not to my knowledge, but we will certainly follow up.