Wednesday, August 27, 2003

Mental health tests planned for police (UK)
BBC story - "Police in England and Wales are considering regular checks on the mental health of officers performing stressful duties, BBC News has learned. A Home Office working party is looking at the possibility of periodic interviews or questionnaires to see if officers are coping with the mental strain of their work or losing sleep because of stress. Officers who routinely carry guns, work undercover or investigate paedophiles are among those who, it is thought, would benefit from regular medicals."  
  

Consultant recommends more mental health staff at jail in Stafford (Virginia)
Daily Press story - "The Rappahannock Regional Jail needs to improve screening prisoners for suicidal tendencies and needs more staff to handle inmates' mental health needs, a consultant has determined. The jail hired consultant Lindsay Hayes from the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, a branch of the U.S. Justice Department, to study its practices after three inmates hanged themselves in recent months. Hayes' biggest criticism in a report released this week centered on the 840-inmate jail's paucity of mental health staff and the backlog that has resulted." See also the full report, published at Fredericksburg.com.