Sheriff's Office Jail Mental Illness Study, Crime Tips and Swap Spot
Friday, September 30, 2016 at 4:53PM
From a September 30 Hennepin County Sheriff's Office e-newsletter:
One-Day Snapshot Study
This past Thursday we announced the results of a major study regarding mental illness in our jail. The study showed that approximately half of the inmates would benefit from or are in need of mental health services while incarcerated in the Hennepin County Jail.
On July 27, we conducted a One-Day Snapshot Study of all inmates in the jail. Study partners also reviewed other verifiable information for the 680 inmates, including medical histories, public court records, incidents during previous incarcerations, and county records from County Departments.
The study showed that 52% of the inmates had confirmed indicators or met other criteria associated with mental illness. 36% of the inmates had a confirmed mental health diagnosis or concern in the jail’s intake health assessment, or had confirmed prescriptions for neuroleptic medications. An additional 16% of the inmates displayed behaviors associated with serious mental illness or had a significant history connected to mental illness.
We conducted this study to better understand the issues our inmates deal with while in our custody, and how we can provide the best possible services. The Sheriff’s Office and other Hennepin County agencies have partnered to identify several innovations that we hope will provide enhanced services for inmates who are mentally ill, including the following new initiatives:
- Registered Nurses will conduct 24/7 health screenings for all inmates during the booking process.
- Housing/Classification decisions for inmates with mental illness will be based upon acuity levels as determined by Jail medical staff.
- Inmates will be provided 24 hours’ worth of medications upon release from the Jail, RN’s from HCMC also will oversee this service.
- The Sheriff’s Office Court “expediter” works to ensure inmates are making reasonable progress through court hearings and evaluations while in custody.
Anonymous Crime Tips
Want to partner with us to fight crime? All four of the methods below allow you to submit a crime tip anonymously to the Sheriff's Office. We need your tips about drug activity, cold cases, suspicious activity, or general crime.
- Call: 1-888-988-TIPS (8477)
- Text: 847-411, start your text with “HCSOtip” then enter your tip
- App: Search "HCSOtip" to download the app
- Online: www.HennepinSheriff.org then fill-out the form
Do NOT use these tip services if you need an urgent response. In case of emergencies, call 911.
Swap Spot
Do you buy or sell online items from sites like Craig's List? If so, try our Swap Spots for a safe place to conduct in-person transactions.
Swap Spots are designated public places where residents may exchange items that they have purchased/sold online. This allows people to have a public location to make legal transactions.
Swap Spots are located in the lobby of three Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office facilities.
- Sheriff's Water Patrol, 4141 Shoreline Drive, Spring Park, MN
- Enforcement Services Division, 9401 83rd Ave. N., Brooklyn Park, MN
- Public Safety Facility, 401 S. 4th Ave., Minneapolis, MN
Swap Spots are available during regular business hours of operation: 8am-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, excluding holidays.
