On January 30th and 31st, I wrote about "Joe T." and his struggles...
Then yesterday, the Columbia Space Shuttle exploded in a tragic accident, and I felt led to write about it. Today, however, I want to get back to Joe.
When I left Joe on Thursday afternoon, he was in the hands of one of the facility's mental health professionals. At the time, he was depressed and was doing things to indicate that he was going to hurt himself. He was crying and giving his things away to some of his inmate friends.
I spent much of Thursday afternoon talking with Joe. So did the corrections officers and, finally, someone from the Mental Health Unit. Later it was determined to leave Joe in his cell as opposed to the more extreme measure of committing him into the prison’s "Satellite Unit."
The Office of Mental Health has a "Satellite Unit,” also known as an “Observation Unit" (the latter term is not officially used anymore). Calling a cell in the Observation Unit a "satellite cell" is euphemistically more benign sounding than the word "observation." In reality, it is the same thing. Every maximum-security prison in New York State, I believe, has an Observation/Satellite Unit on its grounds for those inmates who need to be kept on a 24-hour suicide watch.
Years ago, it was called a "padded cell." It still exists, though only the name has changed. Nowadays, the inmates and staff call it a "strip cell.”
However, the good news is that, earlier on Friday when I saw Joe, he was still in his regular cell. He was smiling and joking around, and he seemed to be doing much better. His friends had already given him back the property he tried to give away.
D.B.
When I left Joe on Thursday afternoon, he was in the hands of one of the facility's mental health professionals. At the time, he was depressed and was doing things to indicate that he was going to hurt himself. He was crying and giving his things away to some of his inmate friends.
I spent much of Thursday afternoon talking with Joe. So did the corrections officers and, finally, someone from the Mental Health Unit. Later it was determined to leave Joe in his cell as opposed to the more extreme measure of committing him into the prison’s "Satellite Unit."
The Office of Mental Health has a "Satellite Unit,” also known as an “Observation Unit" (the latter term is not officially used anymore). Calling a cell in the Observation Unit a "satellite cell" is euphemistically more benign sounding than the word "observation." In reality, it is the same thing. Every maximum-security prison in New York State, I believe, has an Observation/Satellite Unit on its grounds for those inmates who need to be kept on a 24-hour suicide watch.
Years ago, it was called a "padded cell." It still exists, though only the name has changed. Nowadays, the inmates and staff call it a "strip cell.”
However, the good news is that, earlier on Friday when I saw Joe, he was still in his regular cell. He was smiling and joking around, and he seemed to be doing much better. His friends had already given him back the property he tried to give away.
D.B.
