Strauss-Kahn Said to Be Placed on Suicide Watch in Jail
May 17, 2011, 7:32 PM EDTBy Karen Freifeld
(Updates with reasons for designation in second paragraph.)
May 17 (Bloomberg) -- Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the International Monetary Fund chief jailed at New York’s Rikers Island prison complex on charges of sexual assault and attempted rape, was placed on suicide watch at the facility, a person familiar with the matter said.
Strauss-Kahn has made no attempt to injure himself, said the person, who declined to be identified because the information isn’t public. An assessment of Strauss-Kahn and other factors, including that it’s his first time in jail, led to the precaution, the person said.
Being on suicide watch at Rikers means that an inmate is watched constantly and given a specially designed prison jumpsuit and shoes with no laces, the person said.
“All inmate health records are confidential under the law,” the New York City Department of Corrections said in an e-mailed statement in response to a call for comment. The department “follows the same protocol for the safety and security of all inmates, and the protocol dictates that every inmate is assessed for risk of harm to themselves and risk of harm to others,” it said in the e-mail.
Defense attorney Ben Brafman, who represents Strauss-Kahn, didn’t immediately return phone and e-mail messages seeking comment.
--Editors: Michael Hytha, Andrew Dunn
To contact the reporter on this story: Karen Freifeld in New York at kfreifeld@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net
