05-18-2011, 12:33 PM
suicide watch.
AP
NEW YORK -- Guards at New York City's massive Rikers Island jail complex are taking unusual precautions to make sure IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn doesn't come to any harm behind bars.
The 62-year-old banker and diplomat has a whole jail wing to himself, a medical device to make sure he doesn't stop breathing during the night and guards checking him 24 hours a day to make sure he doesn't kill himself.
Since his arraignment Monday on charges that he tried to rape a hotel maid, Strauss-Kahn has been held at the city's massive Rikers Island jail complex, home to thousands of prisoners serving short sentences or inmates awaiting trial.
Because of his stature, Strauss-Kahn has been assigned to a facility at the jail that normally houses inmates with very contagious diseases, like measles or tuberculosis.
Department of Correction spokesman Stephen Morello said Strauss-Kahn has been placed in a wing with about 14 cells, all of which are empty except for his. There is a toilet and a sink in the cell. He takes his meals there as well, with breakfast at 5 a.m., lunch at 11 a.m. and dinner at 4 p.m. or 5 p.m.
All inmates arriving at Rikers Island are given a mental health assessment to determine whether they might pose a suicide risk.
Norman Seabrook, president of the union that represents corrections officers, said Strauss-Kahn did or said something during that evaluation that made doctors concerned. As a result, he is being monitored day and night.
A law enforcement official confirmed that Strauss-Kahn had been placed on a suicide watch.
MUGSHOT
AP
NEW YORK -- Guards at New York City's massive Rikers Island jail complex are taking unusual precautions to make sure IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn doesn't come to any harm behind bars.
The 62-year-old banker and diplomat has a whole jail wing to himself, a medical device to make sure he doesn't stop breathing during the night and guards checking him 24 hours a day to make sure he doesn't kill himself.
Since his arraignment Monday on charges that he tried to rape a hotel maid, Strauss-Kahn has been held at the city's massive Rikers Island jail complex, home to thousands of prisoners serving short sentences or inmates awaiting trial.
Because of his stature, Strauss-Kahn has been assigned to a facility at the jail that normally houses inmates with very contagious diseases, like measles or tuberculosis.
Department of Correction spokesman Stephen Morello said Strauss-Kahn has been placed in a wing with about 14 cells, all of which are empty except for his. There is a toilet and a sink in the cell. He takes his meals there as well, with breakfast at 5 a.m., lunch at 11 a.m. and dinner at 4 p.m. or 5 p.m.
All inmates arriving at Rikers Island are given a mental health assessment to determine whether they might pose a suicide risk.
Norman Seabrook, president of the union that represents corrections officers, said Strauss-Kahn did or said something during that evaluation that made doctors concerned. As a result, he is being monitored day and night.
A law enforcement official confirmed that Strauss-Kahn had been placed on a suicide watch.
MUGSHOT