BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) -- Erie County Sheriff Timothy Howard said some inmates with substance abuse problems will be separated from the general population and monitored 24 hours a day by deputies following a third suicide at the downtown holding center in three months.
"The last three suicides have all involved individuals that were addicted to heroin," Howard said.
"They're going to be placed together as a group -- and it's not just heroin," said the jail's superintendent, Robert Koch. "We're going to do anyone that's on a drug detoxification protocol. It could be alcohol, heroin, whatever."
On Wednesday, Jeremy Kiekbush, 29, of Campbell Blvd. in Amherst was found dead in his jail cell. Officials said he hanged himself with a bed sheet just after 12:00 p.m.
His wife confirmed Kiekbush struggled with heroin addiction.
The new screening measures, to identify drug-addicted inmates, could help to save lives.
In Kiekbush's case, there were clear warning signs that he might harm himself.
His wife notified Amherst police that he threatened to kill himself following a domestic dispute on Monday.
"I was 110 percent concerned that's what he was going to do because he wasn't kidding," Rochelle Kiekbush told Eyewitness News on Wednesday night, just hours after learning her husband of five years was dead.
Amherst police, while searching for Jeremy Kiekbush, alerted other police agencies that he may be a threat to himself.
The information was never relayed to sheriff's deputies following Kiekbush's arrest.
"No one from the Amherst Police Department informed us of this individual's background," said Howard during a news conference on Thursday.
State Commission of Correction investigators arrived in Buffalo late in the day to probe the latest suicide.
The U.S. Justice Department is suing Erie County in federal court to gain access to the facility and conduct interviews with inmates and employees.
Erie County Attorney Cheryl Green has blocked efforts by federal interviewers to enter the jail, unless they are accompanied by county representatives.
Following the third suicide, Erie County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz called for Green's resignation on Thursday.
"This is just the beginning," Poloncarz said.
"We will in all likelihood see lawsuits from the families of the deceased for wrongful death. I'm fairly confident there will be a lawsuit about that."
Green did not return calls for comment, but a spokesman for Erie County Executive Chris Collins said Green would not resign.
"Collins has full faith and confidence in his county attorney," said Collins staffer Grant Loomis.
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