No guidelines for police on unattended suspects
Associated Press August 10, 2012 9:52AM
Updated: August 10, 2012 11:29PM
ANDERSON, Ind. — An instructor at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy says there are no strict guidelines for police leaving a prisoner unattended like an Anderson teenager who apparently hanged himself with a seat belt in the back of a patrol car.
State police are investigating the death Wednesday of the 17-year-old boy, who police say apparently maneuvered his cuffed hands from behind his back while he was alone in the car, then used a seat belt as a ligature to hang himself.
Capt. David Younce tells The Herald Bulletin that generally it is not good protocol to leave a prisoner unattended, but sometimes officers must tend to other tasks, such as interviewing witnesses.
Younce says officers are supposed to take precautions if they deem a suspect a suicide risk.
