Opinion ID: 4541298
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Officer Way

Text: Officer Way was present when Silvis was on the bridge, instructed Officer Kimball to remove Silvis’s shoes before locking his cell, and heard Silvis banging on his cell and yelling that his wrist hurt, that he should have jumped, and that he wanted a nurse. Again, these facts are sufficient to demonstrate 11 Case: 17-41234 Document: 00515450818 Page: 12 Date Filed: 06/12/2020 No. 17-41234 the officer’s subjective knowledge that Silvis was at a substantial risk of committing suicide. See Hyatt, 843 F.3d at 178 (concluding that official “was subjectively aware of a substantial risk that [detainee] would attempt to commit suicide” where official knew about recent suicide attempt, was informed by another that detainee was suicidal, and abstained from issuing detainee certain items due to his history of suicide attempts). Plaintiffs have satisfied the threshold for alleging that Officer Way was deliberately indifferent to Silvis’s risk of committing suicide for the same reasons as Dispatcher Whelan and Officer Melton. He knew Silvis was suicidal; he knew suicidal detainees should not be given loose bedding because they can use the bedding to harm themselves; he escorted Silvis into the cell with the blanket but did not take it away; and he failed to regularly check on Silvis. Based on these facts, Plaintiffs have satisfied their burden. See Jacobs, 228 F.3d at 397-98. Though it may be tempting to suggest that Officer Way’s behavior was not unreasonable because he at least directed Officer Kimball to remove Silvis’s shoes before locking him in the cell (removing the danger posed by shoelaces), we have previously held that taking some reasonable precautions does not mean the officer, on the whole, behaved reasonably. See id. at 39596. In Jacobs, we observed that one officer “did not completely ignore [the detainee’s] suicidal condition, and in fact instituted some preventative measures.” Id. at 395. “However,” we held, “those measures [were not] enough to mitigate his errors.” Id. And, as was the case here, the inadequacies of placing the detainee in a cell with tie-off points “became even more inadequate” when the officer locked the detainee in the cell with loose bedding. Id. at 396. On the whole, Plaintiffs have alleged sufficient facts to demonstrate that Officer Way’s behavior “was objectively unreasonable in light of his duty not to be deliberately indifferent.” Id. 12 Case: 17-41234 Document: 00515450818 Page: 13 Date Filed: 06/12/2020 No. 17-41234