CHIPPEWA COUNTY, MI - A Michigan sheriff says his jail is not equipped to house an inmate who is displaying severe mental health issues, and that his pleas for help have not been answered by state and mental health officials.
Chippewa County Sheriff Michael D. Bitnar posted a narrative to the sheriff’s office Facebook page on Friday, Feb. 7.
Bitnar described the inmate as an older veteran with mental illness.
“During the initial contact with law Enforcement in 2019 it was obvious this gentleman needed help,” the post reads. “We sat with this man for several days at our local ER trying to find a bed for him in a Mental Health facility. Days went by with our Officers guarding him with no results. We tried getting state, local and VA beds with no luck.”
Bitnar says the inmate was found to be incompetent to stand trial in December, but as of February, he was told a state bed at a mental institution won’t be available until June.
“I understand there is a waiting list and under normal circumstances we just have to wait it out,” the post says. “However, this man is not able to communicate and refuses to shower. To make it worse he constantly smears his own feces all over the walls, doors and windows within his cell. This occurs multiple times a day.”
Bitnar says that sitting in a correctional facility is not what the man needs, instead, he needs professional mental health care.
“I have spent the last couple of days making calls and sending emails trying to get this man moved. As of this morning I have had no luck.”
The sheriff also addresses liability issues with housing the inmate in his facility.
“If something happens to this veteran while he is in my correctional facility, everyone will blame our office and me personally,” Bitnar said. “I should point out that we do have mental health services available for our inmates, but in cases such as these, those services are not intensive enough and need to be conducted in an appropriate long-term facility. A jail is not that facility. We have tried over and over to get this man the help he needs. The mental health system in Michigan is broken.”
READ MORE
Nowhere to Turn: Families struggle as psych beds disappear from hospitals
Pine Rest opens new Psychiatric Urgent Care Center