'How Am I Gonna Handle Tomorrow?': Missouri Jail Officers At Risk Of PTSD

Tonya Harry had been working as a correctional officer for about a year when she had one of the most traumatic experiences of her life.

During her shift at the Medium Security Institution in St. Louis — also known as the Workhouse — she discovered an inmate who had died by suicide.

“Sometimes I still think about it,” said Harry, who serves as the jail’s chief of security more than 20 years later.

A recent St. Louis University survey of about 300 jail officers in Missouri found more than half reported symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/how-am-i-gonna-handle-tomorrow-missouri-jail-officers-risk-ptsd