The U. S. Justice Department has bolstered its legal papers by citing this week’s suicide in the Holding Center as further reason why a judge should let a suicide-prevention expert into the Erie County jails.

Civil Rights Division lawyer Zazy I. Lopez told U. S. District Court Judge William M. Skretny in recently filed court papers about the hanging death of Jeremy M. Kiekbush, 29, of Amherst.

Kiekbush was placed in a general-population cell even though his death wish was well known to the police who arrested him. During a chase in Niagara County, he drove his Cadillac Escalade pickup at police vehicles joining the pursuit and later lamented that they had not killed him.

Timothy M. Green, assistant chief of the Amherst Police Department, which handed Kiekbush over to the Holding Center, acknowledged that officers did not alert Holding Center deputies to his suicidal intent, which probably would have resulted in his placement in a constant-watch unit.

Both Green and Sheriff Timothy B. Howard, the county elected leader primarily responsible for the jails, said they are willing to formalize a system to ensure that such information is related when police departments hand over suspects.

Kiekbush was deemed at low risk for suicide, and within hours his name was added to the list of Holding Center inmates who have killed themselves since County Attorney Cheryl A. Green asked Skretny in December to dismiss the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Erie County. The lawsuit seeks improvements in inmate care and treatment, and the protection of civil rights both at the Holding Center and Correctional Facility in Alden.

Dying since Dec. 16 are Adam Murr, 31, of North Tonawanda; Daniel Nye, 26, of Cheektowaga; and Kiekbush. Five Erie County inmates have killed themselves since the Justice Department began seeking access to the county’s jails early in 2008.

Some county leaders and local lawyers have questioned whether Green, Howard and County Executive Chris Collins are being wise in resisting the Justice Department. Other communities around the country, including Buffalo, have negotiated with Justice Department enforcement efforts over the years.

“In some respects, it is worth trying to talk to these folks instead of throwing your fate into the hands of a judge,” said Thomas H. Burton, a lawyer who represents the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association and did so in 2002 when the city and the Civil Rights Division negotiated an agreement over the Buffalo Police Department’s use of pepper spray.

“In the example with Buffalo,” he said, “we were able to negotiate an outcome that was not inordinately expensive. And it basically kept the federal government out of the [police] department’s hair once the deal was completed,” he said.

The state Commission of Correction on Thursday dispatched two of its jail inspectors to Erie County to begin a comprehensive review of the county’s suicide-screening measures. The sheriff cannot bar state investigators — they frequently arrive unannounced at the jail and correctional facility — but he said he welcomed their effort to collaborate on improvements.

Howard said his jail staff intends to place on suicide watch the 130 to 140 inmates going through drug-withdrawal programs. The three inmates who have killed themselves over the past 90 days had links to heroin use, he said.