DETROIT (WXYZ) — Amidst unfolding chaos inside Wayne County’s juvenile detention facility, the county recently vacated the building that has long housed some of its most violent youth in favor of a vacant Wayne County jail in Hamtramck.
The move, officials hope, will help stem attacks against staff and juveniles and mitigate challenges posed by significant overcrowding.
“It’s definitely a very concerning situation, it’s our top priority,” said Deputy County Executive Assad I. Turfe. “I’m not gonna sit here and sugar coat anything.”
As 7 Action News first revealed in August, the detention facility has suffered from severe understaffing since the pandemic, made worse by an increase in juveniles held there.
The building that normally holds between 70 and 80 juveniles was forced to hold nearly twice that many, leading to a sharp increase in attacks—35 last year alone.
“Most of the residents that we have in our custody are accused of capital crimes,” Turfe said, “which include homicide, assault with intent to commit murder, robbery (and) carjacking.”
Youth regularly escaped form their rooms, according to staff, and as the number of residents went up, the number of staff plummeted.
“It just seems like the bottom fell out,” recalled former detention specialist Aidra Johnson in August. “Per shift, I would say we were easily down 15-20 individuals."
Probation case manager Destany Moore, who had previously worked at the JDF as a detention specialist, recalled recent visits to the facility.
“I would literally go to the pods and there would be no staff at all and I’m like, hey, where’s the staff?” Moore said.
Now, in effort to make staff and residents safer, the county has emptied out its juvenile facility and moved all 116 juvenile residents up the street to the vacant William Dickerson Detention Facility in Hamtramck.
The county says the move was recently approved by the state, and they hope it will give residents more opportunities to leave their rooms while also limiting opportunities for attacks.
“We can provide most of our medical right on the housing unit, we can provide recreation right on the housing unit, and we can provide schooling right on the housing unit,” Turfe said.
The county says placing juveniles in Dickerson will allow them to house up to 60 residents in one pod, rather than the 20 allowed at the JDF.
“Which means we could have more staff together and the staff being together can help, you have a partner, you feel safer,” Turfe said. “You have somebody there with you.”
At the JDF, residents frequently popped their locks to escape, sometimes attacking other residents or staff. The vacant jail has cells that are harder to escape from, staff say.
Much of the overcrowding can be attributed to a statewide shortage of residential beds, an issue outside of the county’s control .
Officials say about half of its juvenile population has already gone through the criminal justice system but is waiting for a residential facility to accept them.
It’s been only two days since residents were moved to the old jail. Turfe, who toured it today, says he’s optimistic.
“I talked to residents, I talked to staff,” he said. “When I walked in, I seen some obvious changes. It’s a better environment form my perspective.”
Contact 7 Investigator Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
