ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Facing a litany of calls for her resignation, City Justice Center Commissioner Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah spoke with KMOX to address the list of troubles the jail has faced in recent months.
KMOX asked her about the many issues the City Justice Center has faced, including reportedly 10 detainee deaths in two years.
Clemons-Abdullah questioned the number of deaths, but said there was no single underlying factor behind the deaths.
"I can say that undiagnosed things that they come in with have played a role," said Clemons-Abdullah, "COVID played a role, drug use played a role."
Clemons-Abdullah also said poor healthcare prior to detainees entering the CJC was a factor.
In light of reports that three Corrections Officers were assaulted at the jail last week, KMOX asked Clemons-Abdullah about their safety. She said it comes down to judgement.
"Well, what we are doing is we're making sure our staff is making sound correctional judgement," said Clemons-Abdullah, "That is at the end of the day has to be put first and foremost."
We asked Clemons-Abdullah about the investigation into the CJC announced last week by Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick. The commissioner welcomes the audit.
"I think audits are always good," said Clemons-Abdullah, "They look at things from a different perspective. They can provide us input. I think it's always a staple for me to say 'Hey how can we improve?"
KMOX asked about some of the allegations the auditor addressed in his letter, such as allegations that food vendors were either no paid or not paid on time.
"Not I'm aware of," Clemons-Abdullah when asked about the allegations, "We've always had some staffing issues. Maybe (vendors) were a couple days late. Not anything was horrendous."
KMOX has independently confirmed that there are no issues with at least one food vendor at the CJC, confirming this with both the invoices of payments made and with the distributor itself. As for if there were any issues of the quality of food, Clemons-Abdullah downplayed that allegation as well.
"I can't say there are any issues," said Clemons-Abdullah, "Maybe they're not getting two cookies versus one."
With increasing calls for her resignation, KMOX asked Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah why she believes she is the right person for the job.
"What I'm dealing with is not days or years (of problems), these are decades," said Clemons-Abdullah, "It's not going to change overnight, and it's going to take a while. It won't take a year and if someone thinks they can get a result in three months, that's not going to occur."
If you want to listen to the full 45-minute conversation with Clemons-Abdullah, you can click here.
