SAINT LOUIS, MISSOURI (KMOX) - Managers of the St. Louis City Justice Center strongly denied claims of poor conditions or mistreatment made by inmates surrounding the uprising early Saturday that caused thousands of dollars of damage and injured one guard.
"In terms of keeping folks here safely, and providing them with adequate food and adequate temperature, we are doing a good job here," says Mayor Lyda Krewson at a Monday afternoon press conference at the lockup across from City Hall.
Commissioner Dale Glass says the heating/air conditioning system was recently replaced, inmates are consulted regularly about the menu, and vending machines are available. Face masks are readily provided, he says, and COVID testing is available on request by inmates.
KMOX News asked Glass if he felt civic unrest, with demonstrators doing damage at will had anything to do with the weekend unrest.
"There have been times when the inmates have said to us, when we've said, what's the problem, what's going on," he says. "Well, people are outside and they're protesting ... and they're even protesting for us, so we thought we should."
He did not say it was specifically in relation to Saturday's events, but says conversations about the two previous outbursts in recent months leads him to believe it's part of the issue.
One of the matters is inmates are being held longer than before the pandemic. There hasn't been a trial since March, although six hundred cases have been settled by plea agreements. St. Louis Public Safety Director, Judge Jimmie Edwards says those remaining in the jail are among those considered the most dangerous. However, he says it's not up to the City who's in jail and who's not.
"The Correction Division has no authority to admit people to jail, or any authority to release people from jail. Those decisions are the decisions exclusively vested in judges."
This follows suggestions by some inmate advocates those in the jail should be released due to coronavirus concerns. Commissioner Glass says there are currently no COVID cases there, and the jail is holding about half the inmates it usually has.
The task force named Monday by Mayor Krewson will be headed by former Missouri Supreme Court Judge Michael Wolff. It will be a five to seven member panel to investigate what lead to Saturday's violence, and what can be done to prevent further unrest. If the inmates have any legitimate grievances, Mayor Krewson says the task force will find them and make recommendations.
Damage in the uprising has not been estimated yet, but is believed in the thousands of dollars. Broken windows, water damage from clogged toilets and jimmied locks top the list. A corrections officer suffered a minor head injury as he tussled with inmates.
Video is being reviewed and handed over to investigators to determine if any charges will be filed against rioters.
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