ST. LOUIS 鈥 A push to make it easier for a civilian oversight board to investigate problems at the troubled downtown jail won initial approval at the Board of Aldermen on Thursday.
But the chairman of the oversight board said Mayor Tishaura O. Jones鈥 administration still needs to prove it鈥檚 on board with reform.
鈥淭he proof is in the pudding,鈥 said the chair, the Rev. Darryl Gray.
The legislation from Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, of Downtown, follows months of complaints from oversight board members and advocates that Jail Commissioner Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah, City Counselor Sheena Hamilton and others are stalling investigations into a rash of jail deaths, violence and living conditions at the City Justice Center, across South Tucker Boulevard from City Hall.
People are also reading…
If given final approval, the bill would let the board hire its own lawyer, force city leaders to provide it more information, and trim training requirements board members say have been used to prevent them from doing their work.
鈥淭his board is important to the City of 狐狸视频,鈥 Aldridge said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important that we have oversight to change and correct some of the wrongdoings at the jail.鈥
But Gray, the oversight board鈥檚 chair, said that while he appreciated the work done by Aldridge and Aldermanic President Megan Green on the legislation, the real test will be how Jones and her lieutenants react to the oversight board鈥檚 suggested reforms, when they come.
After months of back-and-forth between board members and city officials, three of the eight current board members have completed the training required to review complaints and enter the jail to observe conditions. By the end of the month, three more should follow 鈥 enough for a quorum.
Gray said that means the board will soon be able to review cases, investigate problems in the jail, and make recommendations to improve the climate for the hundreds of employees and detainees that spend time there. And the administration will either work with them or against them.
The events of the past 18 months 鈥 especially the deaths of 10 detainees 鈥 have eroded the community鈥檚 trust in the oversight process, Gray said.
鈥淭he response to our recommendations will determine if anything has changed or if nothing has changed,鈥 he said.
Nick Dunne, a spokesman for the mayor, took umbrage at the suggestion that Jones and her team have strayed from any commitment to oversight.
He said that Jones supported the original bill setting up the oversight board and that city attorneys worked to defend it from legal challenges. He said the administration has worked hard to help board members complete training in recent months.
鈥淲e鈥檝e always been committed to civilian oversight of the jail,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e still are.鈥
Dunne said Jones is taking the rash of deaths at the jail seriously, too. Many detainees arrive with undiagnosed and untreated ailments, he said, and the jail has long been poorly equipped to help them.
The administration is seeking a new contract health care provider for the facility and created 11 new positions in the city health department to oversee care.