Latest Updates on Issues at Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court Division
Investigation Ongoing After Detention Center Manager Fired
The FOX 8 I-Team has found a local detention center manager fired in the midst of an investigation into explicit photos on an electronic device at the juvenile lock-up. This comes to light after the I-Team found the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Department is investigating photos of an “underage, unidentified female.” Records released by Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court show Jerome Watkins terminated from the county
Forced Fights, Explicit Photos: More Detention Center Trouble
The FOX 8 I-Team has found a worker fired at the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center after being accused of staging fights between inmates. This comes after the I-Team has revealed multiple large outbreaks of violence there in recent months. Records provided by juvenile court show detention officer Trent Dunning was fired last month. His termination letter says “you are unable to function within
Absolute Havoc: Another Riot At Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center
The FOX 8 I-Team has uncovered exclusive video of yet another riot breaking out inside the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center. The latest incident is one of many, with the I-Team exposing big trouble there again and again. Security video shows, in the new case, a teacher walk through a door into a room and young inmates follow. Then, violence explodes with kids walking
Raises for Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center Officers Fall Short of Judge’s Request
A pay raise short — a staffing crisis too late. When Cuyahoga Juvenile Court Administrative Judge Thomas O’Malley asked the county officials to match raises for Juvenile Detention Center employees so they’d be on the same pay scale as downtown correction officers, they responded with a pay hike that was a little over half as much. It did little to alleviate the staffing crisis
Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center Struggles with Staffing Crisis During Pandemic
It was as early as April 2020 that COVID-19 began affecting employees at the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center. On April 2, 2020, The Plain Dealer reported that a Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center officer and a juvenile court employee were ordered to quarantine due to concerns related to the Coronavirus. The Plain Dealer reported: “The memo said healthcare providers ordered both to quarantine
Heartbreaking video shows the violence teens face at detention center
For any parent, the video obtained by the FOX 8 I-Team last Dec. 17 is hard to watch. It’s easy to imagine your own child under the pummel of fists and bodies. Listening to the mother of a locked up teen being told about the chaotic fight for the first time is absolutely gut wrenching. “I just hope my son is OK. Like, this
Juvenile Court has itself to blame for detention center violence
In a Letter to the Editor, published in The Plain Dealer on Oct. 13, Laborers Local 860 Field Representative Colin Sikon lays blame where it belongs: at the feet of Cuyahoga County Juvenile administrators who abandoned the workers’ Union. “Today, recruitment does not keep up with staff attrition in the detention facility,” he wrote. “This results in … horrible conditions….” For years, union members
After staffing crisis, Cuyahoga County agrees to $6 raise for Juvenile Detention workers
It took a staffing crisis for Cuyahoga County officials to agree to a pay raise at the Juvenile Detention Center. Starting wages for new officers are now $24 per hour, up from a little more than $18, The Plain Dealer reported on Oct. 8. The raises follow warnings from Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court Judge Thomas O’Malley that a staffing crisis led to juveniles being
Low staffing at Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center leads to $20,000 riot
Save pennies or teeth, your dentist says. In the long run, which approach will stretch a family budget? Cuyahoga County administration officials face a similar decision when it comes to staffing at the juvenile detention center. They pay workers poorly, which leads to a staffing crisis. Then a lack of trained staff at the center inevitably leads to a riot that costs the county
Hunger, soiled underwear, isolation: living conditions at the juvenile detention center
Being treated like animals, feeling scared for their lives, longing to see and hear from family — that’s how one youth resident described life at the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center. Our kids deserve better. In an Oct. 6 guest editorial in The Plain Dealer, Cleveland attorney Leah Winsberg describes the cramped conditions young residents must endure for long periods of time, due to
Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court judge seeks millions in county budget to address staffing crisis
Simply not hiring people is the Cuyahoga County administration’s approach to balancing the county budget. It’s as shortsighted as a family household assuming they can afford the rent if they skip groceries for the month. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley criticized County Executive Armond Budish’s plan to trim personnel costs by omitting unfilled positions from the biennial budget, The Plain Dealer reported on Nov.
Juvenile detention center manager disciplined after using handcuffs as ‘brass knuckles’
Handcuffs used as makeshift brass knuckles are yet another sign of the chaos brewing at the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center. Last Sept. 8, the FOX 8 I-Team uncovered a video that shows a detention center manager throwing punches on a troubled teen resident, placing “handcuffs around his hand as makeshift brass knuckles and (punching) him four to five times,” according to a report.
Citing a “staffing crisis,” judge calls for raises at juvenile detention center
Citing a staffing “crisis” at the juvenile lockup that could lead to a “catastrophe,” a Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court’s administrative judge has asked county officials to raise salaries of detention center officers, The Plain Dealer reported Sept. 1. In an Aug. 24 letter to Cuyahoga County Public Safety Chief Robert Coury, Judge Thomas O’Malley detailed numerous issues at the center, including a staffing crisis
Staffing Shortages at Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center Leads to Riot, $20,000 in Damages
The $20,000 riot at the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center was a direct result of short staffing, The Plain Dealer reported, citing juvenile court records. The Plain Dealer reports: “The low-staffing levels resulted in corrections officers locking 30 inmates in that part of the detention center in their cells for long periods. Those inmates, because of short staffing, missed recreation time on the day