Consultant: Assaults increased in Memphis juvenile detention
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – A consultant has concluded that juvenile detention became more dangerous in the months after the Juvenile Court of Memphis and Shelby County transferred the operations of its juvenile detention facility to the Shelby County Sheriff last year.
Citing reports made public on Wednesday at a community meeting, The Commercial Appeal reports that consultant David Roush wrote in a Dec. 17 letter that there had been a 58 percent increase in suicidal behavior without injury since the July transfer of the facility.
Roush, who works for Juvenile Justice Associates in Albion, Michigan, says there was also a 31 percent increase in the rate of assaults of youth on youth.
Chief Kirk Fields, superintendent of the facility, said there has been a decrease in troublesome incidents in recent months.
