Justice Services
The report by City Auditor Umesh Dalal’s office lays out 26 recommendations that include developing more comprehensive truancy programs, improving communications with court officials, keeping better data on juvenile assessments and recidivism, complying with city policies on procurement and background checks, and improving staff training. Link
The center will find out if it gets its license back at the June meeting of the state board. Link
The Richmond City Sheriff’s Office is happy to accept and distribute donations, Baldwin says, but resents the implication that there are hundreds of sockless inmates shuffling around the cold floors of the city jail. Link
The new facility will have 1,032 beds with an additional 114 special beds. But 1,365 people are housed in the current jail. Link
Richmond’s City Council will consider at its formal meeting next week whether to hire a criminal-justice planner tasked with helping reduce the city jail’s population through programs aimed at channeling “appropriate offenders” to alternatives to incarceration.
city has already selected a candidate
The Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, asked more than five months ago to investigate whether training records at the city’s now-shuttered juvenile detention center were forged, said last week that no charges will be filed in relation to the allegations.
The death rate for inmates of the Richmond City Jail over the past dozen years has been far above the national average for facilities of its size, raising the question of whether any of the deaths could have been prevented, according to an expert on medical care at the nation’s jails and prisons.
….interim justice services director asked Tuesday for an extensive review of the shuttered juvenile detention center’s operations and spending….made on behalf of the entire city administration….City Council passed a resolution calling for an audit of an $18 million information technology project…. timesdispatch.com
…In an interview before Thursday’s City Council budget meeting, Marshall said new allegations convinced officials that they had to “close the thing down and start over.”….”We looked more closely and found some things that we found troubling. Some criminal allegations and some violations of our policies,” Marshall said…. timesdispatch.com
…City officials have said in recent months said that most of the problems have been fixed and the rest were being addressed….there are some management and operational issues and some work culture issues that we have not been able to fix….just extra personnel costs such as severance will cost the city an estimated $800,000 or more… wtvr.com