I-Team: New video of chaos inside juvenile lock-up

CLEVELAND (WJW) — The FOX 8 I-Team has obtained new video showing more chaos, more violence and more destruction in the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center.

This comes months after a magistrate sounded a warning about the lock-up. So we investigated to find out what’s being done about the trouble.

The new video shows teen inmates trying desperately to break glass to get out of a room.

You see another teen getting jumped by a group, with detention officers struggling to break it up.

More video shows other juveniles destroying a monitor on the wall.

You see other teens running wildly down the hall.

All of this happened weeks go in the detention center, and it’s just the latest unrest in a lock-up holding the kids terrorizing you on the streets.

We’ve seen chaos and vandalism many times in the detention center. But now it holds more and more teens considered the worst of the worst. Suspects busted for the most serious crimes.

Last year, Magistrate Mark Stanton spoke up for Cuyahoga County Council.

“The Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center is an authentic tinderbox. We don’t have near the number of requisite detention officers to handle these kids,” Stanton said.

So, what about that warning and the new disturbance?

The Cuyahoga County Executive’s Office said the county recently set aside more than $2 million to hire more than two dozen more detention officers.

The Cuyahoga County court issued a statement about this incident and overall staffing. The statement said, in part:

“Our Detention Center Staff have an incredibly difficult job which they perform with dedication and compassion.

“Hiring and retaining staff in correctional facilities is a nationwide problem. Since 11/1/23 the Court has hired 19 Detention Officers. During the same period, we have had 16 leave our employment. Many of the good, well-meaning individuals we hire find out that the work is not for them. We were fully staffed during the incident and our Detention Officers responded properly to two incidents occurring at the same time. We continue to look for people who are willing and able to do this challenging work. Our starting salary is $54,038.40 – $25.98/hr, with opportunities for overtime. Interested individuals can apply at juvenile.cuyahogacounty.us .”

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