St. Louis jail turns away inmates; looks to police precincts for space

3 months ago 7

ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis City Justice Center is not taking new inmates. FOX 2 has learned that prisoner processing is now closed. The order came down over the weekend, despite the fact that the jail is not full.

The CJC can hold about 860 inmates. As of Monday, city records show the facility was well under 100 inmates below capacity, with 722 inmates last reported inside.

After learning of the order to close prisoner processing from internal city emails, the Department of Public Safety told FOX 2 that it’s in response to the July 24 fight involving four inmates sent to the hospital.

“We had detainees fighting because they were from different factions, and they were put in the same area,” Charles Coyle, Department of Public Safety director, said.

Coyle says the same gang territory violence on St. Louis streets is finding its way into the jails and jail staff is trying to better determine where a new inmate stands.

“If they’re not truthful with us about what side they’re running with—we don’t know—so we can make a mistake and have them on a side where they shouldn’t be on, and then things happen,” he said.