Fighting, flooding and attorney access reported at new Wayne County Criminal Justice Center
(CBS DETROIT) — One week after the Wayne County Criminal Justice Center opened its doors, issues like fighting, flooding, and attorneys' access to clients have been reported.
"No. 1 problem is getting access to our clients," said attorney Brian Brown.
Brown said things have not been running so smoothly since operations were moved from the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice last week. He said the issues that happened at the center are severely impacting his ability to serve his clients.
"That's what we're here for, that's what my job is - to protect his constitutional rights, and I am having a hard time doing that considering it takes so long to meet with our client on a day-to-day basis," Brown said.
Brown said he also heard from his clients about fighting and flooding.
"My client said there was some flooding on one of the floors and they had to move him to another cell, and when he was first here it took them a while before he even got his property such as his case work from his trial," he said.
In addition, Brown said the delays when seeing his client are absurd.
"I have waited up to three and a half hours at one point in time, sometimes that is discouraging for lawyers because if you don't have that amount of time, you may have to come back another day and face the same problems," Brown said.
Wayne County Executive Warren Evans released this statement, it reads in part:
"Beginning on August 26th, the Wayne County Sheriff and the Juvenile & Youth Services Division moved over 1400 inmates and almost 120 juvenile residents from their former locations into the newly constructed Adult Detention Facility and Juvenile Detention Facility at the Wayne County Criminal Justice Center (CJC). The move took place over the course of three days and was conducted without major incident. An undertaking such as this involves considerable planning and is no easy task. I congratulate Sheriff Washington and his team as well as county staff for accomplishing this feat. Getting acclimated to a new and complex facility requires time and the continued hard work of all our employees, and we will make any adjustments necessary to ensure the safety and well-being of those who work at and populate the CJC."
