Tulsa County Commissioners Taking Action To Improve Juvenile Justice Center

Tulsa County commissioners say steps are being taken to improve the Tulsa County Juvenile Justice Center after a lawsuit accused employees of rape, neglect and harassing the teenagers in custody. The county commissioners are now getting weekly status reports.

Commissioners say improvements start with evaluating all of the employees working at the juvenile justice center and making sure they have the right people in the right places, even it means firing some of the folks.

Nearly 30 teenagers in custody at the Juvenile Justice sued the center, accusing employees of abuse and neglect.

The county commissioners took over operations at the detention center a few weeks ago after the lawsuit was filed. The center has been run by the Juvenile Bureau and a judge for more than 50 years.

David Parker was recently hired to run the center and says some of the improvements they’re making include enforcing the current rules, making school a top priority for the residents, training employees on de-escalation tactics and requiring employees to wear professional uniforms. Parker says they will also be changing some of the current policies.

“I feel good that we continue to improve. I'll never be satisfied because once you become satisfied then you're probably not being effective. We learn something every day,” said Parker.

Commissioners say they want to be transparent with the public about all that is going on with the center.

“We want to make sure everyone knows what we are doing so being transparent is number one, so these weekly updates are going to continue and we want to make sure the public knows exactly what we are doing and the improvements we are making,” said Tulsa County Commissioner Stan Sallee.

The other goal is the get the detention center accredited with the American Corrections Association which will take more than a year.