ALLEGHENY COUNTY, Pa. — On Tuesday evening, law enforcement from across the county came together on one singular issue: reopening the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center.
In a letter, they asked county leaders to use the Allegheny County Jail, or temporarily reopen a portion of the detention center to house violent teen offenders. They also asked for members of law enforcement to be included in the newly created juvenile justice study.
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Thursday, Channel 11 heard from county leaders with their responses.
“Shuman Juvenile Detention Center has been closed for over a year and a half. The lack of a secure facility capable of housing violent juvenile offenders has jeopardized public safety,” said Chief Craig Campbell, the president of the Allegheny County Chiefs of Police Association.
Campbell represents the more than 100 police departments throughout Allegheny County.
He read from a letter to Allegheny County Council explaining the urgency.
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“Currently, violent juvenile offenders are routinely being reached, released to family and friends only to re-offend sometimes within hours,” said Campbell.
He also expressed concern for public safety and pleaded with county leaders to reopen Shuman Juvenile Detention Center citing recent acts of violence.
“An 18-year-old, while still on juvenile electronic monitoring, removed his device and shot six people. An 18-year-old, while still wearing his electronic monitoring device from the juvenile courts, murdered someone in downtown Pittsburgh,” Campbell said.
Campbell said many juveniles are being released and reoffending – and asked for part of the center to be reopened to house violent kids.
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11 News reached out to the county executives’ office.
In a statement, they explained the facility needs updates, including fixing damaged heating coils and leaks:
“The facility, actually – the area, experienced a power outage in late December during that severe cold weather where temperatures were in the single digits and wind chills pushed it to below zero. That outage damaged two heating coils. When responding to that need, Facilities also identified leaks with some of the pipes on one pod and have had to replace several valves,” said Amie Downs, the director of communication for the County Executive’s Office.
The chief of staff spoke about it on KDKA radio.
“Cleaning the building out, working on some of the plumbing, assessing the roof working, and looking at some of the locking systems and things like that’s what’s been ongoing,” said Jennifer Liptak, the chief of staff and county manager for the County Executive’s Office.
County executives estimate Shuman could be temporarily reopened by the end of the year.
But County Council has launched a committee to investigate the issue and said it’s too early to commit to a timeline:
“At this time, it is too early to comment on the Former Shuman Center and any timeline for opening a reimagined juvenile justice center. Council passed a Motion that created a group to see what the best process moving forward on this topic. We also have a tour scheduled of the former site [… ]After this tour, there will be an ambitious attempt to begin the discussion,” said County Council President Patrick J. Catena.
Chief Campbell wants that opening expedited.
“I’m requesting a meeting with you and your staff to discuss the current plans for detaining juvenile offenders in Allegheny County,” Campbell said.
County Council said they plan to visit the shuttered center and tour the facilities before making further comments.
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