GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A plan to build a youth detention center in Gwinnett County is facing backlash from some community leaders who say it is the wrong solution.
Channel 2′s Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson spoke with critics who say they want the plan to be put on hold.
Johnson spoke to several community leaders who say putting juveniles in another jail-type atmosphere would only do more harm, especially for minorities.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Penny Poole is with the Gwinnett nonprofit Rev-Up.
She says the $3.8 million state taxpayer dollars set aside for planning the new facility would be better spent on youth programs.
“We need to stop this immediately,” Poole said.
On Tuesday, Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor announced plans to move forward with site planning for a new detention center.
The previous one in Gwinnett County shut down a decade ago because of the building’s condition.
“Unfortunately, we’re seeing juveniles do things we didn’t see 10 years ago,” Taylor said.
Taylor says it was his idea because of hardships for families and kids in custody to get support while they’re housed in different counties.
He said because of rising juvenile crime he wants it built while continuing with county services for at-risk kids.
TRENDING STORIES:
- EXCLUSIVE: Judge McAfee talks about upcoming ruling over to remove Willis from Trump case
- APD seizes $2M in drugs from Buckhead stash house
- Teen caught breaking into cars runs, gets hit by a car and critically injured, police say
Marlyn Tillman is with Gwinnett SToPP, who advocates for the end of the “school-to-prison pipeline.”
“Why is the sheriff initiating this without ever bringing it up to the people?” Tillman asked. “There is a problem when we say that a kiddy jail will resolve the issues with our young people.”
She says she wants to see fewer youth detention centers, not more of them.
“Those will be all Black and brown children in there. And they will be Black and brown children with disabilities,” Tillman said.
There’s no word yet from the sheriff’s office whether or not any public meetings will be held on the issue and no timetable on when construction might begin.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
IN OTHER NEWS:
:quality(70)/d1hfln2sfez66z.cloudfront.net/03-14-2024/t_ff4eb8aae0f94dd4b0038142eca89f9a_name_3_years_after_metro_Atlanta_spa_shootings__activists__family_of_victims_gather_at_Georgia_Capitol.jpeg)
©2023 Cox Media Group
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/KZPPW5TYZ5GRHMGVJJUEBSUE6A.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/ZGS6CVISBVA4VGRS6E5SDQMDVY.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/OJQJZKYCJJFVNF73H4EW7W7SSM.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/EWIMJ4U6Z5DFDPSCZFUWZX7OVU.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XAUXFSNCKFF75HLOVU5W4OI7LY.jpg)