BRIDGE CITY, La. — After yet another group of juveniles escaped from the Bridge City Youth Center Sunday, there are calls for the governor to close the facility and move the inmates to other locations.
Late Monday evening Governor John Bel Edwards' office said they would have an action plan announcement Tuesday.
State Senator Pat Connick says the plan is expected to be about reducing the size of the population at the center with the violent offenders being removed quickly.
All six of the inmates that escaped have been captured and are behind bars, but that is after one of them allegedly carjacked and shot a man Uptown.
One former employee, says the conditions inside were deplorable. New employees were usually very young and didn't last long with the verbal and physical aggression from the inmates.
“It's hard for adults of age to handle being cursed out and spit on, you name it, they would do it, masturbate, everything, right in your presence,” said Dorean Phoenix, who lives just yards from the back gate of the center.
She is scared that an inmate who gets out, is going to come to her home and harm her.
“Yes, because I'm so close.”
And her fear comes from more than just living nearby and hearing news reports of constant escapees. Her fear also comes from having firsthand knowledge of the verbal and physical aggression inside. For years she was a teacher and the school principal to the juveniles locked inside.
“There should be two adults on the dorm but because of the shortage, and people not wanting to work, or can't stay there, or getting fired, they're always short on their employees,” she remembers.
Phoenix says the problems go far beyond the inmates. She says they extend to the leadership.
“While I worked there, there’s constant change of leadership and so everyone has to pretend that everything's OK when it isn't.”
Add to that, the inexperience of the staff.
“They have children trying to oversee children. That will never work, 21, 20, young people,” said Phoenix.
So what does she think should be done?
“The only answer is to close it down,” she insisted.
“Whatever they're doing, it's not working, and it never has worked. We got to get it closed down, sooner rather than later,” said Louisiana State Senator Pat Connick (R), Marrero.
Connick says the person who has authority to close the center and transfer inmates to other facilities is the governor.
“He can direct these prisoners to other areas of the state.” When asked if he was going to ask the governor to close it, he replied, “Absolutely. I already did.”
Another neighbor who has lived at the center's back door, says she has not felt fear being close by, for a reason.
“I'm not afraid of that, because usually when they get out, they'll go straight on out of Bridge City. They're not going to stay here,” said the elderly woman who has lived behind the center since 1959.
And that's exactly what happened with the latest escape. Now a man who was carjacked and shot, allegedly by one of them, in an uptown neighborhood, is in serious condition.
Governor Edwards' office issued a statement Monday evening:
We have been reviewing what happened this past weekend to determine the best path forward for the youth at Bridge City and also for the surrounding community. We will be sharing an update on the steps that have been taken in response to the incident this past Saturday night and a detailed plan for the future of Bridge City tomorrow (Tuesday). The Governor’s focus is on ensuring the safety of the youth, the staff and the surrounding community.