By David Hunn
St. Louis Today
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The city’s suspended jail commissioner sent repeated warnings to city officials alleging he wasn’t being allowed to do his job, had lost key personnel and, as a result, that jail security was compromised, according to documents released this week.
Gene Stubblefield, the city’s commissioner of corrections, was suspended late last week after three jail breakouts over two years, concerns over financial management and a sharp rise in employee overtime.
The same day he was suspended, another inmate escaped from the city’s Medium Security Institution on Hall Street near the riverfront.
But Stubblefield had repeatedly warned various officials in Mayor Francis Slay’s office of low staffing, troubles in management and the loss of key jail personnel, according to emails and memos released by the office of Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed.
Reed said the issue was too important to let slide. “The blame for this goes higher than (Public Safety Director) Charles Bryson and up to the Mayor who appointed him to our largest and most important department which oversees the safety of our citizens,” said Reed.
Slay’s office responded Friday afternoon, saying that the escapes had nothing to do with staffing levels and that the jails were fully staffed at the times of all four breakouts.
“To say there’s a position vacant doesn’t mean the job’s not being done,” said Sam Dotson, Slay’s new director of operations who said he was brought in to address management issues such as the ones facing the jail.
Jeff Rainford, Slay’s chief of staff, called Reed’s comment “an obvious political statement” and said the board president “has not identified one helpful solution.”
Still, the documents establish a pattern of concerns raised by Stubblefield to Slay officials.
As early as 2008, Stubblefield complained to Ron Smith, then the mayor’s director of operations, that Stubblefield’s boss was meddling.
Stubblefield said Bryson, who had just completed his first year on the job, had “interfered with and inhibited my ability to plan, direct, implement and monitor the day-to-day activities” in the department.
In July 2010, Stubblefield questioned an investigation into one of the jail breaks that summer: “I must reiterate my concern that an investigation into a serious breach of security has either been canceled or postponed to the detriment of the Division.”
Then, in February this year, Stubblefield pleaded for more managers to oversee jail operations and security.
“The Medium Security Institution is currently operating with two managers; a correctional Program Manager and a Unit Manager,” he said. “Filling the vacancy of Detention Center Superintendent is critical to the success of the MSI operation ...”
In April, when Bryson did not fill the positions for which Stubblefield asked and requested other cuts, the corrections chief again questioned his bosses’ decision — the division had lost “numerous” managers and supervisors to budget cuts, he said. “This would mean the elimination of managers to supervise and coordinate security for both facilities,” he wrote.
Less than two weeks later, Stubblefield further complained, writing that “all three Detention Center Superintendents are critical to our operations at both facilities and there is a direct relationship between these positions in the safety and security of staff, inmates and the general public.”
Six days after that, two inmates escaped from the Justice Center downtown by crawling through an access panel in the ceiling of the infirmary, then breaking through a window and shimmying down the side of the building with a bed sheet.
Finally, in July, Stubblefield wrote a memo to Bryson that outlined what had clearly become a strained relationship.
Bryson, the letter said, had threatened to discipline Stubblefield for a shortage in food service cash, accused him of being too close to the day-to-day management despite not having enough managers on staff and said he hadn’t submitted strategic goals.
“At the advice of legal consultation,” the memo continued, “I am requesting that you grant me a reasonable period of time to have legal representation in any future meetings with you to discuss any issues relative to my work performance. I make this request expecting that litigation may be imminent.”
Two days later, Allen Brown Jr., 29, of Creve Coeur, walked through an open gate and jumped the fences of the facility on July 27. He was captured a day later.
Bryson declined to comment, and Stubblefield was not immediately available.
Republished with permission from STLToday.com