LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Calls for the head of the Louisville jail to step down continue this week, after the sixth death of a person in the custody of Louisville Metro Department of Corrections (LMDC) since November.
Leaders said a man who was in the Louisville jail died of suicide this weekend.
“We don’t want any more deaths,” Steve Durham, assistant director of LMDC said Sunday. “And we certainly don’t want a suicide.”
Mayor Greg Fischer said the six deaths are under investigation and that three were suicides.
“Obviously, this is concerning,” Fischer said Sunday. “We all understand and we’re trying to figure out why are all these deaths concentrated in this short period of time. Is there some systemic failures or some process failure or is it just a really unfortunate situation when a person decides to take their life?”
Last week, three members of Louisville Metro Council filed a resolution expressing no confidence in LMDC Director Dwayne Clark’s leadership.
Councilwoman Amy Holton Stewart (D, District 25) says he needs to step down.
“We know that the jail is understaffed and so it’s under the leadership of Director Clark that the jail has fallen to these levels,” Holton Stewart told Spectrum News 1 Monday. “It’s low morale. We had 50 people resign in year 2021 and one of those 50, had they stayed on, could have been the answer for this person not losing their life.”
Jail leaders say they are working hard to make changes, including new starting hourly rates and pay increases for current officers and a modified medical contract.
Clark had no comment on the calls for him to resign.
“The most recent deaths are frustrating,” he said. “It’s concerning and so that’s why, I want to assure you that me and my staff are working hard each day, examining our processes and seeing what we can do to improve on our processes.”
Holton Stewart said she expects a council committee will discuss the resolution for a vote of no confidence in corrections leadership to happen this week.
One sponsor of the resolution, Councilman Mark Fox (D, District 13), issued the following statement Monday:
“Each tragic incident should and will be measured by its own facts. This investigation is just beginning, but some things are known and have been reported in the media. What struck me was the outstanding efforts of the LMDC officers that appear to have given this victim at least a chance at survival, and this should not be ignored. We will never be able to prevent all the bad things that happen in life or in a jail, but we owe it to our community and to those in our custody to respond quickly, professionally, and compassionately when they do.”
In a post on Twitter Sunday, Councilman Anthony Piagentini (R, District 19) wrote, “Standby for the Council to go beyond a vote of no confidence.”