OKC leaders press for resignation of jail CEO

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – The response following a name by native clergy and group to handle the continued disaster on the Oklahoma County Detention Center beneath the management of Oklahoma County Criminal Justice Authority (Jail Trust) Administrator Greg Williams was swift.

“Under his leadership the situation at the jail has not only failed to improve over the last two years, it has, by all metrics, worsened,” stated organizer and Pastor John A. Reed, Jr., who leads Fairview Baptist Church.

Reed was joined by different a number of native pastors and group leaders, the NAACP and Concerned Clergy of Spiritual Renewal, stated they wish to see a change in management with the removing of jail CEO Graig Williams.

The Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office formally handed off the jail to the Jail Trust following years plagued with issues.

However, critics say circumstances have continued to deteriorate beneath Williams’s management.

The jail has seen a surge in inmate deaths and activists pointed to different traumatic occasions, together with an inmate stabbing dying in eaery 2021 and an alleged rape caught on surveillance digital camera when an unsupervised inmate attacked a girl who was handcuffed to a wall.

“We waited to see the death decline. We waited to see horror stories of the jail dissipate. We waited to see the direction change [but] we see right now that it is not happened,” stated Reed.

“Mr. Williams is incapable of righting the ship.”

Other organizers stated the necessity to go in a “different direction” was apparent.

“Rikers Island has a death rate at 2.8 deaths per 1000, and ours has a rate of 8.2 per 1000,” stated Rev. Dr. Shannon Fleck , Executive Director of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches.

“Our jail is struggling, and that is putting it kindly,” she added.

The jail belief rapidly got here again with feedback despatched on behalf of Greg Williams, saying he’s targeted on enhancing circumstances and operations [at the jail].

“Since the day I took this job, I have been focused on improving conditions and operations at the Oklahoma County Jail. While much work remains to be done, and some problems are not solvable in our current building, I will continue to work hard every day to make our facility as safe as it can be for our staff and our detainees. I’d like to thank the community members who share their input with us, and especially the groups who come to the table with solutions to help lower the jail population and connect detainees with assistance we are unable to provide inside the facility.”

Greg Williams

Jail Trust Chair Jim Couch additionally despatched an announcement of assist, including that Williams has offered glorious “service under difficult circumstances”, and “especially to the detainees and staff at the jail”.

“In his time as CEO of the Oklahoma County Jail, Greg Williams has provided excellent service to our community, especially to the detainees and staff at the jail. Under exceedingly difficult circumstances, including a global pandemic, he has overseen projects which made material improvements in conditions, reversing decades of neglect in the facility. As the Jail Trust acknowledges, much work remains to improve safety and security and, most importantly, to do everything we can to stop deaths in the facility. We work constantly to increase staffing levels and remain vigilant against contraband,” Couch stated. “We thank members of the faith community and others who have shared their concerns and their desire to make things better, and we remain committed to making improvements to protect staff and detainees.” 

Jim Couch

But in a scathing response Friday, Jail Trust member and Pastor Derrick Scobey stated Couch’s feedback have been dismissive and didn’t symbolize all Jail Trust members.

“I listened carefully to what was expressed by many Pastors and community members this morning at Fairview Baptist Church. I found their analysis of the situation at the jail and their prescription to be accurate and necessary. I will act according to their directions and in the interest of the community, because I am accountable to the community as a member of the Trust. I also agree that the time to find new leadership for the jail is upon us. I was disappointed by Mr. Couch’s response to the reasonable and almost unanimously-supported request for change, because I found it to be dismissive of respected elders, clergy, leaders, and an overwhelming majority of people living in this county. Everyone, except Mr. Couch it seems, understands that despite Mr. Williams’ best efforts, he has proven himself incapable of doing the job up to our standards. The jail remains a place of death, horror, and harm. And I am committed to remediating these present conditions with all my might. I only ask that all of us convicted of our moral responsibility to help do so and attend the next Jail Trust meeting on Monday, November 7, 2022 at 1:00 pm.”

Derrick Scobey, Oklahoma County Jail Trust Member