The Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brooklyn, where young people were transferred from a Bronx facility.
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Violence erupted at a Brooklyn juvenile-detention center days after the arrival of young people transferred from a Bronx center now designated as the single facility for those showing COVID-19 symptoms.
Nearly 50 police officers arrived to help restore order April 12 at Crossroads Juvenile Center when youths managed to break out of cells, access a supply room, turn mop handles into weapons and beat several guards.
The mayhem broke out after current and former guards voiced concerns that conditions at Crossroads—created by a makeshift policy in response to the pandemic—were dangerous.
On March 23, Horizon Juvenile Center in the South Bronx housed 22 young people and Crossroads had 59. As of April 11, Horizon had 6 and Crossroads had 66.
“The staff is scared to death,” said Derrick Haynes, an 18-year veteran of Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx and a friend of one of the injured guards. “They are scared for their lives. And look what happened.”
READ MORE AT JUVENILE JUSTICE INFORMATION EXCHANGE