The work of a citizen committee created to review operations at the Montgomery County Jail has kept its work shielded from the public since August, cancelling public meetings and meeting privately in smaller groups.
Montgomery County commissioners created the Justice Advisory Committee in 2017 to provide a report including recommendations for improvements to jail operations and facilities. The committee hired CGL Companies of Lexington, Ky., to assess operations at the jail and report back to the group.
The committee hopes to present its final report to county commissioners by the end of the year.
Some of CGL’s findings became public during committee meetings held in July and August at the downtown Dayton Metro Library. In presentations made to the group, the consultants noted inadequate staffing and poor facility design, and said changes were needed in some operational policies, including when and how to use force or put an inmate in a restraint chair.
But the co-chairs of the committee, Rabbi Bernard Barsky and Dr. Gary LeRoy, said they became frustrated by news reports following those meetings, saying the information presented by CGL consultants — while critical of some jail operations and policies — was not a finished study.