Tactical teams used to quell disturbance Wednesday over food served at Clay County jail
Commanders deployed tactical teams Wednesday night at the Clay County jail to quell a disturbance when incarcerated people got upset they were not served hot meals for dinner, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
No one was injured and everyone was back in their cells by 9:30 p.m., said Sarah Boyd, a spokeswoman for the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
The disturbance began about 6:30 p.m. when people being held in the Dayrooms H and G became upset they were served prepackaged meals for dinner. They demanded hot meals instead, Boyd said.
The jails’ staff ordered them to return to their cells on lock down after they allegedly caused a disturbance and violated jail rules. When they refused, commanders deployed its detention emergency response team, which is trained to deescalate disturbances in the jail, Boyd said.
The team brought 11 people incarcerated under control in Dayroom H, which is the highest-security dayroom in the jail. Meanwhile 20 people in Dayroom G continued to refuse to lock down and commanders deployed the special tactics and response team, which brought in more staff.
The deputies assigned to the team convinced people to return to their cells around 9:30 p.m.
The jail had served prepacked meals for dinner to free up staff for visitations and optional educational and religious programs that were taking place Wednesday evening. The prepacked meals “meet all required standards for calories and nutrition” and allow people to take the meals to the programs, Boyd said.
