Gov. Edwards’ transfer plan involves more than just juveniles at the Bridge City facility

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Violent crime by juveniles is a huge concern. And so are concerns about juvenile offenders escaping from the Bridge City Center for Youth in Jefferson Parish.

During an exclusive interview with Fox 8, Governor John Bel Edwards said his plan to move some of the state’s most violent juvenile offenders to the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola does not just apply to juveniles at the Bridge City facility.

“We’re not necessarily moving those individuals and only those individuals to the West Feliciana facility,” Edwards said. “We will look across the entire population at all of our facilities to figure out which youths need to be moved to West Feliciana. But it’s about half of the kids who are there (at Bridge City) currently.”

A lawsuit has been filed in federal court to block Edwards’ plan but the governor defends it and says it is still in the works. He said the juveniles would have no contact with adult prisoners at Angola.

“It’s over a mile from any of the current camps that are being used for the adult population there,” Edwards said. “And so, this is not our permanent solution. The permanent solution is to make sure that we have enough secure care facilities. The step of moving a couple or three dozen of our kids -- whatever it turns out to be -- to West Feliciana, that’s not the permanent step. But it is the best option available to us and remains the plan.

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