Show City laun Launches hes 1 Probe of I II Ii I Jail Condition Complaint by Mother On Sons Son's Treatment Brings Investigation A plea by the mother of a Utah State Agricultural college student held more than 24 hours in company company company com com- pany with hardened criminals Inthe in inthe inthe the Salt Lake city jail simply because because because be be- cause he slept in a parked automobile automobile automobile automo automo- bile Tuesday resulted in an Investigation investigation investigation gation by the city commission into jail conditions Mayor Ab Jenkins and Commissioner Commissioner Commissioner Commis Commis- Oscar W. W McConkie toured the jail with Chief of Police Reed E. E and nd Captain E. E A A. Hed- Hed man Other commissioners were Invited Invited in invited In- In but did not appear The mayor said he was satisfied with conditions at the jail as they were today but said that when he made a similar tour about three months a ago o he found conditions much different It looked okay today but when Continued on Page Ten Column On One Investigators Find Some Improvements tV JU S m JUm tf i l' l r A c I I L I rl L j i 1 S 4 t AS l IEl MEMBERS ERS OF COMMISSION Il PROBED COMPLAINTS ON SALT LAKE CITY JAIL Left Mayor l Ab Jenkins inspects cell cot Right Captain E. E A. A Hedman shows where inmates went to work vork o 0 n window screen Officials Launch Probe Of City Jail Conditions Continued from Page One I Inspected it before I found plenty of things wrong Unclean Conditions I found unclean blankets then We Ve picked up enough bedbugs to fill partly a quart fruit jar We found unclean toilets In the room where women are held for the board of health we found a window that would not shut leaving the room cold One woman was huddled in a blanket in midday The matter came to light when last February 17 Mrs Alvin LeRoy LeRoy LeRoy Le Le- Le- Le Roy Goodwin of Idaho Falls Idaho wrote the mayor criticizing jail conditions and enclosed a letter written by her son Clarence Goodwin Goodwin Goodwin Good Good- win freshman at the U US USA S A AC C who was held in the jail early in February Feb Feb- Mayor Jenkins said he replied to the woman telling her the youth must have exaggerated conditions Then I visited the jail myself i and saw how things were he saidI saidI saidI said I am going to write that woman a aletter aletter letter of apology for Salt Lake City Held 28 Hours Young Goodwin wrote his mother that he and a friend drove dreve to Salt Lake City from Logan for his friend to do some trucking business for his father Short of money they parked the truck on a street here and slept in it They were awakened by policemen policemen policemen police police- men who were checking the parked car The officers found a 22 caliber pistol that Goodwins Goodwin's friend carried in the truck for rabbit shooting and took the youths to jail for in investigation in- in They were held 28 hours while police checked their stories Clarence Clarence Clarence Clar Clar- ence wrote his mother Meanwhile they were mugged and finger finger- printed Clarence wrote how he and his friend were kept in the same cellblock cell cellblock cellblock block with a man who had kid kid- another man in Arizona and who had robbed stores and had 85 forgeries against him Apparently Apparent Apparent- ly hy he referred to Grattus Cloud arrested here ere on charge of a kid- kid robbery nap-robbery in Phoenix Call Jail Filthy Another man in the cell block young Goodwin wrote was a man about 40 who had served half his life in prisons That was the filthiest place I ever was in and the men had the filthiest minds I ever heard of ol Clarence wrote He told how he and his friend ignited paper and burned bedbugs He said they were not allowed to telephone and that had they peen been een permitted to they could have satisfied satisfied satis satis- fied police they were telling straight stories without having to tobe tobe tobe be held 28 hours Mrs Goodwin asked Mayor Jenkins Jenkins Jenkins Jen Jen- kins to look upon the matter as though Clarence were your son The inspection brought o out t these findings That th the jail is outmoded too small but that it would be a waste of money to try and modernize such an old structure That often the jail jail has more than the 61 inmates for which it has accommodations New Jail Proposed That a new building would be bethe bethe bethe the best solution if funds were available Chief told Mayor Jenkins Jenkins Jen Jen- Jenkins kins and Commissioner McConkie he believed there was no use spending spending spend spend- ing large sums to fix up the jail that if any scale large-scale program is contemplated a new building would be the answer not only lor br the jail but for the entire police de de- de- de He said standard practice is to have the jail on the top floor of a public safety building It was disclosed disclosed disclosed dis dis- dis- dis closed the police department t once planned to move the jail to the top floor of the public safety building but that engineers said the foundation foundation foundation tion was not strong enough to support support support sup sup- port it The inspection said b bot both o t h the mayor and commissioner showed conditions to be satisfactory generally gen gen- Floors and walls were clean the kitchen was clean and clean smelling |