MEMPHIS, Tenn. — From the look of their promotional video online, Damascus Youth Detention Center has it all: counselors, medical staff, and a strong relationship with MPD.
But drive by it and you’ll only find only an old shuttered motel.
Neighbors said they haven’t see much activity and never any signs that the place has opened.
Months ago, its owner asked for more than a $500,000 in grant money from both the city and the county to help with the great work she’s doing out there.
Back then, only Councilman Harold Collins questioned what, if anything, was happening at the unlicensed facility.
Clearly the video showed MPD has used the facility, or at the very least, endorsed it based on the uniformed officers we see in the center’s video.
Right?
Police Director Toney Armstrong said it’s the first he’s seen the video.
He told WREG the facility doesn’t operate, and he would get to the bottom of why his Officers were seen in the video promoting it in uniform.
Armstrong wasn’t the only one.
Chief Operating Officer George Little said he’s looking into what, if any, city money the organization may have received in the past, and why.
We tried to contact the center’s owner for a comment but couldn’t track her down to learn why she hasn’t opened in several years and still needed so much money.