'They're hiring anyone': Former guard says St. Louis County jail needs better training77%
By Lacretia Wimbley0%
3/17/2026, 10:00:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 26 faulty reasoning types, including Hasty Generalization, Self-Serving Bias, and Fundamental Attribution Error, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 18.8% saturation with 200 hits. Analysis detected 1,439 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,062 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 69% and a BS Rank of 77% (4,003 of 16,813 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 76.20% of the article peer group.
The St. Louis County Justice Center made headlines in the latter half of last year after jail officials called for millions in infrastructure improvements following a failed inspection due to poor sanitation, moldy showers and frequent flooding.
Inspectors from the American Correctional Association are slated to return this spring, but 30-year-old Ushma Michel — a former correctional officer at the jail — said she believes true change won’t happen until an overhaul of the administration takes place.
Michel left her position as an officer at the jail last July after working there since August 2024.
She grew up in California and spent several years moving back and forth between Bangladesh and California before moving to Missouri in 2014.
She worked as a Bank Secrecy Act and fraud support specialist at a financial institution before joining the county jail as a correctional officer.
She’s now a paralegal and certified accountant but has been involved in law for over a decade.
She said her time at the county jail was short-lived due to the overwhelming responsibility of overseeing hundreds of detainees by herself, as well as a lack of administrative support in changing basic conditions.
She said she earned the respect of detainees because she treated them as human beings and not like caged animals.
Michel believes that because the jail uses an outsourced recruiting company to hire people as young as 19, there isn’t as much intentional screening of applicants.
She said those hired receive minimal training.
She recalled being placed on the floor after a few weeks of sitting in a room, going over jail policy and procedures.
“There are a lot of great officers, don’t get me wrong,” Michel said.
“But a lot of the people who work there were the bullies that were in high school and middle school, and they grew up to be a bigger bully.
And that's one of the reasons I left.”
Correctional officers and nurses need specialized training, she said.
“You have to learn how to speak to (detainees), and you have to learn each one differently,” Michel said.
“I knew all of the long-term residents’ names — all of them.
That's how you build a relationship.
People often say it's not my job to build a relationship, and I'm saying it is.”
Michel sat down with STLPR reporter Lacretia Wimbley to discuss the impact of understaffing and the different perspectives guards and nurses have on caring for jail residents.
She said many of the poor conditions inside the facility start at the administrative level, and poor treatment of detainees is a normal part of the work culture.
This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.
Lacretia Wimbley: What surprised you the most about the job?
Ushma Michel: I was working 12 hours by myself overnight, watching 300 inmates.
And I mean, if something happens, I'm the one that's responsible.
But how am I supposed to check for 300 people to be breathing in a 40-minute span when one walk takes you 10 (minutes)?
Wimbley: Is that why you ended up leaving?
Michel: Yeah, it was getting really dangerous.
And unfortunately, there were two situations that happened where the inmates attempted to take their lives.
And if we were staffed, I know for a fact that she — one of the individuals — she would not have been able to even make a noose.
She was just this 19-year-old girl.
Wimbley: That is terrible to hear.
Michel: Yeah, it’s awful.
Wimbley: We hear jail officials say that them being short-staffed is a key reason why there are so many issues in the jail.
Michel: They are the reason for the turnover.
They're hiring anyone.
The minimum age is 19.
Wimbley: You shared previously that some of your requests to change things fell on deaf ears.
Can you tell me a little bit about that?
Michel: Every day, there's flooding every day — clogged toilets, cockroaches.
So one of the biggest things is the showers.
They are absolutely disgusting, and even with shower shoes, I would not take a shower.
And my co-worker and I, we actually offered to dump bleach down all of the drains, and they said no.
Wimbley: Why?
Michel: Because it's not our responsibility.
OK, well, we're asking if we can do it because we're the ones that have to deal with it.
It's disgusting.
Wimbley: So the jail residents, or the detainees, are the ones that are responsible for cleaning the showers?
Michel: Yes, but how are they supposed to clean it if we're not letting them out?
Wimbley: Now, a significant number of detainees die in custody due to medical emergencies or preexisting health conditions.
From what you've seen in the county, are medical providers responding to the medical needs of residents?
Michel: It depends on who the medical provider is on staff that day.
And that's awful, because you know, you hear "nurse so-and-so is coming," and you're like, "Oh, OK.
Well, this is not going to be a good night tonight."
And it usually isn't, and that's not OK.
And the inmates know it too.
Like, "oh, nurse so-and-so is here.
I'm not even gonna ask her for anything."
Like, what do you mean?
Your job is here to tend to these individuals.
If you hate your job, go somewhere else.
I would say it is 100% not sufficient.
Documentation is everything.
So why aren't you writing in their record what they experienced yesterday?
Because now, if they experience the same symptoms the next day, OK, maybe it's something serious.
But now, the other nurse is starting over now.
Wimbley: Would you ever work at a jail again, or at a prison?
Michel: Yeah, I definitely would.
Just the argument to say that, hey, did you know that these are human beings?
Are you telling me that they don't deserve a shower?
How does their criminal actions depict if they get a shower or not?
And then a lot of people argue, "Well, what about their victim?"
And I'm like, I understand, but see, my job has nothing to do with what that individual did before they stepped into this building.
My job is to make sure that they're alive and they get food and medication.
So when people say, "Oh, it's not my job to make sure that they're fed" — no, it is your job.
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