NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) â?? Tennessee officials plan tighter security at a juvenile detention center where teens have staged three major escape attempts in less than a month and worried the neighboring community, but they also want to keep the facility from becoming too much like an adult prison.
Jim Henry, commissioner of the state Department of Children's Services, told The Associated Press on Monday that he plans to seek court approval to be able to lock the teens in their rooms and to give guards access to tear gas in emergencies. But he said he does not support arming the guards.
Authorities said 13 teens escaped from the Woodland Hills complex in Nashville on Friday night after overpowering a guard and squeezing through the main gate. All of them were later caught.