DAVENPORT, Iowa — More than a dozen people opposing expansion plans for a new Scott County juvenile detention center in Davenport made their voices heard on Tuesday.
The county could build a new 40-bed facility to replace the current 18-bed center, and some community members said that is too big.
Lining the board room at the Scott County Administration Center, more than a dozen Quad Citizens just want a voice.
"This is something that is a crisis in our community," Avery Pearl with Project Renewal in Davenport said.
Pearl spoke at Tuesday's board of supervisors meeting and voiced his opposition to the county's proposal to build a new juvenile detention center.
"Why would we not give them the means to be successful business owners, business leaders, community leaders, etc. that they can be and will be in the future instead of investing in their demise?" Pearl said.
Amber Bordolo has been to the meetings before.
"Not a single constituent has come here and said 'yes, we need to build a 40-bed detention center,'" Bordolo said.
That same stance was taken by every other community member to stepped up to the microphone Tuesday night.
"We do not want to spend the ARPA money, the COVID relief money on building beds and a jail for our children," Bordolo said.
Drew Pustelnik lives in East Moline and said this was too big of an issue to neglect, even though he lives outside of Scott County.
"The Quad Cities, Iowa and Illinois sides, are so connected," Pustelnik said. "They're two different counties, but it's the same community."
Pustelnik said more emphasis on prevention is what is needed first.
"I think expanding the youth assessment program is a great idea, anything we can do to connect people to social services," Pustelnik said.
"Let's not put our youth in jail and build a bigger jail. Let's look at what we're doing wrong," Bordolo added.
The board of supervisors did not vote on the detention center Tuesday night. It simply heard public comment on the matter.
The Scott County Sheriff's Office told News 8 the goal of a new center is to house juvenile offenders in a space that is safe and where effective rehabilitation can occur.