CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) - The director of the St. Louis County jail has resigned after dozens of employees raised concerns to the County Council that the staff was on the “verge of imploding” due to his behavior.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Raul Banasco resigned Wednesday, a day after employees made their feelings known to the council.
Doug Moore, a spokesman for County Executive Sam Page, said an investigation is planned after the employees cited bullying and intimidation. Banasco did not respond to requests for comment.
Banasco was hired by Page in November. Earlier Wednesday, before the resignation was announced, Page had credited Banasco with helping correct the jail’s direction, bolstering training and improving coordination between officers and medical workers. But Page said the county would take the allegations seriously.
Fifty-five jail employees signed a letter read at Tuesday night’s County Council meeting that cited a toxic culture fostered by Banasco. Overall, the jail employs about 280 people.
Five inmates died at the jail last year, four of them before Banasco’s hiring.
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