Global Courant 2023-05-10 15:18:26
A Philadelphia prison where two inmates escaped Sunday night had no guards watching only their housing unit at the time of the escape, nor any armed perimeter guards on duty when the inmates cut through the prison’s outer fence, according to a correctional prison. civil servants union official.
The two men, one of whom is facing charges that he killed four people in three separate shootings, are still missing Tuesday night. They escaped nearly 19 hours before officials discovered they were missing.
Ameen Hurst, 18, and Nasir Grant, 24, escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center around 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
Hurst, who was described as “dangerous” by authorities, was arrested on March 21, 2021, in connection with three separate shootings in Philadelphia spanning from December 2020 to March 2021 that left four people dead. Grant was in custody on charges of drug conspiracy and weapons conspiracy.
TWO PRISONERS FROM PHILADELPHIA ESCAPE WITHOUT CLUES FOR NEARLY 19 HOURS; ONE CONSIDERED ‘DANGEROUS’
Ameen Hurst, 18, and Nasir Grant, 24, escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center around 8:30 p.m. Sunday. (Philadelphia Prison Ward)
David Robinson, who chairs the District 33 Council of the civil servants’ union representing the correctional officers, said the Philadelphia Prison Department is understaffed so that armed perimeter guards are off duty on that particular night shift for eight or nine months.
Typically, two corrections officers would be assigned to each housing unit when the prison is fully staffed, but recent staff shortages have regularly left the prison with only one officer assigned to housing units.
Robinson said that on the night Hurst and Grant escaped, one officer was assigned to guard multiple units. He said this is usually due to other officers failing to report to work or the prison reaching critically low staffing levels.
“I’ve been talking about the personnel and safety issues for years and seemingly ignored. I said how something is going to happen, and now something has happened, so are you listening now?” Robinson said. “Of course I’m not saying the commissioner took a key and released it, but vital posts have been cut that could have prevented this.”
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The department’s executive staff said in a statement Tuesday that it “categorically denied” allegations that the executive agency had closed posts due to staff shortages and that those closures led to the escape.
Blanche Carney, commissioner of the Philadelphia Prisons Department, said at a news conference Monday evening that prison officials did not learn about the escape until around 3 p.m. Monday. The counts at 11:00 PM on Sunday, 3:00 AM on Monday, and 7:00 AM on Monday showed that all prisoners had been counted, even though video footage of the escape showed that the two men had disappeared.
According to the department, Hurst and Grant escaped prison by punching a hole in a fence around a recreation area.
Hurst, 18, and Grant, 24, escaped prison through a hole in a fence around a recreation area. (iStock)
“We established protocols and those protocols were not followed,” Carney said at Monday’s news conference. “That yard should have been secured and the fence shouldn’t have been broken.”
City officials said they were investigating which protocols were not being followed and how counts did not reveal missing inmates until the following day.
Robinson and others, including prison supervisors, have complained about deteriorating staffing levels and the dangerous situations that can result. The department is said to have taken out about 800 officers, which is about 40% short of the city’s approved deployment plan to safely cover the prisons with about 4,300 people.
“These vacancies put tremendous strain on the officers on duty and on the day-to-day operations of the prisons,” said Noah Barth, the prison supervisor for the Pennsylvania Prison Society. PPS is an independent organization that monitors conditions in jails and jails across the state, pushing for humane conditions for inmates.
The prisoners escaped for nearly 19 hours before officials learned they were missing. (Google Maps)
Barth said he did not have access to the staff logs, but that association observers had previously reported problems with alleged forgeries in the recreation logs and in laundry logs.
Several inmates in different units also said they were forced to sign the recreational time logs, but were unable to get that time out of their cells, Barth said. The inmates said guards told them their phone privileges would be taken away if they complained.
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Most of the association’s reports and recommendations have led to denials from department leaders, Barth said, adding that new officers must work longer overtime hours because of staff shortages.
Robinson said the council passed a vote of no confidence in Carney last week and membership was unanimous.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
