Philadelphia City Councilmember Sharon Vaughn introduced a resolution calling for hearings on the city’s correctional system after two men escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center Sunday night. Their disappearance wasn’t discovered until Monday afternoon.
Vaughn called the incident “predictable,” adding, “These men passed two unmanned security posts and left through a hole in the fence and nobody saw them.”
She said with some 800 guard positions currently vacant, the situation is dangerous for all involved.
“Deplorable conditions for inmates and unsafe working environments for [correctional officers]. One of them, who happens to be my brother, has played a role in getting us to this point,” Vaughn said. “It is even more concerning that the leadership has not done more to prioritize these issues.”
Councilmember Curtis Jones said the huge number of vacancies creates a state of emergency at the city’s jails.
“It’s not safe for the inmates. It’s not safe for the corrections officer. And as this escape proved, it’s not safe for the citizens outside of the walls and the fences,” Jones said.
Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson also expressed her discontent about the situation, and said this is nothing new.
“As a member of the public safety committee, we have had meetings on meetings on meetings on meetings with the leadership at the prisons and with the administration to talk about the crisis that has been playing out in the prisons during the entire pandemic, and it feels like you don’t get anywhere.”
She said hopefully this time around, everyone will become involved and work together to find a solution to the problem.
“I’m willing to be a part of the team that allows us to come into this hearing in a different way and hopefully to get more answers and to get some resolution. But this is something that the council has pushed on.”
With council winding down for its spring session, the hearing isn’t expected to be held until the fall.
