The state’s premier advocacy group for the welfare of those inmates housed at state and county prisons is criticizing the decision of the Chester County Prison Board to begin the process of completely enclosing exercise yards with a solid roof in the wake of the recent escape by convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante.
The Pennsylvania Prison Society called the move unfortunate, and one that would have a negative impact on the hundreds of inmates located at the Pocopson facility that Cavalcante was able to escape from by climbing up to an unenclosed portion of the roof area above one of the prison’s outdoor recreation areas.
The plan to enclose the yards is in its infancy but was proposed earlier this month by Acting Warden Howard Holland in order to reform security at the prison and prevent future escapes.
“In their rush to reassure the community, county officials are pursuing expensive, misguided solutions that will degrade the physical and mental health of incarcerated people: they plan to completely enclose exercise yards with a solid roof, effectively depriving them access to fresh, open air and sunlight,” said the group’s release.
Getting rid of outdoor exercise not only harms incarcerated people but fails to address the shortage of corrections officers that have made jails throughout Pennsylvania unsafe for people both inside and outside of the walls, the group said.
The prison board said it had been hoping to work with the society in its effort to rework security at the prison.
“The initial approval of designs for the exercise yards are just the first step in the process,” a spokeswoman for the board said in a statement. “But even before the presentation of permanent design options for the prison exercise yards were made by TranSystems last week, the Prison Board had proactively reached out to leaders at the Pennsylvania Prison Society, asking them to be part of the review process. We have been trying to work with them to set up a meeting date and look forward to meeting with them as soon as they’re available.
“It has always been the county’s intent to consider all needs as this project moves forward, and will welcome their input,” the statement read. “We have always taken the mental health and well-being of inmates seriously, and that remains a factor in everything that must be considered when running a secure prison operation.”
Meanwhile, the county commissioners have announced that they will hold another in-person town hall meeting on Monday, Oct. 2, for residents of northern Chester County who were impacted by Cavalcante’s escape. The convicted murderer was captured after a two-week manhunt in a wooded area near Bucktown in South Coventry Township, armed with a rifle he had stolen from a nearby home. The first two sessions were held in Pocopson
The meeting will take place at Owen J. Roberts Middle School at 7 p.m.
“For many of our residents, the fear and anxiety generated by the escape of Cavalcante did not stop with his capture, especially for those in the community in and around South Coventry Township where the convict was found,” said commissioners Marian Moskowitz, Josh Maxwell, and Michelle Kichline in a release.
“We know that it will take time for the memory of that nightmare to subside, and so in addition to providing information on the emergency notification process, we will listen to resident concerns, answer questions about the search and capture of Cavalcante, and provide emotional support resources at the Town Hall event and after.”
Like the first two sessions, at the meeting officials such as Holland and county Department of Emergency Services Director Bill Messerschmidt will explain the security improvements intended for the prison; the emergency communication process for county residents; and provide those attending an opportunity to ask questions about the final days of the search and capture of Cavalcante.
Among the topics that Holland will most likely address is the plan to enclose the recreation yards.
On Sept. 20, the prison board approved the design concept that would convert all eight of the jail’s outdoor exercise yards into indoor facilities. It calls for an 18-foot outer wall of solid masonry to replace the current chain-link fence and a solid roof over the open sky. The only opening that would admit air and natural light from outside would be a narrow “ribbon” of windows running along the top of the wall.
The society noted that the consultant hired by the county to look at ways to improve security at the prison had presented three options for the exercise yards, two of which were open-air designs that would have covered the yards with a cage-like wire structure that left it exposed to the elements.
In the discussions, TransSystems “cited but seemed to ignore” the industry standard for exercise yards, which according to the society’s release, states that facilities should have “both outdoor and covered/enclosed exercise areas for general population inmates are provided … in sufficient number to ensure that each inmate is offered at least one hour of access daily. Use of outdoor areas is preferred, but covered/enclosed areas must be available for use in inclement weather.”
The release advocated for the continued use of outdoor areas, saying that research shows that spending time outdoors can reduce anxiety and help people cope with stressors, and those benefits may be especially important for incarcerated people.
It argued that the greater problem at the county prison, as well as other jails and state facilities across the commonwealth, is the continued staffing shortage of corrections officers — a situation that the county has been attempting to correct in the past several months.
According to Holland and county figures, there are as many as 52 vacancies among first-level corrections officers. The total number of unfilled staff positions at the prison in August was 71. On the day of Cavalcante’s escape, there were 45 officers on duty, he told a crowd of residents at the town hall meeting held by the county to address prison security issues.
“We just can’t get people to come out,” he said, although he noted optimistically that there had been more than 30 new applications for correction officers in recent weeks.
The society stated that the proposed changes to the exercise yard at the prison are estimated to cost $2.5 to $3.5 million, which it said was money that could be used to bolster staffing. “When Cavalcante escaped, there were no corrections officers supervising the exercise yard, and the sole guard posted in the watchtower did not see him scale the outer fence,” the release stated.
The county has not yet authorized any contracts that would begin construction of an enclosed yard. The vote to do that would come after the commissioners have received bids for the work.
Residents who have questions about the efforts that the County has made to improve security measures at Chester County Prison, and prison-related emergency notifications, can send questions to the Chester County Commissioners at cccommissioners@chesco.org.
To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.
Source: Berkshire mont