The department is a little more than 800 officers down, which is about 40% below the city-approved deployment plan to safely cover the jails that house about 4,300 men and women.

Prison officials said there was an ongoing investigation reviewing staffing assignments and security tapes.īut Robinson and others, including former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart and prison monitors have all complained about the worsening staffing levels and the potential dangerous situations that come along with it.

on Monday reportedly showed that all prisoners were accounted for, and prison staff did not become aware of the escaped inmates until about 3 p.m. Philadelphia Prisons Department Commissioner Blanche Carney said during a news conference Monday night that headcounts conducted at 11 p.m. In a statement late Tuesday, the executive staff of the department “categorically denied” claims that the executive office had closed posts due to a staffing shortage and that those closures enabled the escape. “Of course I’m not saying that the commissioner took a key and let them out, but vital posts were cut that could have prevented this.” I’ve been saying how something is going to happen, and now that something has happened, so are you listening now?” Robinson said. “I’ve been talking about the staffing and safety issues for years and seemingly being ignored. That’s what happened the night the men escaped, he said. When other officers don’t report to work, or the prison reaches critically low staffing levels, one officer might be assigned to monitor multiple units, Robinson said. But with recent staffing shortages, the prison has regularly only had one officer assigned to housing units.

When the prison is fully staffed, two corrections officers would be assigned to each housing unit.

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