The Pennsylvania jail where murderer Danelo Cavalcante recently escaped will spend as much as $3.5 million to enclose outdoor exercise yards in hopes of preventing future breakouts, officials said Wednesday.
The Chester County jail board unanimously approved a series of security upgrades, which included plans to cover eight outdoor exercise yards at a cost of up to $3.5 million.
Other improvements include the installation of as many as 75 more surveillance cameras around the West Chester facility and the hiring of eight more positions to monitor those eyes in the sky.
When Danelo Cavalcante escaped on Aug. 31, he was wearing a nondescript white shirt, dark pants and white sneakers. He was captured two weekslater.
Acting Chester County Prison Warden Howard Holland said Wednesday he plans to change what inmates must wear.
Prisoners should don “high visibility clothing and then vary the color based on their classification levels,” Holland said.
The location where Cavalcante climbed to freedom is where another inmate, Igor Bolte, also got away by scaling the walls on May 19. Bolte was captured in a residential neighborhood about a half-mile from the prison.
Chester County residents, attending a town hall on Wednesday night, were still livid about the recent escapes.
“It’s shameful that we’ve made national news, worldwide news because of all the bungling,” Chester County resident Bobbie Surrick told NBC Philadelphia on her way into the meeting.
Chester County Vice Chairman Josh Maxwell, who also attended Wednesday’s hearing, said he understands the community’s outrage.
“We have to go out every single day, every single week to try to earn this community’s trust and deliver on those promises we’re making,” Maxwell said.
The Associated Press contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
