Violence Continues At Essex County Prison: Inmate Death, Fires, Fights – patch.com

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Violent incidents including an inmate death, a sexual assault and a pair of fires have recently taken place within the Essex County prison system, despite an ongoing review of the local jail, a police union says.

In December, authorities announced that an independent review of the Essex County Correctional Facility was being launched in the wake of a vicious beating and the stabbing death of an inmate. The violence caused officials to take yet another hard look at the prison, which has seen staunch criticism for alleged health and safety risks over the years.

With advocates, family members and staff demanding changes, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said the county was launching an “independent review” of the facility, which is located in Newark and is paid to house inmates from Union County. Read More: Essex County Promises New Review Of Prison As Pressure Mounts

But according to Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 106 — which represents sergeants, lieutenants, captains and investigators within the Essex County Department of Corrections — violent acts have continued to take place involving inmates in the county’s custody.

Recent incidents include:

• Feb. 22 – Garrison Bryant died while in custody. He was an inmate at Delaney Hall, a facility adjacent to the jail run by the GEO Group, which contracts with the Essex County Correctional Facility.
• March 10 – A fire started by an inmate prompted the temporary evacuation of more than 60 prisoners from a housing unit. Two sergeants were sent to the hospital as a precaution for smoke inhalation and released later that night.
• March 11 – Two separate “one on one” fights between inmates took place. One fight was between inmates from Essex County and Union County. The other was between two inmates in a quarantine unit. No weapons were used, and no inmate was hospitalized.
• March 12 – An Essex County inmate was sent to University Hospital at approximately 1:30 a.m. with a laceration to his back. An internal investigation determined there was no evidence of inmate-on-inmate violence.
• March 13 – A county prisoner allegedly threatened suicide if he wasn’t released as part of the state’s COVID-19 credit program. He was released from custody the same day.
• March 13 – An inmate at the Essex County Correctional Facility allegedly attempted to hang himself.
• March 15 or 16 – An inmate started a small fire in a housing unit. It was put out immediately; nobody was injured or taken to the hospital. The inmate was transferred to another facility.

In addition to the above incidents, an inmate-on-inmate sexual assault was reported “sometime during the period,” the union said.

It isn’t only inmates who are at risk, union spokespeople say.

Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 106 previously told Patch that during the first six months of 2021, at least 21 officers were assaulted by inmates at the prison, sending 14 of them to a hospital emergency room.

Over the same period, 81 staff members were reported being exposed or assaulted with a prisoner’s bodily fluids. The latest such incident took place on March 13, when an officer assigned to a detention unit was assaulted with a yellow liquid, possibly urine. The inmate was “charged accordingly,” officials said; the officer declined medical attention.

As prison staff become more worried about their own safety amid the violence, administrators have been warned — but haven’t acted, the union alleged in December.

“We have been alerting everyone from Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr., to the Essex County Board of Commissioners, and beyond for at least a year that there were serious issues with the current jail administration,” union spokespeople told Patch in a joint statement.

“These ranged from conflicts of interest to what we knew were — and are — imminent threats to the physical safety of prisoners and staff,” they continued. “All of our warnings went unheeded.”

‘KEEPING THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION OPEN’

When reached for comment about the recent incidents at the prison, Essex County Chief of Staff Phil Alagia said the county appreciates the hard work that correctional police officers do every day at a difficult job.

“Keeping the lines of communication open with our officers and staff is important to continue the effective operation of our facility,” Alagia told Patch.

Alagia said the county has made several investments during the last two years to improve safety at the prison, including:

• “Purchasing Chemical Detection Machines that can find traces of illegal substances in mail. This cost about $150,000 and has helped keep illegal substances, such as narcotics, out of the jail.”
• “Purchasing eight Cell Sense Machines at a cost of about $160,000 to help prevent hidden objects from being smuggled into the jail.”
• “Investing in purchasing and fitting new protection vests for corrections officers after the suggestion was made during a town hall meeting.”
• “Installing several new security cameras to enhance the safety of officers and inmates.”
• “Investing over $2 million in new technology this year to expand video courts and online communications for inmates, all with the goal of keeping the facility safe.”
• “Overstaffing the facility to ensure manpower is not an issue. We currently are operating over our budgeted staffing levels and anticipate bringing on another 50 new officers by the end of May.”

“The Essex County administration and leadership at the Essex County Correctional Facility take seriously our responsibility to provide a safe and secure atmosphere for the employees and the inmates at the ECCF,” Alagia said. “This is displayed by the fact that the ECCF has been accredited by the American Correctional Association since 2013.”

“It should be noted that this high standard of operation is only earned to a select few facilities in the world,” Alagia said. “Our ACA auditor estimated that just 12 percent of correctional facilities in the world have this designation.”

Alagia continued:

“In addition to the periodic inspections by the ACA, and other accrediting agencies, Essex County has taken the initiative to conduct a self-evaluation. During the pandemic, the county executive created the first-ever Civilian Task Force in the state of New Jersey to address systemic issues affecting the ECCF. This independent body has held numerous public and private meetings, and conducted both scheduled and unannounced visits to tour the facility. After a recent homicide at the jail, we realized a comprehensive review of policies and operational standards was necessary and retained the highly respected Ambrose Group to conduct a thorough review. We look forward to all recommendations by the Civilian Task Force and the Ambrose Group to make or facility even better.”

Alagia said the coronavirus pandemic may also be contributing to the ongoing violence at the prison. He said:

“COVID-19 created many unforeseen challenges in all aspects of our daily lives, which includes operations at our correctional facility. While we did exemplary work to minimize the impact of the virus on the population in our facility, we have seen other consequences created by the pandemic. One byproduct has been an increase in the number of violent incidents; this is happening across the country and not just at the ECCF. To prevent the spread of the virus, we instituted a number of social distancing initiatives which resulted in the suspension of visitation, recreation, in-person religious services and programs; this also resulted in meetings between inmates and their attorneys more difficult. In addition, the suspension of court operations meant legal cases stalled and inmates were being held for longer periods of time, thereby causing frustration among the inmates. We believe this is one of the major reasons for the increase in violence across the country during the last two years.”

>> Read More: Essex County Ends Controversial Prison Contract With ICE

>> Read More: Task Force Could Protect Inmates At Essex County Prison

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