Sleeping Guard and Unrepaired Fence Contributed to 19-Hour Undetected Prison Escape in Philadelphia, Investigation Finds

In addition to sleeping guard and unrepaired fence, Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center escape also involved disabled motion sensors and overcrowded staffing conditions; Measures to fix these issues are underway, and four people have been charged for aiding the escapees.

Inmates Ameen Hurst and Nasir Grant escaped the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center on May 7 by exploiting various security oversights. A guard post was unoccupied, other guards were asleep or overworked, and a hole in the external fence, present for seven weeks prior, was used in the escape.
The prison's motion detection system had been disabled for over a decade due to frequent false alarms caused by geese landing in the vicinity. The pair used the non-functioning sensors and a piece of clothing to climb over the external fences lined with barbed wire.
The jailbreak went undetected for 19 hours, in part due to guards failing to conduct necessary prisoner counts, which District Attorney Larry Krasner attributed to an officer sleeping on the job.
Four people have been charged with aiding the escapees after their breakout. Both inmates were eventually apprehended; Grant was caught four days post prison break while Hurst was arrested after ten days of fugitivity.
In reaction to the incident, Philadelphia's prison department, struggling with severe staff shortages due to the COVID pandemic, has begun recruiting for over 800 roles. Additionally, the department has instituted changes in executive leadership and anticipates upgrading their surveillance and security systems, including implementing armbands for real-time inmate tracking.

The Philadelphia Inquirer