By Allison Steele
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — A deputy commissioner of the Philadelphia Prison System, whose duties include overseeing drug and alcohol rehab programs for inmates, has been charged with drunken driving, authorities said yesterday.
Reginald Hammond, 53, of the 9900 block of Academy Road in the Northeast, was arrested Friday while driving on the 5600 block of West Vine Street, police said.
Bob Eskind, public-information officer for the prison system, said Hammond had not been suspended or otherwise disciplined.
“We’re reviewing the case,” Eskind said.
Hammond did not return a phone message left with his office yesterday.
Hammond has access to a city-owned car that he is allowed to take home, but he was not driving that car at the time of the arrest, Eskind said.
Hammond’s blood-alcohol content tested at 0.14 percent, according to court records. The legal threshold for intoxication is 0.08 percent. He was arraigned Oct. 10 and is scheduled to return to court in December.
Hammond, who lives in the city’s Morrell Park section, has been employed with the city since 1975, public records show. He started working as a correctional officer in 1981, according to a biography posted on the prison system’s Web site.
He was made deputy commissioner in 2005 and given the official title of deputy commissioner for restorative and transitional services. His salary is $106,324, according to city records.
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