By Jonathan D. Silver
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
KITTANNING, Pa. — This summer’s escape from the Armstrong County Jail of an inmate trusty who authorities say killed a woman while on the loose occurred in an environment fraught with low morale, understaffing, a lack of preparedness for emergencies, lousy training and no confidence in the warden, according to a blistering report prepared by an independent security consultant and released today.
The 21-page report by Monaca-based CSI Corporate Security and Investigation explores a culture and environment at the jail that it said paved the way for the July 30 escape of Robert E. Crissman Jr., a heroin user and petty thief described as manipulative.
John Bechtol, the Armstrong County Prison Board’s solicitor, released a statement in which the board absolved corrections officers of responsibility for “Crissman’s volitional and unexpected actions” and said that the officers complied with jail policies.
In the report, however, indicated that it had problems with such a mindset. Responding to one person interviewed who told CSI that “there is no way for the jail to foresee this would happen,” the report called such a conclusion “unacceptable.“
The prison board also stated that despite the fact that it hired CSI for $15,000 to provide a comprehensive evaluation of Crissman’s escape, ”the prison board does not agree with all of the comments or conclusions contained in that report.“ The statement provided no specifics.
CSI’s report follows another critical review of the jail and trusty program by staff of the Armstrong County district attorney’s office. A trusty is a prisoner who is granted special privileges in return for good behavior.
Based on interviews conducted by CSI, it appears that Crissman was improperly assigned to a work detail, while apparently actively undergoing drug withdrawal, which was not properly evaluated. By enjoying trusty status, Crissman was allowed outside the jail walls without supervision.
David Hogue, the former warden whose resignation was recently announced for next month, was supposed to review and analyze Crissman’s file and approve him moving to a trusty detail. However, CSI was told that instead of reviewing the file, the warden “deviated from standard protocol” and left the work-release decision up to a subordinate, who allowed a drug-sick Crissman to enter the trusty program.
“When [corrections officers] were questioned about how quickly Crissman moved through the unit and classification system, no one was able to provide a plausible explanation and all said it was extremely rare for that to happen,” CSI wrote.
The report reveals that a corrections officer who was supposed to be monitoring cameras that were in turn monitoring inmates “was having a difficult time staying awake. You can see his head ‘nod off’ then fairly rapidly rise to a position of being more alert,” the report said.
While CSI did not attribute Crissman’s escape to the sleepy correctional officer, the report said “conceivably under other circumstances it could have been” had the officer fallen asleep.
Crissman, a heroin user and petty thief, is facing trial on escape and homicide charges in connection to the slaying of Tammy Long, 55, of Rayburn. Police say Crissman was unsupervised and outside the jail early July 30 while on a work detail delivering food trays when he ran away.
Authorities could not catch him, due to “confusing” procedures, no requirement that jail staff call 911 immediately in the event of an escape and a lack of training for responding to emergencies such as an inmate walking away from the jail, the report said.
CSI’s report revealed almost darkly comedic moments, such as a chronic inability by jail staff to raise the county sheriff, Bill Rupert, on his cell phone, and an argument between a jail office manager and an unidentified jail employee who could not get out of the prison because the officer manager was holding one door open, preventing the other from opening for the employee in pursuit.
As well, the report said, some corrections officers on the pursuit team are not qualified with their guns on the firing range, and the pursuit teams are barred from going beyond jail property — something CSI found to be “inexplicable.”
CSI interviewed 17 current or former jail employees, up to and including the warden, as well as four inmates. However, Armstrong County blacked out the names of everyone interviewed, so it could not immediately be determined whether the warden interviewed was the former warden, Mr. Hogue, or acting warden Matt Roofner.
The report provides a scathing look at how Mr. Hogue, a 31-year jail veteran, was viewed by his subordinates, and it described a “systemic lack of confidence” in his management style, leading to low morale, weak discipline and a lack of preparedness.
“To a person,” the report said, “the general perception of the warden’s administrative and leadership ability is that he is impotent.”
The report referred to what it called Mr. Hogue’s “overzealous obsession with budgetary matters which are obviously having an impact on training, particularly on-site drill training costs, and the turnover rate as a result of allegations of lower hourly rates which are not competitive in the workforce...”