NCJ Number
88092
Date Published
1982
Length
82 pages
Annotation
This report presents a detailed chronicle of the 1981 escape attempt and hostage-taking incident at Graterford State Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania. It identifies contributing factors, assesses management of the incident, and makes recommendations to ensure better correctional operations at Graterford.
Abstract
Information came from extensive interviews, public hearings, Bureau of Correction and State Police reports, and news accounts of the incident. The escape was apparently planned and prepared about 3 years before the October 28, 1981, attempt. Inmates recruited eight members for the escape party and obtained more than 270 items of contraband, including keys, ropes, weapons, and ammunition. Four inmates eventually became the hostage takers after the escape failed; the leader was a three-time convicted murderer serving two life sentences. The group held 6 staff members and 32 inmates hostage in the kitchen area before surrendering on November 1, 1981. The incident was successfully resolved because the Governor used good judgment, police and corrections officials showed professionalism and restraint, a credible outside mediator was obtained, and the captors recognized that they could not escape. The incident occurred because of grave inadequacies in the criminal justice system: the prison was overcrowded, and physical and operational security was deficient. The panel recommended that intensive case management should be used for inmates presenting clear threats to safety; Pennsylvania should enact 'good time' legislation to provide a behavioral incentive in the prison system. Changes in staff resources, physical security procedures, warehousing, inmate classification, mental health and medical services, prison industries, prisoner education, inmate grievance procedures, food services, and media relations are also essential. A chart depicting the chain of command during the incident, nine appendixes, including costs of the incident and the agreement with insurgent inmates, and a bibliography listing 30 references are provided.