By Michael P. Rellahan
Daily Local News, West Chester, Pa.
POCOPSON, Pa. — Chester County has begun the process of upgrading security measures and inmate movement restrictions at the county prison that were promised to the public in the wake of the escape by convicted murderer Danelo Cavalcante and the ensuing manhunt that captivated a national audience but left local residents frustrated and on edge.
In the 3 1/2 months since Cavalcante crab-walked up a pair of walls inside one of the prison’s exercise yards, parroting the escape method of another inmate three months before, the prison has erected new, additional razor wire around the facility meant to choke off any escape routes in vulnerable areas, according to county officials and prison authorities.
It has also installed a comprehensive roofline fencing system which was planned prior to Cavalcante’s escape and posted an additional corrections officer outdoors when inmates are in the exercise yards to supplement the guard tower which overlooks those areas. Inmates with access to those areas are now required to stay within a marked quarantine zone away from possible egress points.
New sets of prison attire meant to highlight an inmate’s status as high or low risk — orange, pink, red, blue or yellow — have been ordered and are set to make their appearance early next year, and installation of fine mesh, anti-climb fencing in vulnerable areas of the exercise yards has been completed to augment the normal chain link fencing which those attempting escape could conceivably climb.
Plans are being reviewed for other enhancements, such as more security cameras and video monitors, enhancement to the prison’s emergency siren, geo-tracking monitors for high-risk inmates, and an overhead enclosure of the prison’s exercise yards. A partnership with the Chester County Sheriff’s Office for K-9 Officers at the prison is in the works.
But a county spokeswoman, as well as Acting Warden Howard Holland , cautioned that the overall improvements and upgrades at the Chester County Prison are “continuous and evolving” as the threat-landscape changes over time.
“The individuals here are all essentially an escape risk,” Holland told a reporter on a recent visit to the Pocopson facility, during which he led a tour of the outside of the prison and explained how Cavalcante had made his escape on Aug. 31 . “If you are motivated enough, and have the time, you are going to try to exploit the weakness and deficiencies” in prison security.
“Our job is to take care to see they don’t,” he said. “But I just can’t put someone in a cage and just leave them there.” So security methods, technology and personnel must constantly evolve from old processes to new ones, he said.
“We were once a top-notch prison facility,” Holland said. “Now, we can’t claim that. We’ve got to get back to that. We will get back.”
Cavalcante’s escape followed his conviction in August of the April 2021 slaying of his estranged girlfriend, Deborah Brandao — a brutal crime in which he stabbed her almost 40 times in front of her young daughter and son outside the house in Schuylkill Township where they lived. He had become enraged when she threatened to expose him to immigration authorities for being in the country illegally, and to police for his role in a murder in his native Brazil .
He was sentenced to a term of life in state prison without parole by Common Pleas Judge Patrick Carmody , but was held at the county prison after the sentencing to allow him to work with his attorneys on an appeal of the conviction. He made his flight to fugitive status a day after Holland, the former Downingtown chief of police, was appointed acting warden following the unexplained retirement of the former warden, who had been on leave.
For two weeks, Cavalcante eluded capture by a force of hundreds of local, state and national police, ling on rainwater and stolen watermelons. The manhunt made international news headlines and photos of his crab-walk up the prison walls appeared hundreds of times. He was ultimately captured in South Coventry Township by a squad of police that included a K-9 Officer, Yoda.
Cavalcante is now being held in the maximum security state prison in Greene County . He has been charged with escape, but also with additional charges relating to his alleged theft of a delivery van, a rifle, and multiple burglaries that occurred when he was on the run.
A preliminary hearing on the charges has tentatively been set for Jan. 12 at Magisterial District Judge Matthew Seavey’s court in New Garden . It is expected that Cavalcante will appear via video link from SCI Greene.
At multiple public town hall meetings in Pocopson and North Coventry , residents expressed anger and what they viewed as lax security at the prison and inadequate measures available to alert neighbors to the event of an escape from the prison on South Wawaset Road , near several residential housing developments.
At the time, Holland was adamant that new security measures would be put in place. But he cautioned recently that throwing money at the problem was not the best solution. “You can;' put a price on public safety,” Holland said. “But you have to make sure the money you spend is necessary and justified.”
To date, direct costs to the county for the interim upgrades in security to the exercise enclosures at the prison have amounted to $155,307, which includes the supply and installation of additional razor wire. This amount does not reflect the anti-climb mesh which was installed by prison maintenance staff in the exercise yards, according to county Communications Director Rebecca Brain .
The county has projects that are anticipated to be funded through the American Rescue Plan for the potential exercise enclosure and technology upgrades (cameras, security monitors, etc.) Both of these are still being researched and reviewed for best options, she said, noting that at its Sept. 20 meeting, the county prison board approved moving forward with more specific designs and cost estimates for the permanent security upgrades, without yet committing to any dollar amount. At the meeting, a high-level estimate for the most extensive security upgrade option was between $2.5 and $3.5 million).
According to county spokeswoman Michelle Bjork , there has not been an accounting performed of costs to the county for the search process for Cavalcante. However, any expenditures incurred were covered by existing budget allocations, she said. There has been no estimate given to the costs incurred by the state police or outside agencies.
One of the most significant problems at the prison, however, is staffing, which has left some security measures undermanned — although that deficiency is being felt across the corrections system both in the state and nationwide.
Of the 302 positions at the prison, there are 232 filled and 70 vacant, including 47 incoming corrections officer positions. Nine such positions have been filled since Cavalcante escaped.
Holland, in his recent interview, said that he hopes that corrections positions will begin to be filled more rapidly in the new year. He still remains confident that the number of vacancies will be reduced to 20 by August.
“We cannot be complacent,” he said. “You cannot solely rely on technology in corrections. There has to be a human element. And if everybody had done their jobs to the best of their ability, that escape would not have occurred.”
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