Philadelphia Department of Prisons Chief Blanche Carney announced she is stepping down from the troubled department next month.
Carney sent a letter to her staff that her last day will be April 5, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. She is the first woman to serve as chief of the Philadelphia Department of Prisons.
Since 2016, Carney has overseen the city’s four prisons and jails, which have come under scrutiny due to poor living conditions for inmates. A report conducted by the Pennsylvania Prison Society found inmates lacked adequate food and dealt with a rat infestation. Under Blanche’s watch, four inmates escaped in six months and three homicides occurred. In 2021, 18 inmates died.
A federal judge appointed a monitor to oversee jails as a condition in a settlement of a class-action lawsuit. The monitor found
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