Long-Awaited Review Gives Deep Look Into NJ's Largest County Prison

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — In the wake of a vicious beating and the death of an inmate last year at the Essex County Correctional Facility – the largest county prison in New Jersey– advocates and family members renewed their longtime calls for change at the jail, which has seen staunch criticism for alleged health and safety risks over the years from multiple sources. In response, county officials promised a new, independent review of the prison, which is located in Newark.

That highly anticipated review is now complete, officials say.

In mid-October, Essex County released the results of a massive, 184-page look into the inner workings of the jail, which is also paid to house hundreds of inmates from Union County and the U.S. Marshals Service. It previously housed detainees from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), until the county ended its controversial, multi-million-dollar contract with the federal government last year. In all, the prison has a rated capacity of 2,434 inmates – more people than the populations of 94 New Jersey municipalities.

The report also takes a look at the Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, a privately run facility owned by the GEO Group that houses some of the county’s inmates, as well as CFG Health Systems, which provides medical services to the Essex County Correctional Facility.

The review was done as a joint initiative with the prison’s Civilian Task Force. It was carried out by the Ambrose Group LLC, an independent management consulting organization led by retired Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose.

Read the full report here.

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. gave Patch the following statement when reached for comment about the report, pointing out that the prison has received multiple accreditations over the years:

“Although our Essex County Correctional Facility (ECCF) has passed rigorous annual inspections by the American Correctional Association, the New Jersey Department of Corrections and other accrediting agencies, we always are looking for ways to enhance our operations. The comprehensive review conducted by the Ambrose Group recognized the professionalism of our offices and staff and how well our facility is maintained, but also provided constructive criticism. With our newly-appointed Director Ron Charles, we already have started implementing several of the recommendations included in the Ambrose Report and will continue to work to ensure our ECCF provides a safe atmosphere for our officers, staff and inmates.”

Here are some of the highlights from the review.

CHANGE AT THE TOP

The Ambrose report noted that in August, the assistant and associate wardens were moved back to their Civil Service Commission titles and positions – lieutenant and captain respectively – as the result of a Civil Service Commission ruling.

Ronald Charles was recently named the new director of the Essex County Department of Corrections, following the resignation of Director Alfaro Ortiz, who rendered his resignation effective on Oct. 1 due to “personal reasons.”

Since taking his new post, Charles has begun a staffing analysis, is actively pursuing the hiring of additional personnel to alleviate concerns over the prison’s internal affairs department, and is launching a security audit of the prison to address issues such as contraband, the report states.

USE OF FORCE

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 106, which represents sergeants, lieutenants, captains and investigators within the Essex County Department of Corrections, has alleged that violence – to both inmates and officers – has been commonplace at the prison over the years.

In the first six months of 2021, at least 21 officers were assaulted by inmates at the prison, sending 14 of them to a hospital emergency room. That trend continued in July, which saw at least six documented assaults. Over the same period, 81 staff members reported being exposed or assaulted with a prisoner’s bodily fluids. And “Code Blue” responses at the prison doubled from 2019 to 2020, union spokespeople said. Read More: Stabbing, Beating At Essex County Jail Are Only Tip Of Iceberg, Union Alleges

Meanwhile, “use of force” incidents more than tripled from 2019 to 2020. The rise in violence was also shown in the number of EMS dispatches from University Hospital to the prison, where there was a 70 percent increase in EMS call volume from January to June of 2021, union spokespeople said. Read More: Violence Continues At Essex County Prison: Inmate Death, Fires, Fights

However, the prison has seen a “significant” drop in use of force incidents over the period of Jan. 1 to Aug. 31 – which are down 39.4 percent as compared to the same period in 2021, the Ambrose report says.

In 2021, a total of 416 use of force incidents, 61 assaults on staff and 445 inmate fights/assaults were reported at the ECCF.

STAFFING RATIOS

Investigators carried out a “comprehensive review of staffing” for correctional police officers (CPOs), specifically for Buildings 2 to 5. Here’s what they found, the Ambrose report says:

“The ratio of inmates to CPOs was found to be maintained at 64 inmates to 1 CPO in a normal and typical low risk setting. In areas that are deemed to be high risk, the ratio is 64 inmates to 2 CPOs, however, this is not always consistent based on overall on-duty staffing levels. The staffing level of 64 to 2 should be mandatory staffing in any housing unit where intelligence is gathered indicating a risk of violence. The higher level should be maintained as mandatory minimum staffing until the threat is proven to be defused or resolved. In certain situations where intelligence reveals gang activity and links to violence on the streets outside the ECCF, a ratio of 64 to 3 should be examined. The safety of the CPOs, as well as the inmates, should be paramount.”

CONTRACT WITH MEDICAL PROVIDER

The Ambrose report notes that medical, mental health and dental services for inmates has been provided by CFG Health Systems, LLC and Affiliates (CFG) at the prison for the past 15 years.

CFG has seen ongoing criticism from local advocates about the care that inmates are receiving. Recently, the family of an inmate fatally stabbed at the Essex County Correctional Facility in December filed a lawsuit in the wake of his death, accusing CFG of failing to care for the wounded inmate. And in 2019, the brother of an East Newark man who hung himself at the prison filed a lawsuit against CFG, the county, and former warden Charles Green.

• See related article: Mentally Ill NJ Inmate Hung Himself While In Straitjacket, Family Alleges In Lawsuit
• See related article: Staffing Woes Affect Mental Health Care At Essex County Prison, Report Says

Currently, CFG has a three-year contract with the ECCF totaling $53,225,129, with an option for two-year extension. After reviewing the contract and current services at ECCF, the Ambrose Group held several meetings with prison administrators, members of the county task force and company managers with CFG.

“Each of these meetings and documents revealed significant deficiencies in the staffing and services provided by the vendor CFG,” the Ambrose Group reported, adding the following “critical findings”:

“Based on our review of staffing reconciliations between the contract requirements and actual attendance based on the vendors’ invoices, critical staff shortages were identified for many of the medical titles especially the nursing staff. Only 17 hours of the required 448 RN sick call hours were staffed in October 2021. In addition, a review of documents provided for the billing period covering a 10-week period from September 26, 2021, to December 4, 2021, indicate that no oral surgeon hours were billed for the entire period.”

CORONAVIRUS

When the coronavirus pandemic hit New Jersey, advocates and inmates in Essex County kept up a two-year long blitz, demanding better protections for inmates at the county prison. Read More: Stuck In Jail During A Pandemic; Coronavirus Hits NJ Prisons

According to the ACLU of New Jersey, at one point during the pandemic, the state’s prison system had the highest death rate of any in the nation, with numbers “exceeding most other states’ prison deaths combined.”

But due to an “aggressive approach to addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” only one inmate at the Essex County Correctional Facility died from the coronavirus, the Ambrose report said.

This compares to 14 COVID-related deaths at the Adult Diagnostic and Treatment Center, 10 at Northern State Prison, and eight at East Jersey State Prison – all state-run facilities.

CONTRABAND

The report notes that, like other prisons across the world, the ECCF battles an ongoing problem with contraband, such as drugs and weapons. Among other prohibited items, the prison saw the following seizures in 2021:

• Shanks (puncture-type weapons) – 102 (up from 41 in 2020)
• Cellphones – 11 (up from 10 in 2020)
• “Hooch” (alcohol) – 19 (up from 3 in 2020)
• Tobacco products – 22 (up from 2 in 2020)

The list of seized drugs in 2021 included synthetic marijuana (18), marijuana (3), powder cocaine (1), and heroin (2), as well as “excessive medication” (45).

On the positive side, incidents of “mailroom” contraband seizures dropped by 54 percent from 2020 to 2021, apparently due to the utilization of a VeroVision mail screener, the report stated.

However, the Ambrose report also notes that contraband seizures were not accurately tracked over that period, which complicates efforts to develop strategies to combat the problem.

SECURITY CAMERAS

According to the Ambrose report, there are several infrastructure or improvement projects in the works at the prison, including security cameras.

“The ECCF is enhancing facility security through the pending upgrading of its security camera system,” the report stated. “The project calls for the purchasing and installation of more than 70 additional security cameras to help address ‘blind spots’ in the facility.”

DELANEY HALL

As part of the overall assessment of the ECCF, investigators were specifically detailed to conduct an assessment of the operating procedures of Delaney Hall in Newark, a medium-security prison privately owned by the GEO Group and contracted to house Essex County inmates. Many of those individuals require complex medical and social services because of conditions such as substance use disorders, psychiatric illnesses, chronic health conditions and pregnancy.

The company was awarded a contract for the 2022 calendar year to provide alternative incarceration and residential treatment housing for inmates who were being detained by Essex County Corrections. The contract calls for a minimum of 325 to a maximum of 675 inmates to be paid for and housed at the facility.

“After the above elements were completed and scrutinized, it appears that GEO ReEntry is in general compliance with the contract,” the Ambrose Group reported. “However, there are a couple of security/safety exceptions. These security/safety risks include an unusual high amount of contraband recovered, items that can be used as weapons, which were left within the reach of inmates and electrical wires, exposed.”

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