PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Mayor Cherelle Parker on Monday announced Michael Resnick as the new commissioner of the Philadelphia Department of Prisons to succeed Blanche Carney, who is retiring after a rocky tenure. After a nationwide search for the position, Parker found someone with deep roots in Philadelphia, according to the mayor's office.
Resnick first joined Philadelphia city government during the Rendell administration, working his way up from deputy city solicitor to director of public safety under Michael Nutter and to acting prisons commissioner before Mayor Kenney appointed Blanche Carney.
Resnick then joined the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services as chief of pre-trial detention before returning to legal work in Philadelphia, specializing in civil rights and workers compensation cases.
Carney announced her retirement last month. Her last day was Friday. Her tenure was marked by an increase in prisoner deaths, the escape of two inmates who simply walked out of their cells, and a vote of no-confidence by employees who described conditions in the jails as “chaos.”