PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia voters will be asked, in May, to create a Prison Community Oversight Board and an Office of Prison Oversight. Legislation to put the question on the ballot passed at City Council’s final session of the year, last Thursday.
Councilmember Isaiah Thomas sponsored the proposal, after years of turmoil in the prison system, marked by drastic understaffing, escapes and unexplained deaths.
“Once we pass this bill, … we will make history as it relates to what we’re looking to do with our prisons,” Thomas said.
Philadelphia’s prisons have been struggling with chronic understaffing, escapes and violence. In April, Mayor Cherelle Parker appointed a new prisons commissioner, Michael Resnick, who has pledged to make reforms.
The Prison Community Oversight Board would have nine members, four appointed by Council, four by the mayor, and one by the city controller. It would convene monthly and make recommendations to the Resnick.
The Office of Prison Oversight, charged with increasing transparency and accountability, would monitor and assess facilities and staff.
A woman named Leslie Gabor rose during public testimony on Thursday to make a heartfelt plea for answers about her brother’s death while in custody at the Police Detention Unit on Dec. 12. It was a coincidence she testified on the day of Council’s vote, but it highlighted the reasons Thomas sponsored the bill.
“He walked into PDU last Wednesday and he never came out, and we want to know why. Why did he never come out? Why?” Gabor said.
Her brother, Joey, was the third unexplained death at a Philadelphia jail since September.
“My brother was a loved one. He was a son, an uncle, a grandson. And all we know is we have no answers. And I want answers. Do you see my face? I will not stop until I have answers.”
Council promised to get her answers.