Observations made after killer’s Aug. 30 escape
By: Ruth Luse
Broken jailhouse surveillance cameras, disconnected perimeter fence alarms and doors that can be easily unlocked by inmates are among the problems at the Mercer County Correction Center, according to one guard’s account.
A high-ranking Hopewell Township official, who has requested anonymity, said a guard had listed these and other security lapses at the Corrections Center, which was the scene of a daring daylight escape by twice-convicted murderer Terence Brewer on Aug. 30.
Brewer jumped from the roof of the Route 29 jailhouse in Titusville and duped prison officials into believing he was an injured visitor who had fallen in the parking lot. Deputy Warden Mamie Sapp was among those who helped put Brewer in an ambulance that took him to a Trenton hospital, where he walked out of the emergency room shortly after his arrival, the official said.
Brewer spent a week on the lam before turning himself in. He is now housed in a maximum-security state prison.
Prison officials have been criticized for not realizing Brewer was missing until 13 hours after his escape. Three prisoner counts were scheduled to take place at the Corrections Center during the time Brewer was missing.
The guard told the township official that most of the surveillance cameras in the 100-year-old facility do not record. In addition, the fence alarms have been disconnected for years, he said.
"Around the perimeter (of the facility) are pressure-sensitive fences," the guard commented, adding that every time a deer brushed into the fences, the alarm would go off. They were getting so many alarms a day, they decided to turn them off about three years ago.
The official also was told that after Brewer’s escape the Corrections Center went into lockdown and two riots followed. The guard also told the official that assaults against corrections officers there have increased 60 percent in the past three months. There were 30 in August, the official said.
In addition, 50 maximum security prisoners stay Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the old county Detention Center in Trenton, the official was told. The Mercer County Detention Center was shut down in September 1998.
Asked Monday to comment on these allegations, Thomas Rubino, speaking on behalf of the Mercer County Executive’s Office, said:
"The Mercer County Corrections Center is in compliance with all state and federal security requirements. The facility has been found to be in compliance in every annual state inspection since 1997 when it began to house additional maximum security inmates. Furthermore, the county has invested more than $2.3 million in security upgrades at the facility and increased the level of staff by 65 corrections officers.
"The administration maintains that the Corrections Center is a secure facility and that early indications are that the escape was caused by a number of human errors. It is unfortunate that the corrections officers union has decided to attempt to shift the blame for the escape by making a number of irrelevant allegations. We refuse to publicly comment on these allegations," Mr. Rubino said.
"The administration is awaiting the prosecutor’s final investigation report to determine how and why the escape took place and take any necessary remedial actions to ensure that no further escapes take place in the future.
"We are disappointed the corrections officers union has decided to attack the administration rather than focusing on correcting the human errors that were made."

