New warden, increased security after New York prison escape
Published 9:38 am Thursday, July 2, 2015
ALBANY, N.Y. — A new superintendent has been named at the maximum-security prison where two inmates escaped last month, and new security measures have been put in place.
Thirty-year correction veteran Michael Kirkpatrick will be the new superintendent of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. He replaces Steven Racette, who was placed on paid leave Tuesday along with two of his deputies and nine other staff members, including guards, after an internal review of how convicted killers David Sweat and Richard Matt escaped June 6.
The department says new security measures include stepped-up searches of inmates’ cells, staffing changes to ensure bed checks are more effective and installation of security gates in the facility’s tunnels.
Matt was shot dead Friday after a three-week manhunt. Sweat was shot and captured on Sunday.