$118K Contract Awarded For Cameras At Chester County Prison

CHESTER COUNTY —Chester County Prison Board on Thursday awarded a $118,697 contract to Unlimited Technology Inc., Chester Springs, to install cameras on the roof and around the fence of the county jail.

The cameras are part of massive upgrades at the Chester County Prison in Pocopson Township following the Aug. 31 escape of convicted murderer Danilo Cavalcante, who was found on Sept. 13 in South Coventry Township.

The cameras will detect motion and provide where the motion is located.

Warden Howard Holland said he is working on numerous security upgrades at the jail, which has a population of 681 inmates.

“We have so many projects going on at one time,” he said.

Holland said the primary concern is the enclosure of the exercise yards. Cavalcante escaped while in the exercise yard by crab-walking up to walls to a low-level roof.

The warden noted that razor wire had already been installed around the prison. He said the security companies are providing many ideas which he is reviewing.

The prison is also looking at using K-9 dogs for security and closing the exterior.

The prison is also accepting applications for correction officers. The warden said that he has hired five correctional officers and 16 applications are pending. The starting salary for an officer is $24.40 an hour.

“I really think we are on a good trajectory,” the warden said of the staffing levels.

Stephanie Hoopman, a Pocopson resident, thanked the warden for keeping the community informed about the upgrades. She suggested that the inmates wear high-visibility uniforms.

The warden said that he is working on getting new uniforms with different colors to alert staffers on the risk level of the inmate. The range is from low risk to high risk for the likelihood of escaping.

Cavalcante is in the state Correctional Institute at Greene, Forrest Township Greene County, which is in western Pennsylvania. He is serving a life sentence for the April 2021 fatal stabbing of his ex-girlfriend, Deborah Brandao, 33, in front of her young children in Schuylkill Township.