In the wake of an escape by a convicted bombmaker that went unnoticed for four days, the head of Nevada’s Department of Corrections has resigned. It was however stated that the resignation was at the request of Gov. Steve Sisolak.
The governor’s office said in a statement that Sisolak “requested and received Nevada Department of Corrections Director Charles Daniels’ resignation, effective immediately”. Six other officers were placed on administrative leave.
According to reports, 42-year-old Porfirio Duarte-Herrera escaped from the Southern Desert Correctional Center outside Las Vegas on Sept. 23 without anyone noticing for four days, before a tip led to his capture at a transit center in Las Vegas as he prepared to board a bus out of town.
It was noted that State corrections officials didn’t initially realize that Duarte-Herrera was not at the medium-security prison where he was serving a life sentence for a deadly 2007 explosion outside a Las Vegas Strip resort.
Experts believe that the escape and subsequent fallout has political overtones because Sisolak, a Democrat, is running for re-election against Republican Joe Lombardo, the Clark County sheriff in charge of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
During a joint news conference with an FBI special agent and the head of the U.S. Marshal’s Service for Nevada, Lombardo said they were fortunate to catch up with Duarte-Herrera so quickly given he had a “four-day head start” before anyone knew he was missing.
He added that “The policies and procedure and all the failures that occurred on Friday and up to Tuesday need to be addressed”.
“Infrastructure issues and prison system staffing issues, the ability for this individual to do it — from what I’ve been told — as simply as he did it is a grave concern to me and the entire law enforcement community and the community as a whole”.
Harping on the development, the president of a union that represents corrections officers in Nevada told Newsmen that Duarte-Herrera made a dummy and used battery acid to break down the window frame of his jail cell. The guard tower that would have had eyes on the unit he escaped from was unmanned and had been for a couple of years, Paul Lunkwitz, the president of Fraternal Order of Police Nevada C.O., said.
Reacting to the issue, Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, a Republican who serves on Nevada’s three-member Board of Prison Commissioners with Sisolak and Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford, said she was “outraged” the department didn’t notify commissioners of the escape, which she learned about from the media.
Meanwhile, Gov Sisolak ordered the corrections department to investigate the escape “to ensure any lapses in protocol are immediately addressed.” The Governor also said he is convening advisers to look specifically at the prison Duarte-Herrera escaped from and make recommendations on how to improve conditions there.
It is imperative to note that Daniels’ resignation came after a tumultuous month at the Southern Desert Correctional Facility and another Clark County prison, High Desert State Prison that led many to call for his ouster.
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