COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND CIVIL SERVICE Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Monday, March 16, 2026 10:20 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCILMAN JIM HARRITY, CHAIR COUNCILWOMAN NINA AHMAD COUNCILWOMAN KATHERINE GILMORE RICHARDSON
Good morning, everyone. This is a public hearing of the Committee on Labor and Civil Service regarding Bill No. 251099. I note for the record that a quorum of the committee is present. This hearing is now called to order. Mr. Kunkle, will you please read the title of the bill 12 being considered today.
Bill 14 No. 251099, titled an ordinance 15 amending Title 20 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Officers and Employees,” to provide for compensation of the Director of Office of Prison Oversight and members of the Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board, and amending Title 21 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Miscellaneous,” to add a new chapter, providing for the powers and duties of Office of Prison Oversight and Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board and the manner in which other officers, employees and agencies shall fulfill their respective responsibilities with respect to the Office and Board, all under certain terms and conditions.
Thank you, Mr. Kunkle. Will you please call the roll.
And we have appointed Councilman Isaiah Thomas for the record.
And Councilman Thomas is appointed to the Committee on Labor and Civil Services today.
Thank you. All right. Any member of the committee got opening remarks? (No response.)
All right. Why don't we have the first panel come up. Will the Clerk please call the first panel of witnesses to testify.
Panel 1, Commissioner Michael Resnick, Philadelphia Department of Prisons. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Thank you, gentlemen. Commissioner, it looks like you got a little more gray there since our last visit. COMMISSIONER RESNICK: Thanks for noticing.
Me too though. COMMISSIONER RESNICK: It's the job, Councilman.
My wife actually likes the gray, especially in the beard. COMMISSIONER RESNICK: Young at heart though.
Yes. Again, please state your name and begin your testimony. COMMISSIONER RESNICK: Sure. Good morning, Chairman and members of the Committee on Labor and Civil Service. I'm Michael Resnick. I'm the Commissioner of the Philadelphia Department of Prisons and I'm here to provide testimony for Bill 251099, sponsored by Councilmember Thomas, which adds a new chapter to The Philadelphia Code to provide for powers and duties of the Office of Prison Oversight and the Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board. With tremendous support from Mayor Parker and Managing Director Thiel, the Philadelphia Department of Prisons has seen considerable improvements over the past two years. I want to summarize a few of the amazing positive accomplishments that PDP has achieved within this time frame. Since April of 2024, PDP has hired 574 correctional officers. That's 526 new cadets and 48 reinstated officers who left in good standing within the last five years. That is a net gain of almost 400 correctional officers, 394 to be exact with our 5% attrition rate, which is historically low. We have been running in the double digits with respect to our attrition rate. This increase in staff has greatly enhanced the safety and security of both our staff and the incarcerated population. As hiring has surged, the PDP has also experienced a sharp drop in the incarcerated population. As of this morning, our population was 3394, and last week we saw a low of 3355. This number is a tremendous drop from September 1, 2024 when our population was over 4800. The correlation between increased staffing and reduced population pressure reflects a more stable, safer and effective correctional environment. To further enhance security, we have installed state-of-the-art Tek84 body scanners across our facilities to prevent the introduction of contraband. Tek84 detects metallic, non-metallic threats like weapons, drugs and other contraband in highly secured environments such as correctional facilities or airports. To coordinate these efforts, the PDP hired a Director of Security in September of 2024 to focus on strengthening safety across all facilities to further combat contraband and enhance security. PDP has employed various interagency interdiction strategies such as more contraband-detecting dogs and increased searches through intelligence gathered by our Special Investigations Unit. Additionally, to allow for greater transparency and to enhance security for both staff and the incarcerated population, we are in the midst of implementing body-worn cameras for staff for the first time ever. This implementation of this initiative will take time and will be done in stages, initially implementing the body-worn cameras for select security staff as a pilot before rolling it out on a broader scale. The body-worn cameras, which will include audio, will allow for greater context in determining whether staff acted appropriately in a given incident, and I believe that they will also serve as to reduce incidents of violence when every party knows that the incident at hand is going to be recorded. Currently, we have a policy and development training is underway. All facilities have been outfitted with the necessary equipment to charge and upload the data. So within the next 30 to 45 days, this project should roll out. PDP has also implemented several initiatives to serve the medical needs of our population. Most notably, in April of 2025 we implemented the Foresight Medical Monitoring System in our intake facilities. Foresight Medical Monitoring System provides continuous realtime monitoring of an individual's vital signs as they enter custody. This advanced technology helps medical staff quickly identify health concerns, including emergencies so they can be responded to without delay by improving early detection of medical issues. Foresight enhances the safety of the incarcerated population, who are newly admitted into our custody and supports better health outcomes.
Its use demonstrates PDP's commitment to modernizing health care and protecting the well-being of everyone in our facilities. PDP has also eliminated backlogs in medical, primary care and specialty care by streamlining scheduling, increasing provider availability and improving coordination between medical staff and security inmates now receive timely evaluations, follow-up appointments and necessary treatment without delay. This safeguards health and well-being of those in custody and also reduces medical emergencies, minimizing hospital transport and strengthens overall facility safety and stability. The relicensing of our Prison Health Services wing, located at the detention center, confirms PHSW meets all state standards for quality care, safety and operations. This ensures that people in custody continue to receive reliable medical services in a secure and professional setting. It also reflects the dedication of the PDP healthcare staff and leadership to maintaining the highest level of compliance and services. October 25, the PDP with our partners, including the Division of Reentry, officially opened a new reentry center on our campus, a milestone achievement in the city's ongoing commitment to creating second chances and supporting safe, successful reentry into the community. The center represents a forward-thinking investment in helping return citizens to rebuild their lives, offering immediate access to tools and support needed to ensure a smooth transition from incarceration to independence. Representatives from a host of partners who actively participate in the Reentry Center's mission are present on a daily basis, offering the direct help needed for newly released citizens. During the week of January 12, 2026, the PDP achieved a landmark event. For the first time ever, all incarcerated people received their own tablets. The implementation of one-to-one tablets was a monumental achievement and from initial feedback, the population is very pleased. The tablets provide educational opportunity as well as entertainment, in addition to video visitation and telephone calls. By allowing this new level of access for incarcerated people to be engaged, it helps promote a more productive and peaceful environment within our facilities. Relatedly, although we never want to experience any death within our facilities, we believe there is a correlation between the above improvements and the fact that we experienced only four incarcerated person deaths in the calendar year 2025, our lowest ever. We will continue to strive toward zero in-custody deaths through measures like foresight, medical monitoring and of course, staff touring, medical rounds, access to care and our MAT program. Also, while air-conditioning is the last thing on anyone's mind at this time, let us not forget that the PDP installed air-conditioning in the detention center dorms last summer, something that most never thought could happen. But through persistence, we found a way. And while a distant memory at this time, the incarcerated population and staff were quite pleased with the dorms being air-conditioned during the summer months. This is yet another example of our persistence in doing everything possible to enhance the conditions of confinement for our incarcerated population. PDP appreciates that the citizens of Philadelphia voted for the ballot question that created this board and office during last year's election, and this Administration is prepared to implement this enabling legislation under the guidance of our Law Department. But for the record, and in case anyone is unaware, there are already numerous entities who monitor, audit and inspect our facilities on a regular basis. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections conducts an annual inspection of our facilities. And just this past fall in 2025, the DOC conducted inspection of all our facilities and found each to be in compliance with state regulations under Title 37.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health also conducts an inspection of the Prison Health Services wing on an annual basis to determine if continued state licensure is appropriate. Our license was renewed and is current. The Philadelphia Department of Health, the National Commission on Correctional Health Care and Medical and Behavioral Health expert monitors appointed by the Law Department also conduct inspections. And as you're aware, the Pennsylvania Prison Society also conducts periodic tours and inspections. And pretty soon, I'm anticipating the release of the monitor's eighth report, and I anticipate that that report will show tremendous progress in our substantial compliance with the settlement agreement. The Department has achieved significant accomplishments and great progress over the last two years, and there are many more positive changes in store for the future. This Administration will work collaboratively with members of the Board and office within the parameters set by law. Thank you for the opportunity to testify and I'll be happy to answer any questions.
(Inaudible). COMMISSIONER RESNICK: You're welcome, Councilman.
Oh. Yeah, it's on. Thank you, Commissioner, for your testimony. I have a few questions and then I'll pass it on to my colleagues. First, I see you -- is that yours there? COMMISSIONER RESNICK: No, it's not.
Okay. Well, then I'll wait to figure out who that is to -- COMMISSIONER RESNICK: I believe that's Mr. Innes from the Public Defender --
I see, from the Defender's Office. All right. So good morning. And first, I wanted to thank you for all your hard work you have been doing and the improvements that have been made under your new commission. I have a few questions about the health monitor bracelets. What type of health information do they monitor and where does this information get reported and to whom? And when a prisoner has health episodes that are urgent situations, possibly in the middle of the night like a heart attack or a stroke, how is that handled? COMMISSIONER RESNICK: So the monitoring bracelets are put on at the intake facilities. That would be CFCF for the males and PICC for the females. Every newly admitted inmate is on a monitor for over five days, so it's about six days. And the monitors pick up heart rate, temperature, movement, pulse oxygen. And if there is a deviation in the norms of any one of those vital signs, an alert goes off. The alert goes off on the housing unit for the officer, the alert goes off in unit control and the alert goes off in medical. So it's three times redundant. And the only person who can clear that alert, and it's an audible alert, is the staff from medical, so a nurse and there's a nurse assigned who monitors this. And when there's alert, she comes to the housing unit and checks on that inmate to ensure that there is no medical emergency. If there is a medical emergency, obviously the appropriate response is called. I don't have the numbers here before me, we can get them, but we've had several inmates treated in triage. Several more had to go by 911 to area hospitals. And a few were admitted into intensive care because of the alerts that we received. Now, we do get alerts that are not medical emergencies. If someone's, you know, playing basketball and their heart rate goes up or they sleep in a way that the monitor loses contact, it will alert. But I would rather staff go check on those alerts than not and we find a medical emergency some time later. So they've proved themselves to be valuable.
Yeah, I would imagine for everybody it's quite amazing that they have that technology now and that would be used for people who would be deemed at intake as high risk. COMMISSIONER RESNICK: Everybody is --
Oh, everybody? COMMISSIONER RESNICK: Everybody. Everybody is placed on the monitor, Councilman.
For the first five days? COMMISSIONER RESNICK: For the first five to six days. If our medical staff determined that somebody is in need of additional monitoring, that will continue. But the five-day, six-day timeframe was selected because our data shows that if there's going to be a negative medical event, it will happen in the first five days of admission.
Yeah, especially with people who are detoxing. COMMISSIONER RESNICK: Exactly.
I get it. Okay. I think that's pretty good for me. Any of my colleagues have any questions? Councilwoman Nina Ahmad please.
Thank you, Chair. Good morning. Good to see you again. COMMISSIONER RESNICK: Good morning, Councilwoman.
So I have a few questions about health as well, particularly about maternal care. And I believe there was a law passed about shackling, but it was still left at the discretion of the correctional officer whether or not to shackle pregnant persons. So if you would address or just tell us how that space looks, what does maternal care look like and how frequently people get it? Who is providing that care? And how many births are we having, do we have in prison? COMMISSIONER RESNICK: I will bring up our Chief of Medical Operations Dr. Bruce Herdman to address your questions, Councilwoman. He would have more information, more detailed information than I would.
Bruce Herdman, Chief of Medical Operations. Councilwoman, we have about 90 pregnant women at the jail in the course of a year. Approximately two dozen deliveries during that course. We have a full-time OB/GYN, so all women are checked for pregnancy at intake and for related illnesses or difficulties and seen by the OB/GYN. So the care has been coordinated with the Maternity Care Council and years ago with them, the Maternity Care Coalition, excuse me. We worked to develop the state regulations that prohibit shackling. So that's something we implemented years ago.
So I recall reading that it was still left to the discretion of the correctional officer. So I just wanted to know, is there zero shackling or is there some shackling or do we have any data on that?
Zero shackling. We would want it to be zero shackling.
Yeah. To my knowledge, there is none. But if we do any, we have to report it to the state.
Second question I have is about sexual assault in correctional facilities. How are we set up to address that? Who does the intake? Who does the rape kit? What do we have in place there?
We have the Sexual Assault Nursing Evaluation program that was implemented years ago. It's administered by the medical vendor. And so, the specially-trained nurses meet with anyone that claims that they were violated and if necessary, create a rape kit. That's the unfortunate name.
So that is rape, by the way. So, yeah, we have to call it what it is.
Yes. So that takes place anytime anyone claims that they were violated.
And so, do you have any stats around how many sexual assaults have occurred in the --
I don't know that off the top of my head, but we can get that number for you. COMMISSIONER RESNICK: And also, Councilwoman, we are compelled to follow PREA -- not PREA --
Yes. COMMISSIONER RESNICK: Yeah, PREA. I'm sorry. The Prison Rape Elimination Act, the federal law. All of our facilities have a PREA coordinator in those facilities and those referrals are made over to the -- well, first of all, we follow PREA in terms of the process and the administration, the investigations. But also, those claims are referred over to the Police Department Sex Crimes Unit. But we can get you the numbers of pre-investigation.
That would be good to see if these were other incarcerated people, correctional officers. I would love to get that data. And my final question for you, thank you for all the improvements you've made. I wanted to hear about nutrition in the prisons. And where are we on that? From what I've heard, I've been speaking to some people around bringing in fresh, good food because apparently it is not. And so, I wanted to know whether you've looked into that and how you're addressing that? COMMISSIONER RESNICK: Certainly, Councilwoman. Thanks for that question. So like you, one of the complaints that I heard early and often was about the diets. We have a contracted food service provider, GD Services, and they provide the meals for the incarcerated population as well as the staff. Our production kitchen is located in the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility. It is a cook-chill operation. So all of the food that we serve is produced in Curran-Fromhold. It is stored there and then it is transported to the other facilities to be rethemed and served. So we are constrained in the types of menus we can serve because it has to be served within a cook-chill process to feed 10,000 meals approximately every single day. So we did make some enhancements in the menu speaking with GD Services. But one of the things that I asked our contract monitor to do was to bring in an expert dietician, someone unrelated to GD Services, an independent expert in dietary services to evaluate our meals, the way they look, the way they taste, their nutritional value, their nutritional content, and they made some recommendations. They gave us an overall B with respect to our diet planning and the nutritional content. The other thing you have to remember, Councilwoman, is we have a lot of folks with chronic disease, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure. So we need to ensure that we're not providing too much salt, too much carbohydrates. So there's a balance, right. We don't want people to be unhealthy and gain too much weight on the foods that we're serving. So our food nutritionally, calorie content conforms to the city Health Department's rules and regulations and the national dietary standards.
Sorry, I had one more question. So what I've heard anecdotally is that the menu is not necessarily reflective of the actual food. So there seems to have been some disconnect there. So we can explore that offline. I'll bring who actually brought that to me. My last question is about mental health care and what services are available, who delivers it, how wraparound services are, particularly also for those who are going to be leaving the system? How much care do we provide in those spaces?
So about 38% of the population has a behavioral health diagnoses. Most of those people are medicated. The care for that service and other services is provided by 350 full- time health care staff. They are Board-certified or licensed the way people at Temple and Jefferson and Penn are licensed, including about 120 that specialize in behavioral health care. So when a person comes in within the first four hours after they get off whatever vehicle delivers, they're evaluated by a nurse that goes through 120-question evaluation tool using our electronic medical record. And that includes a variety of behavioral health questions, primarily oriented toward self- injury and suicide, since that is a major issue within any jail and prison. Those same questions also generate referrals for routine care. So everyone is seen. If they have an emergent issue, they're seen right away. Let's say someone comes in and says, I was taking an SSRI, an anti-depressant, I haven't taken it in three months and they're asymptomatic. They'll be scheduled to be seen within five days. If they're totally asymptomatic and have no history, they're all seen within days. 4 So that's the initial evaluation of 5 people. 6 Then there are follow-up 7 visits, depending on whether a 8 person is medicated. We have the 9 64-bed licensed psychiatric 10 hospital on campus. We have 120 11 transition unit beds, which are for 12 behavioral health patients that are 13 not so sick that they need to be 14 confined to the hospital, but they're too vulnerable to be in general population. Both of those units have for men and women separate units, have extra behavioral health staff that see patients every day and provide group treatment. So basically everyone at the jail gets all the things that you or I would get with a good health insurance plan, but no 2 deductible and no co-pay except for individual therapy. What we do, do is we meet with anyone who has a chronic illness, including behavioral health illnesses, and help them choose providers to go to in the community. This is our Release with Care program. And because only 8%, I think it's 8%, of the population is sentenced, we don't know when people are leaving, so we can't make appointments for people, but we make referrals and we send an electronic referral with the patient's permission to the provider and the community, because the person might be released in an hour. And when they are released, we send a full-fledged electronic secure discharge summary, which says this is a diagnoses and these are the medications the persons are on, these are the treatments that they're scheduled for. And we also are able to activate or enroll people in medical assistance. About 95% of the people that leave the jail have MA that's effective the day of release. So the patient knows where to go to get care and can afford to pay for that care. We have 77 sites across the city that we refer to, mostly federally qualified health centers, where a person -- there's no waiting list. They can go immediately to be seen. So that's the scope of the services that we provide.
Thank you. And for this new role, as we call it, the OPO, they will have access to all this information? Obviously there's -- I don't know what the HIPAA restrictions are, but this oversight authority will be able to review all of this? COMMISSIONER RESNICK: The oversight authority will be able to review -- and I'm not a lawyer from the Law Department, but I'm sure the Law Department will let us know what the guidelines are.
Thank you, Councilwoman, for that line of questioning. Chair recognizes Councilman Anthony Phillips.
Thank you so much, Chairman Harrity. I do recognize how the challenges that you all face in your profession. It's not easy to do what you do, so I want to commend you for that. I just had a couple of questions. First question, can you describe the staff training that you do for the prison guards and so forth? Is there a standardized temperament that all prison guards are supposed to have when working with the prisoners? I only ask that question because I understand that, you know, tensions can be flaring and so forth. And I just want to see how much is that. Are you providing what you would call like a Chick-fil-A standard of how people are supposed to be doing it, no matter where you go, you're going to have the same type of standard? And how do you monitor that among your staff? COMMISSIONER RESNICK: So, Councilman, I don't know that we have a Chick-fil-A standard, but our training academy is 12.5 weeks. I would like to increase it to weeks, just because I think that more time we would be in a better position to provide people with more information about the experience that they will have once they go inside the jails. Now, there is a training academy, there is an on-the-job training component of it. But during that training academy, the recruits are taught all of our policies and procedures. They are taught conflict resolution. They are drilled on our use-of-force policy. They're taught to be firm, fair, consistent, to have integrity, to be respectful. We have specialized training for officers who are going to work with the juveniles and for the mental health population on the transitional units that Dr. Herdman talked about. So all of that to say, our officers receive the same baseline training. And the other thing I'd like to add is I've instituted a mentorship program. So when all new officers get out of the academy, their facility that they're assigned to through the wardens, the majors and the ranking supervisors have mentorship programs, so they will evaluate individuals. They will correct if they see that they're not following the guidance and the policy or the training. There'll be somebody with experience where they can go to, to ask questions. So we do have an official mentorship program. We've recently purchased -- I don't know where we are in the use of this, but a use-of-force training simulator. It is a scenario-based training simulator. So we can on a computer screen, a surround computer screen, we can set up scenarios that the officers will have to work through. And we can change those scenarios. They can try to de-escalate. And if de-escalation tactics don't work, then what do they do. So we're going to implement that. We've undertaken a complete evaluation of our use-of- force processes at the jail. We brought in an outside consultant company that are going to look at our policy. They're going to review best practices nationwide. They're going to review our training. They're going to review our disciplinary process. So this whole year we'll be conducting a comprehensive evaluation of our use-of-force policy. Plus --
No, finish. You can finish. COMMISSIONER RESNICK: Plus, we have a formalized disciplinary process. So if somebody is not following the policies, the guidelines and conducting themselves in a manner that we don't see as fit or unprofessional, we'll deal with that in a progressive, disciplined way to correct that behavior. And if we can't correct that behavior, we can get rid of those employees.
Do you, yourself, take time to observe, make observations of the staff, the prison guards, to kind of reinforce how important the standards are being met? COMMISSIONER RESNICK: So I am at the training academy twice, three times actually. During the pendency of that training, I have a command hour in the beginning. I have a command hour at the end. And I, as an adjunct, teach class over there. Every Friday, myself and my staff are in the jails, touring for two hours, talking to the staff, talking to the inmates, listening to their complaints, hearing what you know, they're pleased with helping them try to resolve issues. So we are a constant presence inside the jails.
Awesome. Because I was just going to make sure that you had time to get the -- yeah, two hours on Friday, to kind of just observe your own staff and how they conduct themselves or even if there's a way to observe them on video, you know, so they know that you may not even be there. All right. My last question is, in your testimony you point out that the prisons are regulated by a variety of agencies and suggests that this obviates the need for prison oversight. Is regulation by other groups a new phenomenon? If not, how many years have the prisons been under various court orders? Is independent prison oversight standard fare? Is it a standard fare in other big cities as well? COMMISSIONER RESNICK: So I don't know that my testimony said that the other entities that monitor us obviate the need for this. I was making the point that we are highly regulated, highly audited, highly reviewed and that this Administration will work closely within the bounds of the law with the Oversight Board and the Citizens Committee.
Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Phillips. Thank you for testifying. Any -- you got follow- up? Councilwoman Nina Ahmad.
Quick question about public dashboards. The oversight authority must build a public dashboard, population, admissions releases, etc., and publish annual reporting. Do you already collect this data in a clean, shareable way? And what update frequency and accuracy checks can PDP commit to so we're not waiting like a whole year before we get all this information, which has been a problem before? COMMISSIONER RESNICK: Yes, Councilwoman. That data is already collected and we share it with Philly Stat, and I believe they put it on their public-facing website.
Thank you, gentlemen. Appreciate your testimony here today. COMMISSIONER RESNICK: Thank you.
Mr. Kunkel, will you please call the next panel to testify. And I would also like to recognize my brother, Nicolas O'Rourke is here. Do you have anything -- yeah. Go ahead.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. And to all of my colleagues who were here this morning, thank you to everyone who made it down to City Hall today and those tuning in remotely, wherever you may be. I want to thank of course the sponsor of this legislation, Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, for your diligence on this issue and for your follow-through. The same goes for all the organizations and experts who lent their time to the creation and forward motion of the Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board and to those ready to serve on this inaugural body. Thank you to my staff for being engaged and involved in flushing this out, for negotiating and being part of what I believe can be a real success for Philadelphia. And a huge shout-out to the now departed, not this earth but just our office, Chance Toland Wilson, who put his special brand of elbow grease into this effort and was with us as we were meeting with Mr. Commissioner and all those in the months preceding this. Most of what I have to say today really is just, thank you, Mr. Chair, I'm not going to say much more, but we should acknowledge why the Labor Committee is considering this legislation, if I may. So thank you to the Workers of District Council 33 and District Council 47, who join us and who are being represented here today. This is a group of workers who have had to advocate fiercely for their own safety. And I believe that bracing fact is why we've all been able to come together to figure out a new vision for prison oversight, because we all need it. But if anyone forgot that fact, we got a reminder earlier this month, if I can say, as jurors ruled in favor of another family mourning the loss of a loved one on State Road. I hope that the Jung family knows that people in City Hall are praying for them as well as working to address these issues, and I appreciate our partners at the Abolitionist Law Center for doing what they do, which is showing up for families and holding the state that we, Councilmembers, do our best to steward to account when we fail. Now, I don't think incarceration is hardly a solution that some chalk it up to be, but it's where we are in society today. So what I'm here to work towards in this particular bind that we are in, is to make it so that our failures are not fatal. Our failures ought not be the end. And once we are sure our failures are not fatal, we need to fail less. We need to fail rarely and maybe we need to fail better. I believe true community oversight over our prisons will be a key part of that process of rebuilding trust in communities that scoff at City Hall, for good reasons. And so again, Member Thomas, thank you for leading on this as well as all the leaders who came together to flush this out. I see Member Representative Andre Carroll, who is doing great work at the state level as well. My last note is that if we want people to trust us, we should give them what they actually ask for. I said this a lot during my time trying to get into this body, that we ought to not just hear what the people say, but say what the people are saying and do what they're asking us to do. We've seen CPOC's early struggles and they've been open about them. This time, let's give Philadelphians the oversight they actually voted for. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Member O'Rourke. Anybody else have anything to add? Councilman Thomas.
Mr. Chair, thank you for your leadership. And I just want to put it on the record, the Chairman of Labor not only is a card-carrying member of a union, but also has been very flexible with us throughout the course of our time trying to get this hearing on the books, so thank you. Councilmember O'Rourke, thank you for your leadership, sir. We truly appreciate your advocacy and the work that you've done around this issue and we anticipate following your lead moving forward as it relates to this work. Thank you, Rep Carroll, for being here. Thank you to the Admin. A lot of folks don't know that we all have been sitting together as it relates to this particular legislation for over a year now. And people do not always understand that when you start a process and we're all in different places, it is not as easy as we make it look today to get to where we've gotten to. So we appreciate you being here and we appreciate you working with us. And there are a few other folks that have come up to testify. I'll hold my remarks about them for when they come to testify. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Member Thomas. Mr. Kunkle, will you now call the next panel to testify.
Tom Innes, Director of Prison Advocacy Defenders Association of Philadelphia; Noah Barth, Prison Monitoring Director, Pennsylvania Prison Society; Saleem Holbrook, Executive Director of the Abolitionist Law Center; Pennsylvania State Representative Andre Carroll. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Mr. Kunkle, we'll bring the Representative up after this panel by himself before we do public comment. Good morning, gentlemen. Thank you for your patience. Please state your name and begin your testimony.
Good morning. My name is Tom Innes and I am the Director of Prison Advocacy at the Defender Association of Philadelphia. Our office represents about 75% of the people incarcerated in Philadelphia Department of Prisons on State Road. And, yes, this is my exhibit. I have been a defender attorney since 1978. As I said, I've been an attorney with the Defender Association since 1978. Since 2000, I have served as the liaison between the jails and the people held on State Road, their families and the attorneys who try to help them and represent them. For decades, I have been asked daily about the health and safety of people inside the jails. And for decades, I have had no real power to get an answer to questions that are asked. For most of this time, the closest thing our clients have had to an ombudsman is me and my cell phone. That's wrong and it's pretty much completely ineffective. Families call me because they can't get information. Attorneys call me because they can't get information. And too often the answers just are not forthcoming. The cult of secrecy is not new. Philadelphia has tried oversight before. There was a board of trustees, but its members served at the pleasure of the mayor, creating an inherent conflict. Later there was an advisory board, but its members were hand-selected by the prison commissioner who oversaw and selected the agenda. Oversight that answers to the very system it is supposed to oversee is not oversight. It's theater. And the closest proof that oversight has failed is the long history of lawsuits depicted on the poster that I have to my right. For more than 55 years, the Philadelphia jails have operated under court supervision, almost continuously. Lawsuits have become the only reliable form of oversight. And if you look closely, you'll see that in that time, in that 55 years, there were only seven years out of that 55 when there was not court supervision of the Philadelphia Department of Prisons. In fact, as you know, the jails are under a consent decree at the moment. Oversight by lawsuit is reactive, temporary and expensive. But most importantly, it comes too late for the people who suffer in the meantime. As Councilman Phillips mentioned, some might say that there is oversight from national and statewide accrediting organization. That oversight is from 25,000 feet. And anyway, those organizations provided the same oversight today. They provided the same oversight during COVID, during all the nightmares that we have seen at the jail. So there's a long distance between 25,000 feet and the weeds. We all know the human cost. Between 2020 and 2023, 39 people died in Philadelphia jails. Only four of those deaths were due to COVID. In 2022 alone, there were nearly 1200 emergency room 20 visits from the jails, more than 600 hospital admissions, and incarcerated people spent over 2200 days in off-site hospitals. A federal court- appointed -- I'm sorry. Each one of those members is a human being and is a family brokenhearted and unable to get their answers about what happened to their loved one. Each one represents a failure of a system operating in the dark. Now, let me be perfectly clear. There have been improvements under Commissioner Resnick, you've heard them, and his team, communication is better. Responsiveness is better. There are people working right now to change the culture inside the jail. But progress that depends on individuals is fragile. No system should rely on personal relationships or goodwill to ensure basic human safety. Systems must be accountable by design, not by personality. Administrations change. People retire. Priorities shift. And when that happens, without independent oversight, the darkness may well return to State Road. It's time to create an oversight body with real authority, with the power to obtain information, to answer families and to ensure that what happens inside these walls is visible to the public.
Accountability and transparency should not be the exception at our jails. It should be the rules. I've also submitted Defender Association's written statement for you and thank you very much for permitting me to address you all today.
Thank you for your testimony. Will the next person to testify please state your name and begin with your testimony.
Good morning. My name is Robert Saleem Holbrook and I'm the Executive Director of the Abolitionist Law Center. I'm also here representing the Prison Oversight Board Advocates Coalition, a group of 30-plus community organizations and individuals who have been advocating on behalf of a prison oversight board since 2022 and who represent formerly incarcerated people, advocates, organizers, social services organizations and family members. I am also here to acknowledge the strong support of the offices and staff of Councilmembers Thomas and O'Rourke in working with our coalition to pass this important legislation. We know from history that jails on State Road are inherently unsafe, designed around control and confinement rather than care and rehabilitation. Philly unfortunately has an extensive history of its jails being sites of neglect, violence, isolation and death. For decades, there have been countless reports of unchecked violence, negligent medical care and torturous solitary confinement conditions. Since the 1970s, before I was born, in one form or another Philadelphia County jails have been under some form of federal intervention by federal courts. Until these systems are dismantled in real, community-based alternatives exist, the City of Philadelphia has a legal and moral obligation to guarantee the basic human rights of everyone it incarcerates. This includes safe housing, adequate food, clean water, medical and mental health care, disability access, protection from harm and meaningful connection to family, counsel and community. Philly has repeatedly failed to meet these minimum standards. This negligence has tragically been illustrated by the more than 60 deaths that have occurred in Philly County jails over the past five years. Although these deaths have diminished significantly, we believe that the best way to preserve progress is to not allow ourselves to backslide. There is also no doubt that it was the relentless advocacy of community members, legal advocates and organizations that contributed to the decline of deaths in the Philadelphia County jail and the changes the prisons implemented. One of the people who perished in Philadelphia County jails is Louis Jung, a father of three who died in pretrial detention in CFCF following a series of failures to provide basic medical care for his Type 1 diabetes. For 22 months in detention, the Philadelphia Department of Prisons never took the necessary steps to provide even the basic medical care, despite the fact that Mr. Jung was hospitalized multiple times for diabetes-related medical emergencies. And for the final six days of his life, he was repeatedly denied insulin. The Abolitionist Law Center represented his family in a wrongful death lawsuit. Two weeks ago after weeks of testimony, a jury found the city liable for the death of Mr. 5 million. There should be no 22 wrongful death cases or families that are forced to fight for justice in the courtroom. Louis Jung's death was not an anomaly. It was predictable and preventable. It was the outcome of a system that consistently fails to care for the people it confines, especially the most vulnerable. Our hope is that the Prison Oversight Board will serve as a real tool for accountability, not symbolic oversight, not delayed action, but meaningful intervention that will prevent not just deaths, but also other human rights violations. Our communities depend on it. That hope too is shared by the 70% of Philadelphians that voted yes to the Prison Oversight Board in last year's election. If the Prison Oversight Board operates as intended, we believe that it can do what the current system will not, provide transparency and accountability through consistent public reporting and indepth, independent, systemwide investigations, respond quickly when people are in danger, issue findings, recommendations and provide a public forum where loved ones and community members can share their concerns. That's real accountability.
More importantly, the city can view it as an opportunity and a vehicle to get ahead of systemic problems before they turn into deaths, lawsuits and million- dollar settlements. For far too long, the city leadership has failed to address the abuse and mistreatment that occurs within the jails. We are hopeful and also excited that a prison oversight board will push for a future where everyone can be healthier, safer and more connected to the community despite being incarcerated, while at the same time, people in Philadelphia's jails deserve safety, dignity and their human rights respected. The establishment of this Prison Oversight Board can ensure those rights are enshrined and protected. Thank you.
Thank you for your testimony. Will the next person to testify please state your name and begin your testimony. Thank you.
Good morning, Chairperson Harrity and Councilmembers. My name is Noah Barth. I am the Prison Monitoring Director for the Pennsylvania Prison Society and a proud Philadelphian. For 238 years, our organization has monitored conditions inside the Philadelphia prisons and those across the Commonwealth advocating for the health, safety and dignity of incarcerated people. We are inside the prisons on State Road several times per week, visiting incarcerated Philadelphians who ask for our help. Over the past four and a half years, I've personally led 8 monitoring tours of the city's 9 prisons, where we have interviewed 10 close to 1000 detained 11 Philadelphians and published public 12 reports on the deficits on basic 13 conditions and treatment inside of 14 these public institutions. 15 I'm proud to share the 16 three members of this Council have 17 joined us on these tours to 18 understand firsthand how difficult the experience of detention in our city is and how short we fall on our promise to protect all of our citizens. For four and a half years, we have reported to this body and to your colleagues in Harrisburg on people kept in cells for days or even weeks at a time, housing units left unstaffed, physical and verbal abuse, denials of care, squalid and unsafe living conditions, and a litany of other complaints. We have reminded you too that the living conditions of the 3500 people detained in our city's prisons are the very same working conditions of the department's more than 2000 staff members, and that when we ask people to do inhumane things, we rob them of a piece of their own humanity. In the past two years, we have seen progress in a number of areas of prison operation, including significantly improved access to showers, laundry, phone calls and other basic services. We have seen firsthand the important work being done on long-deferred maintenance projects and facility upgrades, with reports of more work to come. We are encouraged by the recent implementation of health monitoring wristbands and jail- provided tablets, but there is reason for caution. Firstly, there is still much work to be done. Just last week I was inside of the city's largest prison and heard complaints about lack of access to counseling and chaplaincy services, insufficient meals, barriers to family visits, emergency buzzers unattended and a culture of disregard from some staff members. Secondly, tomorrow is never promised. COVID-19 presented challenges no one could have predicted, and the unfortunate truth is that our city's prisons failed that crucial test. We don't know what challenges the future will bring us, just as we do not know who will be in charge of the prisons or the city when those challenges arrive. That is why we must build protective mechanisms to stand the test of time. Simply put, external oversight is a basic hallmark of good governance. The need for transparency becomes all the more essential with regard to prisons, where the government's control over its citizens' daily lives and well- being is absolute. We at the Prison Society fill a unique and vital role as the public's eyes and ears behind prison walls, but we are not sufficient. The Board and Office of Prison Oversight, as laid out in the legislation in front of you today, will establish gold standard practice, guaranteed funding, regular public hearings, full right-of-access to buildings, individuals, records and video, and the ability to photo document conditions. As has been said time and time again, sunlight is the best disinfectant. This measure would ensure that a full ray of sunshine reaches the staff and residents of our city's prisons, ensuring safe and dignified working and living conditions for all. The prison society will continue pursuing our mission as long as there are prisons in the state of Pennsylvania. But we also know that more oversight is better.
The Board and Office in Prison Oversight were established with the universal sponsorship of this Council and the overwhelming support of voters. We look forward to supporting the establishment of this new institution and working alongside it to ensure better conditions for our fellow citizens inside of prison. Thank you for your work on this important matter and the opportunity to be a part of this historic discussion.
Thank you, gentlemen, for your testimony. Before I turn it over to my colleagues, I just want to thank you all for your service. Fighting for those that usually don't have anyone fighting for them, people who are forgotten, you know, so we do appreciate you here. And it's just like we appreciate our Prison Commissioner. Do any of my colleagues have anything to say? Councilman Isaiah Thomas, then Nina Ahmad.
Good morning, everybody. I just want to -- no questions. I just want to first and foremost say thank you all for the great work that you're doing. Clearly, it starts with the work that's being done by our Defender Association. Keisha Hudson clearly isn't here, but in her place we got Tom. I know Kate was over here somewhere as well too. Thank you all for the great work that you do, not just as it relates to this issue, but protecting our city in general. Noah, thank you for your support throughout the course of this process, showing up to meetings, events, advocacy efforts and things like that. We truly appreciate it. And to my brother Saleem, you know how I feel about you. I appreciate you from the bottom of my heart. But Saleem I think is a great example of someone who started somewhere that maybe wasn't necessarily where he wanted to be, putting his mind to a specific goal, listening to people tell him that it's impossible and it'll never be done. And here we are today, completing the impossible. Recognizing things that folks told you years ago would never be able to be done is actually happening. So to you, Saleem, not just a congratulations and a thank you, but please tell as many young people as possible your story, because I think it will inspire them to get through whatever hurdles, obstacles or different things that may be in place that's preventing them from being their best self. So you're an inspiration to me and I know you can be an inspiration to a lot of young people across the city of Philadelphia. Mr. Chair, I just wanted to thank this group. That's all I have. Thank you, sir.
Guaranteed. And absolutely, I echo that sentiment. Thank you guys for all you do. Just a --
I just want to echo that sentiment as well. I want to thank you for your work. I was able to read through all of the testimonies here and also hear what you just said and I want to say thank you. Just also, I probably should have asked this earlier but I was relatively curious for the public to understand because a lot of people in the public don't understand why people have tablets, per se, they're like how is this helping them, you know, get themselves together. They're being entertained in prison. So I just wanted to put that out there as something for us to continue to help the public understand why that's so important. Because, Noah, I know you mentioned that. If you want to comment on that later.
Thank you. I recognize Councilwoman Nina Ahmad. Thank you, Councilman.
Thank you, Chair. Thank you all for your really insightful testimony. I'll try and be quick because I know we need to get out of here. I wanted to ask the Defender's Association, Tom Innes first. What are the top three information failures this new board must fix in its first year to end that ombudsman-by-cell-phone system?
Thank you for that question, Councilwoman. One of the first things that needs to happen is that the oversight board needs to be able to see records across the board of what's going on inside the jail, number one. Number two, that they should be able to review video and body- worn camera footage as it becomes available. We've seen from how the police department has instituted body-worn camera footage. What a difference it makes in terms of justice on the street and justice in the courtroom. And I think the same thing would happen at the jail. Thirdly, the fact that the Office of the Ombudsman, the investigators, would be able to go into the jail routinely without any notice and do tours like Noah Barth and the Prison Society does, but without any notice at all, that they can just go and show up, review what the conditions are. I'm not saying that the prison goes out of its way to fix conditions, but the fact is being able to go in and see and to take photographs of conditions makes a huge difference to all that. And fourthly, having the office that family and the incarcerated people can turn to about issues. Now, they're not going to the way we've written this, they're not going to investigate individual problems. You're still going to have an issue with, say, an attorney or a social worker getting involved. But the fact is by seeing these complaints develop and begin to accumulate those complaints, you begin to see the problems that there are in the system that you might not otherwise have seen when you're looking at it piecemeal. Today there's some problem. Next week there's some problem that comes to someone's attention. The fact is you can collect that information and then you can go back to the jail, back to the administration and say, let's talk about this, let's talk about why these things are happening and what we can do to change them. Thank you.
Thank you so much. I think it's imperative we build trust with our public about what exactly this is going to do and to have some transparency of this nature. And also, I think you mentioned about fixing structural problems. We need data to come back to say what worked and what didn't. I have a question for Mr. Holbrook. Thank you again for bringing your lived experience and using that to make progress and make change. We deeply appreciate that. I have a question about measure of rehabilitation. The whole reason for incarceration is that, in my opinion, we are removing somebody who -- so there's an accountability consequence and there has to be an outcome for all of this. How does this board or how do we in society, this is more of a philosophical question which is what the whole conversation about abolition or not comes in, how do we as a society, including our bodies like this, really address assessing rehabilitation? We should be able to tell people, you spend so many years, this is what happened, this is where you are now, right. So if you could just briefly address that.
Unfortunately, I think human nature often gets in the way of that. But I think that the challenge is we have to have what is commonly referred to now as wraparound services. It's one thing to incarcerate someone, but you also have to take care of them while they're incarcerated. You have to treat them with dignity while they're incarcerated. You have to deal with all of the problems that they have, not just social problems, but mental health disabilities, health care problems. You have to have access to education. I tell everybody, you know, I wish more vocational opportunities were available in the prison system. Most of the people that I know who did time with me that have vocational trades are employed and are doing well. Even myself, I have a vocational HVAC trade certification. Fortunately, I don't have to use it -- well, actually unfortunately, because most people are making more money than me that are doing HVAC. But having those trainings inside is really helpful. And then also when people go home, right, you have to have a support system. Often times when people are released from prison, it's kind of like adios, goodbye, there's not much follow- up. And then also probation and supervision. It might surprise a lot of people, but that is not to set you up for success. It's often times trip you up. Probation officers tell you, I'm not your social worker. I'm not here to find you a job. I'm not here to find you health care. I'm not here to get your Social Security card. I'm just here to make sure that you are here at this date, to check that your urine comes back clean and that you meet these stipulations from the court. We have to change that whole release system when it comes to supervision. And that's going to require taking a whole agency and turning it top-side-up, and even changing parole and probation officers' mindsets that you are here to help these people succeed in society. So, yes, you're here to help them get a job; yes, you're here to help them get health care; yes, you're here to help them get their Social Security number. So these are things that we have to address collectively as a city and as a community. As long as we think that these are isolations, like just put someone in prison and then when they get out, reentry officers will help them, it's not going to work. And then to the point about the tablet, I think someone asked about tablets, communication with family members, which family is one of the most important -- if you got a criteria of why people are successful, it's visitations and staying in contact with their family members. And so, tablets help bridge that gap. You could also have educational opportunities on tablets. So the tablets open up a whole different dimension. Another thing too is that for me, as someone who was in prison, violence often times came about as a result of the phones because people wanted to get on the phones and people say, well, they wanted to get on the phone to just call their girlfriends. No, people were trying to get on the phones to call their families, maintain community relationships. Some prison systems allow phone calls on the tablets so that people can make calls on the tablets and not have to wait in queues for the calls. And because of the monitoring now, the justification is not there that we can't make calls on the tablets because, I mean, they're recorded. Not only are they recorded, you now have AI companies coming in selling prison systems across the country, crime predictors that give us all of your data, give us all your conversations. Now, it's nonsense. It's just all tied into this surveillance society that we're building. But you do have the opportunity with those tablets to increase family communication. So they're really important tools. But to your point, we have to address all of these issues collectively.
And I really believe that if you want people to succeed, if you want people to be rehabilitated, we have to change our philosophy on supervision when people come home. That, I believe will be the indicator of success.
Thank you so much for that. Last question for Mr. Barth is, this make-up of this board is four appointees from the Mayor, four appointees from Council President, I believe. Where are we going to get community in a way that they opted into it. So I'll tell you, we're looking at an oversight board for child welfare. And the way we're constructing it is people are going to have actual community seats. I just wondered the community voice, how do we ensure that in these choices that we have just to give us guidance, how we choose these eight people?
It's a big question. You guys, if you have thoughts, please also weigh in. There is a ninth seat appointed by the Controller's Office. So I just want to note that also.
Yeah. I mean, I think on one hand this board represents broadly the idea of checks and balances in government, right, so it's an oversight board. And that in itself is about checks and balance. I think the idea of appointments being divided between the different branches of government is intended to have in that same nature, right, that it's not just the people City Council likes, it's not just the people the Mayor likes, whatever the case may be. And it's not a cure-all, right. One of the key responsibilities of this board is to hold monthly public meetings. And that is about having answers and information from the prison and from the oversight office available to the public, but it also keeps them accountable to the public. And so, I think one of the things that's incumbent on all of us as citizens, and I know that Saleem and his staff at the Abolitionist Law Center have already been doing a lot of this work, is community report-backs and making sure that community members, citizen groups, individuals are engaged, right. It's not, oh, the board's passed, great, nothing to see here. No, we need to show up for those public meetings and to call our public officials to account, not just all of you, but also those very board members and those staff members so that if they're not doing their job, then there's more mechanism to potentially challenge.
I'm glad you asked that, Councilmember. In addition to what Noah talked about in terms of the public meetings, we actually have one of the City Council-appointed Board members in the room right now. Chris, would you stand up and come on up and introduce yourself. REV.
Hi. I'm Rev. Dr. Chris Kimmenez. I'm the Executive Director of Healing Communities PA, which is a group of formerly incarcerated faith leaders who advocate around these issues. And I went through an extensive interview process for conflicts. But, yes, I'm one of the community members on the Board and I'm very clear about the fact that this is going to be -- we're going to be including the community as much as possible. We're still creating and we've got a lot of work to do in creating the structure for this. But there are two of us on the board who are formerly incarcerated ourselves and who also represent community organizations that work in the reentry space, that work in the advocacy space along with several other members who bring lots of different experiences to this. But first and foremost, the idea is to increase transparency, increase trust with the public, increase having the community involved, and that's kind of what we see as our mission for this. So we'll be -- every opportunity we have to include the community in this because that's who we serve.
I'm sorry, Councilwoman. There's a second member of the board who's in the room. That's Andre Carroll.
Thank you for your testimony. We appreciate you as always.
Mr. Kunkle, will you please call the next panel to testify.
Pennsylvania State Representative Andre Carroll. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Representative, please state your name and proceed with your testimony. STATE REPRESENTATIVE CARROLL: Yes, Chairman. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. I am State Representative Andre D. Carroll. I represent the 201st Legislative District, which encompasses neighborhoods Germantown, Logan and West Oak Lane. First and foremost, I would like to thank the members of the committee for the opportunity to testify here today on the importance of oversight and accountability within Philadelphia's correctional system. I also want to commend the Committee and the members of City Council who have worked diligently to address the challenges facing our city prisons and to ensure that the institutions responsible for incarcerating our citizens operate in a manner consistent with public safety, transparency and human dignity. I also want to acknowledge the leadership of Councilmember Isaiah Thomas and his staff and also Philadelphia City Council for advancing this enabling legislation that would create the framework for independent prison oversight in our city. This legislation established the Philadelphia Prison Community Oversight Board and the Office of Prison Oversight, which are designed to increase transparency, monitor prison operations and give the public greater insight into the conditions inside of the correctional facilities. This work is important because of the challenges facing the Philadelphia prison system have been well-documented, from staffing shortages and safety concerns to questions about conditions for incarcerated individuals and correctional staff. The legislation, championed by Councilmember Thomas, represents an important step towards ensuring that the institutions are subject to independent review and that the public can have confidence in how they operate. The Office of Prison Oversight will be responsible for monitoring facilities, reviewing policies and practices, ensuring records -- I'm sorry, accessing records and engaging directly with both staff and incarcerated individuals in order to strengthen accountability and transparency. For me, this is not just about policy, but it's also about a personal experience. For the first years of my life, my father was 8 incarcerated. Growing up, I 9 experienced firsthand what 10 incarceration does to a family. I 11 saw the emotional toll that it 12 takes on a household, the strain 13 that is placed on my grandmother 14 and the challenges that come with 15 growing up without a parent 16 present. 17 I know what it means for 18 a child to navigate life without a 19 parent present that is currently 20 behind bars. And I know that thousands of families across Pennsylvania and Philadelphia share that same experience. Because of that experience, the last eight years I volunteered my time to serve on the Brotherhood Foundation Board, which aims to serve juveniles who are currently housed on State Road being tried as adults. Because of that background, I approach conversations about incarceration with a clear understanding that the impact of the juvenile -- I'm sorry, the impact of the justice system extends far beyond the person who is incarcerated. It reaches into homes, neighborhoods and entire communities, children grow up with unanswered questions, families carry emotional and financial burdens and communities lose parents, mentors and providers. That reality is why oversight matters so much. When the government takes on the responsibility of incarcerating individuals, it also assumes the responsibility of ensuring that those individuals are treated safely and humanely. Oversight ensures that concerns about medical care, living conditions, safety and institutional practices do not remain hidden. It ensures that when problems arise, there are mechanisms in place to investigate them and correct them. Strong oversight also protects the men and women and employees who work inside of the facilities every day.
Correctional officers and prison staff perform incredibly difficult work under demanding conditions. Transparency and accountability help ensure that they have the resources, support and professional environment necessary to carry out their duties safely. Equally important is recognizing that incarceration should not sever the human connections that help people rebuild their lives. Maintaining family ties between parents and children, spouses, parents, siblings is essential to rehabilitation and long-term public safety. When individuals remain connected to their families and communities, they are better- positioned to succeed upon release, which is why I introduced House Bill 1506, which would eliminate the cost of communications for families all across Pennsylvania. The enabling legislation passed by Philadelphia City Council is a meaningful step towards addressing these concerns. By establishing a formal oversight structure, the city is acknowledging that transparency and accountability are necessary components of a functioning justice system. It reflects a commitment to ensuring that the correctional facilities are not isolated from public scrutiny, but remain accountable to the communities that they serve. Ultimately, this conversation is about values. It's about ensuring that our correctional system reflects fairness, responsibility and respect for human dignity. Oversight is not about placing blame. It's about ensuring that our institutions are working as they should and they are always improving. I commend the leadership of Councilmember Isaiah Thomas and the members of City Council who work to make this oversight structure possible. I also want to thank City Controller Christy Brady for her appointment to me on the Prison Oversight Board. Their efforts demonstrate a commitment to accountability and to addressing longstanding concerns about conditions within our correctional facilities. I want to thank you today for the opportunity to share my perspective. I look forward to continuing collaboration as a state lawmaker and as we continue to work to strengthen the oversight to improve conditions and ensure that our justice system serves both public safety and the well-being of our communities.
Thank you, Representative, for your testimony. Know us here, we're proud of the work you're doing up there in Harrisburg. Really love seeing it and seeing you grow as a leader in this endeavor. So any of my colleagues have any questions? I recognize Councilman Thomas.
Rep Carroll, thank you, sir, for being here today. Thank you for your service to the Northwest section of the community, both in the 8th and 9th Councilmanic Districts. So we truly appreciate you for that. But in your capacity here today, we really want to say thank you for taking on a thankless position. We know your passion as it relates to what goes on with those who've been incarcerated, the issue of mass incarceration in general, and for you to decide to volunteer and step up and put us in a position to help this inaugural board. We truly appreciate you putting your brand, your time, and your reputation on something that we don't know which way it's going to go. But we've been in the kitchen for a long time trying to bake the pie, and we finally feel like we have a product that we're proud of. So thank you. We appreciate your leadership. And, Mr. Chairman, I promise you that's my last comment of the day. Thank you, sir.
My man, my man. Anyone else have anything to say? (No response.)
Sold. Thank you for your testimony, Representative. Thank you everyone who testified here today. We really do take everything you say to heart and seriously and we really do want to help. So thank you all. We will now -- I believe it's public comment. Are there any further witnesses, Mr. Kunkle?
And are there any witnesses in public comment to testify?
There are no 14 further speakers for public comment, Mr. Chairman.
All right. Thank you for your testimony. There are no further speakers. Okay. The Clerk will read a list of written testimony to be entered into public record.
All right. Thank you, Mr. Kunkle. This concludes our public hearing on Bill No. 251099. We will now move into our public meeting. Mr. Kunkle, will you please take the roll.
Okay. The Chair now recognizes Councilman Phillips for a motion on the amendment to Bill No. 250607.
I'm sorry. On the amendment to Bill 3 No. 251099. Sorry for the confusion.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I offer an amendment to Bill No. 251099. A copy of the amendment has been circulated to all members of the committee. I move that the amendment to Bill No. 12 251099 be approved. (Duly seconded.)
We have been properly moved and seconded. All in favor, say aye. (Aye.)
No 23 one. It is unanimous. All right. Chair recognizes Councilman Phillips for a motion on Bill No. 251099 as amended.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that Bill No. 6 251099 as amended be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading at the next session of Council. (Duly seconded.)
It's been moved and properly seconded that 251099 as amended be reported from this committee with a favorable recommendation and that the rules of Council be suspended to permit first reading. All those in favor say aye. (Aye.)
The ayes have it. This bill will be reported from this committee. This concludes the business before the Committee on Labor and Civil Service today. Thank you all for your attendance. - - - (Committee on Labor and Civil Service concluded at 11:45 a.m.) - - - C E R T I F I C A T I O N I, hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence noted are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me in the foregoing matter, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. _______________________________ TANEHA CARROLL