TRENTON, NJ — NJDOC officials were urged in February to obtain a security system designed to prevent precisely the kind of escape that took place Thursday, but the did not act quickly enough.
 
Also, Gannett New Jersey learned Tuesday, the acting commissioner was ordered to receive an official reprimand 18 months ago for negligence in overseeing security at state prisons.

In the wake of Thursday's escape, one of the forewarned corrections officials now says he will travel to New York to view the suggested video system, designed to detect inmates who try to escape by clinging to vehicle undercarriages as they depart the prison.

Back in February, former Commissioner Devon Brown wrote to two of his former top aides to let them know they might look at a security system manufactured by a company in Woodbridge.

The video system is installed in a sort of speed bump at prison gates and is monitored by guards.

Last week, armed robber Carlos Moore suffered two broken legs after apparently losing his grip while clinging to the underside of a meat truck that had just left Northern State Prison on Interstate 78 in Newark, said Corrections spokeswoman Deirdre Fedkenheuer. Moore, 33, convicted of robbery in Egg Harbor Township in 2000 and sentenced to 10 years, was hospitalized after police found him injured on the highway shoulder.

On Feb. 22, Brown had written to James Lutz, a captain in the department's special operations group, and James Barbo, director of construction and safety issues. Gannett has seen the letter, and Fedkenheuer said she knew of it.

Brown — who by then was running the corrections system in Washington, D.C. — wrote that the security system looked promising.

Brown then virtually scripted last week's break. He noted the department was shifting from a distribution-center system to provisioning prisons directly from vendors: "This device takes on greater significance, especially in light of the increase in truck traffic."

Fedkenheuer said Tuesday that Lutz intended at some unspecified date to inspect the video system at New York's Rikers Island Correctional Facility. "I don't know," she said when asked why Lutz had waited.

Another who is curious about the time lag is Manny Patel, chief executive of Comm Port Technologies, which manufactures the security system.

Patel recalled Brown's enthusiasm but added, "Nobody has even contacted me on this."

Asked how soon he could have the $25,000 to $30,000 video system ready for use in New Jersey, Patel replied, "Tomorrow."

Reprimand ordered

As for the reprimand, Brown wrote on Jan. 27, 2005, to Charles Ellis, his chief of staff, to officially reprimand Assistant Commissioner George Hayman of the Division of Operations for failing to conduct security audits at prisons. Hayman is now acting corrections commissioner. Gov. Corzine hasn't yet appointed a successor to Brown.

Corzine's office did not answer when asked if the governor knew Hayman had been ordered reprimanded before the governor promoted him. The office issued a statement backing department leadership and accusing Brown of besmirching staffers.

Told that Gannett's copies of Brown's letters did not come from the former commissioner, Corzine spokesman Brendan Gilfillan did not budge. "That is our statement," he said.

Gilfillan produced a document showing that one of the state's 15 prison facilities had undergone a security audit in March 2004 and that five days after Brown ordered Hayman reprimanded, a schedule for auditing some other state prisons was mapped out.

Fedkenheuer said a security audit at Northern State was done in March.