ALBANY, N.Y. – An investigation into the escape of two murderers from a northern New York prison last year concludes chronic staff complacency, complicit employees and failures of basic security procedures were to blame.
State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott's report released Monday about the breakout of David Sweat and Richard Matt says security lapses at the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility at Dannemora (dan-uh-MAWR'-uh) were longstanding.
The lapses include failures to search entering employees' bags, negligent night counts of inmates, inadequate cell searches and poor supervision of inmates and civilian employees by security staff.
A massive manhunt followed the escape.
Matt was shot dead by searchers June 26 in a wooded area 30 miles west of the prison. Sweat was shot and captured two days later near the Canadian border. He pleaded guilty to escape charges.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
