Under a watchful eye

FORGET NOOKS and crannies. Even the busiest hallways in most of the city's six prisons are not under video surveillance, Prisons Commissioner Louis Giorla said.

Giorla aims to change that - and in fact, federal law requires it.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act requires prisons and jails to install video monitoring to discourage attacks - or assist investigators when attacks occur.

In Philadelphia, the two newest jails - Curran-Fromhold and Riverside correctional facilities - are almost fully under surveillance (except toilet and strip-search areas), Giorla said. Curran-Fromhold, the city's largest jail, opened in 1995. Riverside, which houses women, opened in 2004.

But in older jails, like the House of Corrections (1927) and the Detention Center (1963), only the lobbies and visiting areas are monitored by video, Giorla said.

"We want to saturate the system," Giorla said. "The cost of technology has declined, so we are making that a priority."

Giorla and prisons spokeswoman Shawn Hawes declined to provide details on how much such improvements cost.

- Dana DiFilippo