By Nelson Hernandez and Rosalind Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, January 3, 2008

The escape of Kelvin D. Poke from Laurel Regional Hospital yesterday morning followed a familiar script: Get outside prison walls by going to a hospital, wait for an opportunity to seize an officer's gun and make a break for it. Poke did not make it far -- he was shot dead by Prince George's police yesterday afternoon -- but his escape prompted scrutiny of how prisoners are guarded in hospitals.

His was the second escape from Laurel Regional Hospital since Nov. 13, when Kamara Mohamed, a suspected car thief, overpowered a state trooper, snatched her gun and ran, only to be recaptured a few hours later about a mile away. The two incidents rattled Thomas E. Dernoga (D), the Prince George's County Council member who represents Laurel, and led a correctional officers union representative to call for keeping guns out of hospitals.

"There appears to be something seriously wrong with the operation of the state department of correctional services," Dernoga said. "My constituents were extremely upset at the lack of communication resulting from the Nov. 13 escape at Laurel Regional Hospital. Mr. [Gary D.] Maynard, the secretary, owes the citizens of Prince George's County an explanation for how he is going to correct this situation."

Vernon Herron, the county's deputy chief administrator for public safety and its director of homeland security, was more diplomatic. "I don't want to speculate or criticize," he said. "We have been on the phone with the governor's office. . . . We want to sit down and talk about their process so this won't happen again."

Mark Vernarelli, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, said the incident will be investigated. Inmates are entitled to medical care, with the caveat that they are usually kept shackled and are supposed to be under watch by two correctional officers at all times. He said the department typically transports 800 prisoners to hospitals every month, for reasons including routine checkups and emergencies resulting from prison fights or heart attacks.

"It is a difficult assignment that police officers, correctional officers are placed in when they have to guard someone in a hospital setting, especially someone with a lengthy sentence," said Greg Shipley, spokesman for the Maryland State Police.

Patrick Moran, director of the state council of the union that represents correctional officers, said Poke's escape proves that officers should not carry weapons inside hospitals. The union has been pushing for a change in policy that would allow officers to transport prisoners for medical attention under armed guard but leave their guns out of hospitals, where union officials said risks rise.

"It's a closed setting," Moran said. "There's distraction. There's a lot of activity."

Even with two officers watching, a hospital can be an ideal setting for escape attempts, sometimes with tragic consequences. Jeffery A. Wroten, a correctional officer at the Roxbury Correctional Institution in Western Maryland, was fatally shot with his weapon during an inmate's attempted escape from Washington County Hospital in 2006. Also that year, an escaped inmate overpowered a deputy at a hospital in southwestern Virginia, seized his gun and killed an unarmed hospital security guard. He later shot a sheriff's deputy on bike patrol. And in 1981, a Prince George's correctional officer was shot during an emergency room escape in which an inmate had an accomplice waiting at the hospital.

Both incidents prompted changes, corrections officials said. Now, state prisoners always have at least two correctional officers watching them at all times. And the exact time of a planned medical visit is usually kept secret from the prisoner so he or she has no opportunity to give anyone notice.

Moran also said corrections officials should review what kinds of hospitals they contract with for inmate care.

"These local hospitals have contracts for medical services, and they're not prepared if a situation like this is to happen," he said.

Herron noted that Prince George's correctional officers usually take inmates to the Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly because it has a room with a secure door, making escape far more difficult.

Vernarelli said the commissioner of corrections will look into the union's suggestions, including that officers not be armed in hospitals.

"We're going to look into every aspect of this incident and see if any changes need to be made," Vernarelli said.

Staff writer Ruben Castaneda contributed to this report.