WARREN, P.A. (WKBW) — Six days after Michael Burham escaped from the Warren County Jail, the Warren County Board of Commissioners and the Prison Board are mandating changes inside the jail.
First though, the roof of the prison yard will be fixed. That's how police say Burham escaped late Thursday night. We're told this is a 40' x 40' room with a cage on the top floor of the jail.
"The Commissioners and Prison Board have also ordered the space be augmented with deterrents and safety measures and that the exercise equipment be removed and replaced with equipment that does not provide access to higher positions in the facility," a spokesperson wrote in a statement.
That statement goes on to explain, there will be "immediate structural fixes" that are expected to be done by the end of the week.
WATCH: Warren County Sheriff says he's embarassed about Burham's escape
More upgrades are expected to be long-term. We're told those should begin "immediately" and would be done in the next few weeks. Details about those immediate upgrades are unclear.
Some policies and procedures are changing, inside the jail, as a result of Burham's escape. That includes security for the jail yard.
The Warren County District Attorney is working with the Prison Board now to find weaknesses and recommend improvements for the jail.
But days ago, the Warren County Sheriff Brian Zeybel — who is the chair of the Prison Board — told 7 News anchor Ed Drantch,
It may just be a culmination of a shred of this, a shred of that, a shred of this and it adds up to something monstrous like this.
Drantch pushed the sheriff to explain the culture inside the jail.
DRANTCH: If there are systems and a million different cracks, it seems like there is a culture of complacency inside the jail.
ZEYBEL: I wouldn't go that far. Again, I haven't seen that. That's the investigation... that's what we're waiting on.
When Drantch asked a jail lieutenant to describe the mood inside the jail, he said they were "bummed out," like they "dropped the ball."
Yet, the spokesperson wrote in a statement, "The Prison Staff has worked tirelessly to collaborate with local and regional law enforcement to assist with all investigations, and they are to be commended for their efforts."
Zeybel said, "there's physical things we need to look at. There are procedural things we need to look at...we'll just say personnel we need to look at."
He says he understands "how" this happened. The moving parts and the dynamic at the root cause of the escape are under investigation, Zeybel said.
Still, he's embarrassed about the escape and said he feels like he let his community down.
Burham is suspected of killing 34-year-old Kala Hodgkin in Jamestown on May 11. Burham led local, state and federal authorities on a nearly two-week manhunt that spanned more than 800 miles.
During that time the FBI said Burham kidnapped a couple in Pennsylvania and they were found alive the next day in a South Carolina cemetery.
On May 24 the FBI announced Burham was taken into custody after a resident in Berkely County, SC spotted him.
