October 2017 Incident at Pasquotank CI and the NIC Security Assessment — what the report found

On October 12, 2017, an attempted escape at Pasquotank Correctional Institution (PCI) in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, turned deadly. Two corrections employees were murdered and three more were critically injured, according to the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) security operational assessment.

Following the incident, North Carolina requested technical assistance from the NIC to conduct a security operational assessment. The goal: examine security operations connected to Correction Enterprises at Pasquotank and identify changes needed to better protect staff and strengthen security practices.

One of the clearest takeaways from the NIC assessment is that written guidance matters. The report found NCDPS institution security policies were outdated and not succinctly written. When policies are hard to follow - or don't match what's actually happening on the ground - security practices can end up inconsistent from one area to another.

The assessment also raised red flags about how Correction Enterprises (CE) policies lined up with department expectations. CE policies contained security inaccuracies and were incongruent with NCDPS policies. The NIC team described the working relationship between NCDPS and CE as disconnected, with limited communication - making it harder to apply security standards consistently.

• ✓ The assessment reported staffing vacancies of 25% at Pasquotank CI.
• ✓ The report states Pasquotank CI’s use of overtime produced staff burnout, complacency, and taking of shortcuts.

For families wondering about day-to-day safety inside the facility, here's what the report found: personal safety equipment was absent at Pasquotank CI for correctional staff, Correction Enterprises employees, and volunteers. CE staff directly supervise inmates, yet they don't receive academy-level training in safety and security fundamentals - a gap that can affect how consistently safety rules get applied.

The report pointed to emergency preparedness training gaps too. Correctional staff at Pasquotank CI lacked sufficient training in FEMA's National Incident Management System (NIMS) and Incident Command System (ICS) emergency response techniques - frameworks that organize roles and communication during a crisis.

Finally, the NIC assessment flagged oversight problems. It identified inconsistencies in how comprehensively NCDPS conducts security audits and raised concerns about auditor training quality. When audits aren't consistent - or auditors aren't well-prepared - weak spots can go unnoticed until they become serious safety issues.

This assessment is a snapshot: it documents what the NIC team observed and recommended at that time. For families, read it as a list of specific problem areas - outdated policies, inconsistent security audits, training gaps. The report doesn't confirm what changes were made afterward. If you want to understand current conditions, verify directly with the facility or through official state channels.

1. Call Pasquotank Correctional Institution - Use the main phone line: 252-331-4881.
2. Use the NC DAC facility page - Look up Pasquotank CI through the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction’s prison facility listings for official information.
3. Write down the physical address for reference - 527 Commerce Drive, Elizabeth City, NC 27906.

If you're using the NIC assessment to understand safety and operations at Pasquotank CI, treat it as a starting point - not the final word on conditions today. The most reliable next step is confirming current procedures through the facility and the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction's official information.