David Byrne doesn't look like a tough guy.
Don't let the glasses, suit and tie fool you.
Byrne might have the toughest job in Delaware County.
What does he do?
Byrne is the warden of the George W. Hill Correctional Facility, Delaware County's Prison.
The prison has been in the headlines recently, due to two inmate suicides. Family members are seeking answers and threatening legal action.
Byrne works for Community Education Centers Inc., the private firm from New Jersey that runs the Delco prison on Concord. It is the only private prison in Pennsylvania, and with a capacity of 1,883 the largest facility operated by CEC.
CEC officials reached out to us for an opportunity to tell a little bit of their side of the story. Byrne was joined by Charles Seigel, CEC's manager of public affairs, and Debra Shannon, vice president and general counsel.
Obviously, they couldn't speak about the specifics of the most recent incidents, in that they could wind up in court.
But what they did manage to shed light on is the scope of what gets done every day at the county prison.
Byrne gave a fervent defense of the often-criticized facility, in particular defending the corrections officers who man the prison.
He knows what he's talking about. Byrne started at the county prison as a CO 23 years ago. He rose through the ranks and now heads the facility for CEC.
He explained the process and evaluations that inmates go through when they arrive at the prison.
More importantly, he wanted to stress the scope of the task that falls in the prison's lap every month.
He gets on average of 20 to 25 new inmates every day. About 800 of the 1,880 inmates at the county prison are on psychotropic medications and being treated for mental conditions.
The bottom line is this. No one wants suicides, but they are a fact of prison life.
Byrne said his officers intervene and prevent suicides every day, and he explained how inmates are evaluated and the precautions that are put in place when an inmate is considered a suicide risk.
He defended one of the areas that draws the most criticisms about the prison, that being the services and mental health help offered to prisoners.
CEC has a medical unit staff of 41 people at the prison, including two psychiatrists, and two psychologists.
Neither Byrne nor the other CEC official would comment on reports that a corrections officer was terminated after one of the recent suicides.
There have been six suicides at the Delco Prison under CEC's watch. They took over operations at GEO Inc., which originated as Wackenhut Corrections Corp., which ushered in the era of a private operator taking over daily operations at the prison back in 1995.
My guess is none of this will silence the prison's many critics, who have been present since Delaware County Council made the decision to farm out prison services.
It's been a financial winner for the county, even with $136.3 million price tag for the most recent deal with CEC. The county has not yet provided the numbers for the current contract. It expires in the end of 2016, and CEC officials made it clear they are interested in continuing the relationship.
I do not envy the job facing David Byrne every day.
Running a prison is not exactly a happy business. You - and your staff - deal with what a lot of us don't want to think about every day.
Byrne understands all that. He just wants the public to know the size of the task facing his staff every day.
He did that loud and clear.
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