Year after riot, Delaware prison still potentially explosive
DOVER, Del. — One year after a deadly inmate riot and hostage-taking, Delaware’s maximum-security prison remains a potentially explosive, understaffed facility managed by overworked guards overseeing hundreds of inmates with too much idle time on their hands, according to prison officials, employees and inmates.
An independent review ordered by Democratic Gov. John Carney two weeks after the riot at Vaughn Correctional Center includes scores of recommendations, many of which remain unimplemented, officials acknowledge. Many of those reforms depend on adequate staffing, which remains an elusive goal.
“Everything we would like to do … we don’t have enough staff to do that,” said Department of Correction Commissioner Perry Phelps.
The Smyrna prison was the site of a Feb. 1, 2017 uprising, during which correctional officer Steven Floyd was killed and three other staffers were taken hostage. The siege ended when tactical teams used a backhoe to breach a wall and rescue a female counsellor, hours after the release of two guards who had been beaten.