WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – Delaware prison administrators dismissed warnings of trouble brewing at the state’s maximum-security prison in the days leading up to a deadly inmate uprising and hostage-taking, independent investigators said in a report released Friday.
The dismissal of the security warnings at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna was indicative of an overcrowded, understaffed facility plagued by mismanagement, a lack of communication, a culture of negativity, and adversarial relationships among prison staff, administrators and inmates, according to the independent review ordered by Gov. John Carney.
Carney ordered the review after inmates seized a building at the prison in February and took several prison workers hostage, setting off a standoff lasting nearly 20 hours. Correctional officer Steven Floyd was killed before authorities used a backhoe to breach a wall and rescue a female counselor. Two other guards also taken hostage had been released earlier after being tormented and beaten by inmates.
According to the independent review, the February uprising in Building C was preceded by an incident two weeks earlier in which some inmates in that same building refused to return to their cells after recreation time – until they were allowed to speak with a supervisor about housing conditions. After that incident, some correctional officers – including Floyd – told supervisors that the instigators should be moved to another building for security reasons. The request was dismissed by higher-ranking officials.
“Lack of action following a potential inmate protest in the C-Building on January 15, 2017, did little to discourage a subset of inmates from acting out again,” investigators said.