Reducing forced OT at Vaughn prison is last unmet recommendation

Esteban Parra , Brittany Horn | The News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Officials: Measurable progress on 40 of 41 recommendations at prison Governor John Carney reviews the progress made to meet 41 recommendations made to improve conditions at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center.

All but one of 41 recommendations made by an independent review team that looked into last year's deadly siege at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center have been "implemented or measurably addressed," according to state officials.

The sticking point remains the Department of Correction's inability to reduce forced overtime, a condition that contributed to last year's nearly 18-hour prison siege that claimed the life of corrections officer Lt. Steven Floyd.

"Mandatory overtime remains necessary to operate safe facilities due to a 16 percent officer vacancy rate," according to the second and final report issued Tuesday by the special assistant charged with spearheading reform at the state's Department of Correction.

In order for the DOC to stop mandatory overtime, the corrections officer vacancy rate has to be below 10 percent. State officials don't foresee a substantial reduction in officer vacancies for another 18 to 24 months.

Gov. John Carney, DOC Commissioner Perry Phelps and DOC Special Assistant Claire DeMatteis held a press on Tuesday to release the second report, which is supposed to document the prison system's progress in implementing the 41 recommendations made by former U.S. Attorney Charles Oberly III and retired Family Court Judge William Chapman who spearheaded the independent review.

Their review, issued in September, found that the uprising was a long time coming due to deteriorating conditions, inconsistent rules and regulations and overworked staff. The review team called on the Legislature to act quickly to make changes.

State officials have moved to implement most of the review's recommendations, including strengthening officer safety and training, recruiting and retaining more officers and improving interactions with inmates.

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In addition to re-introducing inmate education and work programs, the DOC has also formed a prisoner-led advisory council, put an end to prison cell inspections by marked guards and installed security cameras inside Vaughn's buildings. There were no working cameras inside Building C when the siege took place, which meant what happened inside the prison wasn't captured on surveillance footage.

While Tuesday's report said the DOC was stronger than it was 18 months ago, it claims officers continue to express concerns regarding understanding and mandatory overtime, referred to as "shift freezes."

"I personally know the toll that it takes on those officers and their families when they are forced to work overtime," Phelps said at Tuesday's press conference.

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An analysis released last month by the DOC admits that in Vaughn alone, the state's largest maximum security prison, 235 additional corrections officers are needed to safely staff all operations. The analysis did not say how many additional corrections officers were needed for the entire state prison system.

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And though the DOC has trained and hired more than 150 new officers since the riot, according to Phelps, not all applicants make it to graduation or stay on after the hiring period. Retirements also adds to the fluctuation in staffing numbers, Phelps said.

Forced overtime was often used prior to the Feb. 1, 2017, takeover of Vaughn's Building C. But following the riot, massive resignations by corrections officers have forced the DOC to increase use of the practice, which the department admits takes a mental and physical toll on officers.

The shift freezes also cost Delaware taxpayers $30.9 million during the budget year that ended in June. That was a 39 percent jump over the $22.2 million paid out in extra time in the previous fiscal year.

But forced overtime has been a problem at the DOC for more than a decade.

A report that looked at what caused the July 12, 2004, hostage-taking and rape of a prison counselor that ended in the fatal shooting of serial rapist Scott A. Miller, blamed the incident on DOC's management and made dozens of recommendations to improve the safety of employees and inmates.

Among the report's findings, was that staff shortages forced corrections officers to work large amounts of overtime.

That report, issued in 2005, recommended that vacant corrections officer positions should be filled as quickly as possible.

State officials, following the 2017 incident, said they are trying to reduce overtime by providing better compensation plans to attract more people and retain current corrections officers.

Both Carney and Phelps said they hope to unveil a plan this fall that would directly address staffing shortages, but declined to provide details Tuesday.

"We'll talk about it in a couple of months," Carney replied when asked about the interim solutions to address overtime.

While believing Carney is being sincere about wanting to improve conditions inside the DOC, Correctional Officers Association of Delaware President Geoff Klopp said he would be willing to hold a press conference in a few months to explain what is going on inside the prisons.

"Look, if they don't follow through, you guys will be the first ones to know about it," Klopp said.

Following the press conference, officials provided a tour of Vaughn, highlighting two new programs that were recently implemented for inmates. The horticulture program, which enrolls 15 men, gives them the skills necessary to grow and sustain a garden.

"You have to nurture and grow a garden," said Senior Counselor Kelly Embert. "And you kind of have to do that with relationships, too. We're giving them life skills, as well."

The hope, Embert said, is that the vegetables planted in the garden can then go to the culinary program, which will begin this fall and aims to enroll 30 men.

Both programs involve meeting multiple times per week in both classroom and hands-on settings, and both are the kind of programming Warden Dana Metzger said he hopes to increase at Vaughn.

Much of that, relies on having enough staffing to safely operate these programs, he said — the same reason many of them were shut down in the first place.

Metzger said prison staff are also looking into bringing yoga and CrossFit to the prison gym, which interests both the inmates and the corrections officers.

The mindset shift seems to be working, according to one inmate on the Inmate Advisory Council, which was created to help bridge the gap between DOC administration and prisoners.

Andre Peters, a 31-year-old who has been as Vaughn for eight years and was provided to the media Tuesday from the DOC, said prisoners have more programs available to them and are communicated with more than in years past.

"Being heard, that's the No. 1 thing," Peters said. "And actually seeing results."

The installation of hundreds of new cameras at Vaughn is helping, according to inmates and staff. Metzger said the project, which is slated to finish by the end of this year, will result in cameras inside every prison building, as well as outside areas.

Though Peters said inmates feel like they're being watched, which they are, Metzger said he hopes it serves as both a deterrent and as an accountability tool for them and officers.

"It helps with safety," Metzger said. "And it also gives more validity to our officers and to our staff."

Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3. Contact Brittany Horn at (302) 324-2771 or bhorn@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @brittanyhorn.