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Carney Orders Oversight Position for Prison Safety

Governor John Carney (D-De)
official photo
Governor John Carney (D-De)

DOVER, Del. (AP) - Gov. John Carney says he is disappointed that no criminal charges have been filed yet following a February inmate riot and hostage taking at Delaware's maximum security prison in which a prison guard was killed.

Carney's comment Tuesday came as he responded to an independent report describing James T. Vaughn Correctional Center as dangerously overcrowded, critically understaffed, and poorly run and managed.

Carney's plan to address problems at Vaughn and within the Department of Correction includes appointing a DOC special assistant to lead reform efforts.

He also wants to task a cabinet-level Department of Human Resources, which has yet to be created, to development and implement a plan to eliminate staff shortages in the prison system, a problem with which the state has dealt unsuccessfully for at least 30 years.

 

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.