Gov. John Carney announced on Tuesday that he will order an independent review of the hostage incident at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center last week that resulted in the death of a 16-year correctional officer, Lt. Steven Floyd.
Carney will announce his selection to lead the review by February 15.
The Associated Press has reported that criminal justice reform advocates want to see a federal probe of the prison incident.
“We will find out how this happened, and work together with all parties involved to prevent this type of incident from happening again,” said Carney. “Every day, our correctional officers accept the risk of performing a dangerous job on behalf of the people of Delaware. And we must take action necessary to ensure our correctional facilities remain safe and secure.”
The independent review will be initiated after the completion of a Delaware State Police criminal investigation into Lt. Floyd’s death, so as to not interfere with that investigation. A separate internal investigation at the Department of Correction also is ongoing.
The lengthy incident led to four hostages being taken, with two released and one found in good condition after a team went into the building. Floyd was found to be unresponsive and was declared dead.
The independent review will explore the immediate and underlying causes of the hostage incident at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center, which began on Wednesday, February 1. The reviewer will develop a series of actionable recommendations to prevent a similar situation from happening in the future.
Details about the scope of the review will be released by Feb., a release noted.
Correctional officers have complained about a lack of staffing at the prison and families of inmates have warned that problems are many in the facility in southern New Castle County, near Smyrna.
Services and viewing for Floyd will be held at Delaware State University on Friday and Saturday. The family asked that the funeral remain private and no media will be admitted on the campus, a DSU release stated.
