Gov. John Carney announced he will publicly release the final report of the Department of Correction Independent Review on September 1.
He has extended the deadline for the Independent Review team to produce its final report from August 15 to August 31. The extension will allow the review team to fully consider comments from inmates and correctional officers, as well as a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union documenting inmate grievances.
Former Judge William L. Chapman, Jr. and former U.S. Attorney Charles M. Oberly III are leading the Independent Review into the conditions that may have contributed to the hostage incident on February 1 at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center.
Since the release of the team’s preliminary report on June 1, Carney has reached an agreement with the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware to raise starting pay for correctional officers by 20 percent to help recruit and retain officers; appointed a special assistant to oversee turnaround efforts at DOC; added 50 correctional officer positions at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center; and worked with the General Assembly to make investments in equipment and training, including $2 million to install cameras inside JTVCC.
“I look forward to receiving the final report of the Independent Review later this month, and I remain committed to making the necessary, long-term changes to help us improve conditions inside James T. Vaughn Correctional Center, and across our correctional system,” said Carney. “Working with members of the General Assembly, we have already made important changes, but there is more work to do. Thank you to the Independent Review team for their continued work on this important issue.”
