By Tom Eldred,
Delaware State News
DOVER - Delaware correctional officers' unified refusal to accept voluntary overtime for court transports entered its fourth week Monday with no acceptance of 27 voluntary court transport shifts offered by the state Department of Correction.
But the impact was lessened when DOC assigned 15 Staff Training Relief Officers (STROs) to augment 32 regular court and transport staff who worked Monday to move inmates to and from courts and other destinations statewide.
The state police, meanwhile, completed their investigation of a correctional officer's use of deadly force to shoot and kill an inmate who abducted a counselor and raped her on July 12 at the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna.
Elizabeth Welch, a DOC spokeswoman, said corrections Commissioner Stanley W. Taylor made the decision to assign the STROs in light of the continuing action by correctional officers, who are protesting long-standing issues of low pay, inadequate staffing and exhaustive work schedules.
Mrs. Welch said the STRO unit, composed of 15 corporals and two lieutenants, provides refresher courses and re-certification - such as CPR, first aid and sexual harassment training - to all officers.
She said members of the unit also fill in for staff that must temporarily leave their posts for training, and that because STROs work in all areas of operations, they are experienced with court transport procedures.
The unit is up to date with training this year and will be assigned to court transports all week, Mrs. Welch said.
Cpl. Paul Smith, a New Castle County court and transport officer who was instrumental in organizing the voluntary overtime protest, said he has no problem with DOC's tactic.
"These guys can work anywhere,'' he said. "It's not overtime. It's just an assignment.''
Cpl. Smith said STROs are all veteran officers with experience in transport operations.
"I worked as a STRO years ago,'' he said. "You work every place. You pretty much get to know all the different operations.''
Mrs. Welch said 170 court transports were scheduled Monday She said 134 were completed, while 36 were canceled.
Lt. Joseph Aviola, a state police spokesman, said the division's homicide unit wrapped up its probe into the use of deadly force in the July 12 hostage-taking incident at DCC and turned the report over to the state Department of Justice on Friday.
According to DOC, inmate Scott A. Miller - who was serving 699 years in prison for multiple rapes and kidnappings - was shot and killed by a correctional officer after a nearly seven-hour standoff.
Authorities said Miller, 45, produced a handmade knife and took a 27-year-old correctional counselor hostage. They said he locked and barricaded an office door and raped the woman before an officer was finally able to crawl through a false ceiling in an adjacent room and shoot him.
The names of the officer and the victim have not been released.
Lt. Aviola said the state police investigation focused solely on the officer's use of deadly force to shoot and kill Miller. No other elements were reviewed.
He said the results of the investigation would not be made public.
Lori Sitler, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice, said the state police report is an important part of the attorney general's ongoing probe into the July 12 incident.
She said the attorney general's office, like the state police, is only focusing on the use of deadly force in what she called a "line of duty shooting.''
While the voluntary overtime protest showed no signs of slowing down Monday, the official stance of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware apparently remained unchanged from last week.
For legal reasons, the union - representing about 1,300 officers - altered its position of supporting voluntary overtime refusals and said it was "encouraging'' members to accept voluntary overtime "if they choose.''
COAD President Allan Deal and Senior Vice President David Knight did not return phone messages Monday.
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 10, meanwhile, pledged its continued support of COAD's efforts to obtain relief on staffing, pay and retirement issues.
The lodge represents DOC probation and parole officers.
"While members of FOP Lodge 10 currently choose not to accept any voluntary overtime, they continue to supervise approximately 19,000 offenders under probation and parole supervision,'' Lodge Vice President Robin Doherty said in a prepared statement.
"Our professionalism has not wavered despite an ever-increasing offender population with a corresponding decreasing respect for authority.
"While most of what we do is transparent to the general public, their safety is our primary focus. We are currently understaffed by approximately 15 percent, despite hiring and training new officers.
"Members of FOP Lodge 10 hope a satisfactory outcome will be reached in a timely manner.''
A meeting scheduled for Monday called by House Majority Whip Rep. Clifford "Biff" Lee, R-Laurel, state officials and COAD leadership was postponed indefinitely, according to Joseph Fulgham, a spokesman for the House of Representatives. Rep. Lee did not return a phone message seeking comment.
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Senior writer Tom Eldred can be reached at 741-8212 or at teldred@newszap.com.
