By ESTEBAN PARRA
The News Journal
08/31/2004
Delaware prison officials mailed 35 letters last week to recently retired corrections officers asking them whether they would be interested in working part-time shifts, primarily in the transportation unit, which has been unable to transport all inmates to mandatory court hearings because of officers refusing to work overtime.
As of Monday, one former officer said he was interested in doing so, a corrections official said.
Retired officers who take the work would be paid $15 an hour and their current pension benefits would not be affected.
Although the former officers are being asked to work in the Court & Transportation Unit, they do not have to, said Beth Welch, corrections spokeswoman.
She added that former officers would need refresher courses.
The corrections department has been looking at various options to fill voluntary overtime shifts not being taken by its officers, who are protesting pay and working conditions.
An officers union official has said staff shortages contributed to several security lapses in recent months, including a serial rapist taking a counselor hostage in July and raping her during a nearly seven-hour standoff.
The incident ended when the rapist was shot to death by a corrections officer. On Monday, the Attorney General's Office said an investigation had determined the shooting was justified.
Although officers are not working voluntary overtime shifts in the transportation unit, which delivers inmates to court hearings, they are continuing to work overtime shifts inside the prison. Of 202 inmates who were supposed to be transported on Monday, 47 were not.
Corrections officials have considered options including using state police, the National Guard and, most recently, hiring a private security firm. Private security guards would serve as guards inside the courts but would not transport inmates to and from court, Welch said.
Paul E. Smith, a corrections officer who helped organize the protest, said officers expected the department to do something, since their protest is now in its sixth week.
"We're going to wait and see what's going on here," Smith said.
Contact Esteban Parra at 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.
