By Tom Eldred,
Delaware State News
DOVER - State correction authorities were advised of serious security problems in Delaware prisons years before a counselor alerted a supervisor last summer at the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna that doors were repeatedly being "chocked" open by staff.
Two weeks later - on July 12, 2004 - the counselor, 27-year-old Cassandra Arnold, was abducted and raped by an inmate serving 699 years for similar crimes.
Ms. Arnold's ordeal occurred only a few feet from a door that had been chocked open. It ended when her attacker, Scott A. Miller, was shot and killed by a correctional officer.
A task force ordered by Gov. Ruth Ann Minner is investigating why the incident happened. The governor wants the panel's recommendations for improvements by Jan. 31.
An earlier probe
In 1986-87, a task force created by another governor spent 41/2 months reviewing security concerns in the statewide prison system. Then-Gov. Michael N. Castle assembled the panel in the wake of widespread internal corruption and the escape of four inmates from DCC.
The task force determined the root of the problem was a workforce that was underpaid, had poor morale and was improperly and inadequately supervised by administrators in whom the rank and file had little or no confidence.
Now a congressman, Rep. Castle, R-Del., easily recalled prison conditions in 1986 and why he ordered the task force.
"We'd had a series of nagging problems in the prison system that had me quite concerned," he said Thursday. "I think we put together a good group of people. They did a good job."
Rep. Castle said he wanted the panel to get to the source of the problems.
"They were given full authority to look at whatever had to be done," he said. "When their report came in, it became evident the problems were systematic - you had to start at the top."
That meant replacing the current correction commissioner, John L. Sullivan, with Robert Watson, after a national search.
"Bob Watson was very intelligent, well-organized and had great credentials," Rep. Castle said. "He understood the system. He thought the person was as important as the system. He took the report seriously and implemented a lot of it."
Mr. Watson was commissioner until 1992. The current commissioner, Stanley W. Taylor, succeeded him.
Rep. Castle said the 2004 task force "doesn't have to reinvent the wheel" in their work.
"They should look at our 1987 report and national standards on prisons," he said. "Everything should be on the table. They need to be fearless in their recommendations. They have to say, 'this is what has to happen' to bring about improvements."
Mr. Taylor could not be reached for comment. Gail Stallings Minor, a Department of Correction spokeswoman, said Mr. Taylor was on vacation out of state and would not return until Tuesday.
'Major' problems
"The task force found major problems with respect to the DOC rules bearing on security which are supposed to be observed by correctional officers," panel chairman F.L. Peter Stone wrote in the final report issued Feb. 4, 1987.
"There are definite problems in the uniformity, manner of promulgation, distribution, teaching and consistent interpretation and application of the rules that govern DOC and particular institutions in it.
"Consequently rule enforcement ranges from spotty to nonexistent, and they are often inconsistently applied from one individual to another, one shift to another. This cannot but cause alarm for those interested in ongoing security."
The evaluation found what was described as a "gulf" between rank-and-file correctional officers and their supervisors.
"There appears to be a lack of correctional officer confidence in the knowledge and authority of the supervising officers," Mr. Stone wrote.
"There is also a complementary timidity or even laziness or ignorance by some supervisors that is highly detrimental to anything resembling a chain of command and consistent rule enforcement."
'It's déjà vu'
Times have changed since 1986. The state's inmate population was half the size it is now. Major construction has significantly increased prison facilities.
Nevertheless, the 1987 findings clearly have a similarity to issues being reviewed now.
Retired FBI agent and former Secretary of Public Safety Patrick W. Murray served as vice chairman of the Castle task force.
"It's déjà vu," he said when asked about the current situation. "It's the same darn thing all over again. It's ridiculous.
"After we issued our report, Castle ordered a study commission. Then he brought in the new commissioner. He instituted just about everything we asked for. But after he left office, everything went downhill again."
When then-Gov. Castle issued the executive order creating the task force on Sept. 17, 1986, he set the due date for a final report for Dec. 15, 1986. However, the escape of four inmates at DCC on Dec. 1, 1986, resulted in a six-week extension.
That gave panel members extra time for an in-depth review of the culture of Delaware's prisons and to make concrete recommendations for improvements.
The full group met every Friday for 41/2 months and held open meetings in each county to solicit input from the community on prison security.
Task force members attended a course in Colorado sponsored by the National Institute of Correction on personnel selection and management. They visited or interviewed officials at the Pennsylvania Department of Correction and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, along with local prison experts and former state correction commissioners.
The 10-member panel included a diverse selection. Most of the members had extensive experience in criminal justice and/or management.
They included Mr. Stone, a former U.S. attorney; Mr. Murray; Warren J. Gehrt, a former commissioner of correction; and state police Superintendent Daniel L. Simpson.
Also Robert F. Stuart, director of Sussex County Family Court; and Charles H. Toliver IV, currently chief judge of the Court of Common Pleas.
'Lack of trust'
While the final 1987 report listed numerous recommendations for better training, closer supervision and increased compensation for officers, the underlying theme throughout the 92-page document was people.
"The principal problem with Delaware prison security is not defects in our prison construction, or our security devices, or security rules, although improvements in all these areas are advisable," Mr. Stone wrote.
"The entire environment within DOC is one which promotes adversity, suspicion, paranoia, secrecy and the shifting of responsibility and blame.
"This environment is created by a lack of trust and communication between union representatives, upper and middle management, custodial staff, and inmates.
"The custodial staff, at least at Gander Hill and the Delaware Correctional Center, suffers from a dangerous lack of morale and esprit de corps. This lack of morale is, in part, created by the breakdown in communications, which has occurred throughout the entire chain of command."
Regarding the Dec. 1, 1986, escape of four inmates from DCC, Mr. Stone wrote, "The problems encountered at DCC which ultimately led to the escape are illustrative of the poor management, inconsistent rules enforcement, and deployment and staffing problems" highlighted throughout the report.
Other probes
As part of its review, the task force summarized several prior investigations that addressed concerns within the prisons.
The state Senate Committee on Juvenile and Adult Corrections conducted a probe in 1976.
"This report indicated that the management of the DOC was very poor and inadequate," Mr. Stone wrote.
"The committee noted such problems and poor morale caused by lack of uniforms or identification badges, shortage of staff to allow vacations, and a tremendously high turnover of personnel.
"The report stated that: 'Anyone presently acting at the top level of management is so necessarily entrenched in this web of mismanagement and responsible for the deplorable conditions that exist at the institution that he is incapable of solving the urgent problems that exist.'
"It was recommended that: 'Dynamic new leadership not associated with the present problems of fragmentation and morale be found to effectively cure the prison system.' "
In 1979-80, then-Gov. Pierre S. du Pont IV ordered an investigative task force composed of prosecutors and police officers after a series of escapes.
Mr. Stone said the investigators reported their probe "uncovered evidence of (correctional officer) complicity in the escapes, extensive drug trafficking in the prisons (and) inadequate security practices and procedures."
By Oct. 9, 1979, Mr. Stone said the investigation had led to the arrests of 25 persons on 120 charges.
"It was the opinion of the investigators that the arrests and indictments were largely the result of employees exploiting existing prison failures and the failure of management to establish procedures to detect, investigate, and discipline them for their criminal conduct," Mr. Stone wrote.
A 1980 New Castle County grand jury investigation into DOC noted "that although many surveys and studies had been made with regard to needs and deficiencies in Delaware's correctional system, little had been done to implement the recommendations which resulted from those studies."
The state Senate conducted another review in 1983-84 after yet another four inmates escaped from DCC during June 1983.
Mr. Stone said that report, submitted to the General Assembly in early 1984, indicated that "staff morale was low and turnover was high with no attempt by the personnel office to determine causes."
He said the report also "questioned the ability of 18- and 19-year-old correctional officers to function effectively in times of crisis."
DOC eventually upped the minimum age for officers to 21. However, to maximize recruitment efforts in combating staff shortages and retention problems, the minimum age recently was lowered to 191/2.
'They don't get it'
Mr. Murray said DOC's problems in 2004 seem very similar to those the task force addressed in depth in 1986.
"There are three essentials," he said. "You have to have enough people to do the job and you have to pay them what they're worth.
"You have to have top administrators, whether it's a warden, a bureau chief or a commissioner, who walks all levels of the facilities on a regular basis."
Mr. Murray said he's read of - and heard from - correctional officers who say they rarely, if ever, have contact with top administrators.
"That's plain crazy," he said. "They don't get it. When I was secretary of public safety, I stopped at police headquarters every day. I did the same at motor vehicles and the other departments."
He said the 1986 task force discovered a culture of secrecy at DOC that had existed for years. He said he's afraid that environment hasn't changed much.
"The sad thing is that it takes a rape or a killing to start something going," he said. "Back in 1986, they did everything they could to hide things from the governor. Their whole thing was to cover it up.
"That's what upper management did. The whole idea was, 'don't say anything because we could get canned.' They were back in the Dark Ages. It seems they still are."
Mr. Simpson was state police superintendent from 1983-87. He is currently vice president for academic affairs at Delaware Technical & Community College.
"There is probably a lot of similarity with what we found then and what is happening now," he said. "But I think we have to remember that conditions in prisons are what they always are. The people on the other side of the wall are always trying to get out."
Mr. Simpson said he's known Mr. Taylor for years and considers him a positive force.
"One of the best-qualified administrators that I've come across in state government is Stan Taylor," he said. "The whole issue is that good people can make a difference. The question is how much of a difference can they make?"
Mr. Simpson said he has confidence in the 2004 task force but warned that correction problems are not unique to Delaware and will be ongoing.
"It's cyclical," he said. "I think we'll see some immediate response to what the task force recommends. Things will get better for a while. Then the same issues will start popping up again.
"Somewhere down the road we'll be facing the same kind of problems unless we can come up with an entirely new system."
'People are the answer ...'
Mr. Stone concluded the 1987 report with the emphasis on people.
"The nub of the problem is not guard towers, concertina wire or surveillance cameras," he wrote. "Rather it is people, the employees of DOC.
"The personnel entrusted with supervising the inmates and enforcing security in every major incident, current and past, deviated from standard security rules and common sense. These personnel performance lapses greatly contributed to each major security incident or series of incidents in the past 10 years.
"... People are the problem, and people are the answer to the problem. It took a tremendous amount of time and effort by the task force - days of testimony, scores of interviews, reams of documents to read - to arrive at a simple verity:
"Cause all employees of DOC to do each day the basic job he or she is hired and paid to do and the system will be in fine shape."
Mr. Stone is currently the state deputy insurance commissioner. He said he's been following the 2004 news on DOC issues and does see similarities to 1986.
He said some problems, such as massive involuntary overtime to cover inadequate staffing, seem more troubling now.
"I think this business of forcing people to work overtime is a real problem," he said. "To me, that situation is worse than it was when we did our report.
"These people have a tough enough job. To have to work overtime more than occasionally has got to be taking a real toll.
"You can build all the new buildings you want. But you've got to adequately staff these new places or you're going to screw up the places you already have."
What do you think?
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Post comments on this issue at newsblog.info/0407. Senior writer Tom Eldred can be reached at 741-8212 or teldred@newszap.com.
Correctional officers picket the Department of Correction Administration Building in 1987. A report from a task force commissioned by then-Gov. Michael N. Castle found "a dangerous lack of morale and esprit de corps," among other problems, echoing the complaints of correctional officers today. Delaware State News file photos
Reprinted with permission from newszap.com www.newszap.com
