Reported by Eve Tannery
WILMINGTON-- Delaware correctional officers speak out to a prison panel for the first time Friday. Governor Minner created the panel back in October. They are looking into the July 12th hostage incident at the Delaware Correctional Center, and, reviewing the entire prison system.
WBOC asked the Department of Correction to comment on the officers' allegations, but they declined until the panel wraps their investigation.
Here's our story on why some officers say they'll put their jobs on the line to improve the prison system....
The panel listens attentively. The correctional officers tell their story...and a hostage victim weeps at what she hears.
"We're underpaid, we're overworked, and we're dealing with too many inmates," said William Gosnell, a correctional officer from Sussex Correctional Institution.
The officers say little has changed since the July 12th hostage incident.
"There has been no changes as far as policy with inmates or what we are doing. Within 48 hours after the incident, we were back to normal," said David Phillips, a correctional officer(CO) at the Delaware Correctional Institution.
"There's a lot of negative progress. We're going down in manning. More people are leaving, they're getting fed up, they're exiting," said David Knight, another CO and vice president of the Correctional Officers' Union (COAD).
"The other day we had a talent show. We had officers watching ninety inmates in a gym so they could hold a talent show," said William Mounet, a CO at Baylor Correctional Institution.
As the panel noted the officers' testimony, they heard workers explain how minimal staffing levels make them worry about their own security every day.
"I go to work right now because I don't want to see any of my brothers or sisters fall down. That's why I go to work," said Phillips.
And guards say they'll do whatever it takes to improve the system before things get worse.
"At any day now, those flood gates are going to open, and you're going to have over ten thousand convicted inmates, felons, whatever you want to call them, out there running on the streets because we don't have the officers to keep them inside that fence line," said Gosnell.
Now, prison workers say it's up to the panel to see that what happened to Cassie Arnold doesn't happen again.....and to better the system once and for all.
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A Department of Correction spokesperson says the D-O-C won't argue with correctional officers at this stage in the game. The spokesperson says the D-O-C will let the panel do their job and take recommendations from the group after the report is complete.
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Members of the panel say they weren't surprised with what the officers' had to say.
They say they've heard some of their claims throughout the prison review process. The panel says they still have a number of steps to complete before their report can be finalized by January 30th.
"It's a tight deadline, but, we're working hard...everyone in there is working very hard," said Tom McGonigle, the spokesman for the panel. "We're doing lots of interviews and putting in lots of hours, so we hope to get it done within the deadline," he said.
The panel's planning to hold two public sessions to let correctional officers voice their concerns. Panel members say they'll make arrangements for anyone who wants to speak to them confidentially.
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The woman who almost lost her life in a Delaware prison system puts her faith in the panel.
Cassie Arnold says the group can bring about change IF they do a thorough investigation. She says that means hearing from all of her co-workers....a group that's rallying around her to change the system.
"I was extremely emotionally moved and happy to see that I have so much support and that the prisons have such great personnel who are really trying to make a difference," Arnold said.
Cassie's lawyers say something needs to be done in Delaware prisons before it's too late. They say they're pleased with the panel's progress, but they worry about their deadline
"I don't see how it can be done properly in the scope it needs to be done by that time. I think it is up to Governor Minner to take a look at this situation and stop trying to hide the ball and get out in front and do something about this problem," said Herb Feuerhake, one of Arnold's attorneys.
Governor Minner says the task force has not made her aware of any deadline concerns. She says if they ask for an extension, she'll consider it, but, a tight timeline was set so that any problems or concerns can be addressed as quickly as possible.
