By Tom Eldred,
Delaware State News
DOVER - The state Department of Correction has released what may be the most comprehensive report yet on an incident last year at the Delaware Correctional Center in which an inmate abducted a prison counselor and raped her before he was shot and killed by a correctional officer.
The report praises the "heroic'' performance of the officer response team that rescued counselor Cassandra Arnold and generally commends DOC administrators and negotiators for how they handled the situation.
But it identifies grave concerns about security and the workplace "culture'' at DCC, and offers 20 pages of recommendations to improve security, staffing and operations in the state's largest prison.
The report compliments Ms. Arnold for her willingness to openly discuss her ordeal at the hands of inmate Scott A. Miller and criticizes DOC for not taking a more proactive role in helping to pay her medical bills resulting from the incident.
Two specialists enlisted by the National Institute of Corrections authored the 94-page report, which DOC released Friday at the request of the Delaware State News.
Commissioner of Corrections Stanley W. Taylor contacted the NIC for technical assistance in September, more than two months after the July 12, 2004, incident, asking for a review of emergency preparedness, staff training, inmate classification and employee staffing levels.
Jeffrey A. Schwartz, a consultant from California with more than 25 years of experience working with prison issues, was one of the authors of the report.
He and nationally known correctional consultant Dennis Luther made several on-site visits to DCC and conducted extensive interviews.
"We were asked to go to Delaware and conduct a critical incident review,'' Mr. Schwartz said. "I cannot comment on the contents of our report, but I can say that Mr. Taylor and the Department of Correction were very forthcoming with the information we requested.''
The NIC report, as have previous undertakings, focuses on the incident in which inmate Miller took Ms. Arnold hostage in a non-secure administrative area of Building 24 at DCC.
Miller, a serial rapist serving 699 years in prison for multiple assaults against women, pulled a homemade knife on Ms. Arnold after she saw him hiding in a bathroom near her office.
Holding the knife to her throat, Miller pulled Ms. Arnold into the bathroom and then across a hallway into her office. Once inside, he locked and barricaded the door and kept rescuers at bay for nearly seven hours until he was shot and killed by a correctional officer.
The officer shot Miller twice from an adjoining room's false ceiling moments after he observed Miller raping Ms. Arnold and attempting to kill her.
Ms. Arnold filed a federal lawsuit against Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, Mr. Taylor and other DOC officials after the incident, contending that security lapses, poor employee morale and overworked staff contributed directly to her abduction and rape.
Unlike previous reports - DOC's internal review and a report released last month by an independent task force - the NIC document gives background information on Miller.
It says Miller, 45, who was born and spent most of his time in Delaware, had a criminal record dating to an arrest for offensive touching at age 15. He attended Ferris School, was released at 16, and two years later enlisted in the Delaware National Guard, only to be arrested for theft during basic training.
He was convicted in 1977 of assault and offensive touching again in 1979. During the early 1980s, he served six years in prison for burglary, robbery and possession of a deadly weapon. In 1988 he was arrested for unlawful sexual contact, kidnapping and robbery but the charges were dropped.
Between 1991-96, he was arrested at least eight times for crimes including terrorist threats, offensive touching, assault and unlawful imprisonment.
In June 2000 he was sentenced to 699 years for numerous sexual assault, kidnapping, robbery and burglary violations.
The report says the crimes occurred during a six-month period in 1997 and included six separate incidents involving nine victims, "most of whom were tied up and seriously beaten in addition to being raped.''
In its review of the July 12 incident, the report determined there was "some substantial communication problems and lapses'' between a command post set up by Mr. Taylor at DCC and negotiators at the scene.
"Most egregious was the 4 p.m. shift change, when staff on the 4 to 12 shift came in through the front door of Building 24, talking loudly and making noise, walking toward the hostage incident,'' the report says.
"On-scene command was a major weakness throughout this hostage incident. Fortunately, it did not seem to affect the outcome but it could have easily done so.''
The report says architectural barriers and a violent rainstorm complicated rescue team efforts during the incident.
"They briefly considered using a piece of heavy equipment like a Caterpillar to knock off the corner of the building where (Miller was holding Ms. Arnold),'' the report says. "That idea was quickly abandoned because it was far too risky for the hostage.''
Nevertheless, the review says Mr. Taylor remained committed to rescuing Ms. Arnold.
"It is a measure of the fierce determination that Stan Taylor felt to save (Ms. Arnold) that at one point when (rescue officers) were having great difficulty finding access into the situation, that he actually contemplated going down to the situation to talk with (Miller) himself,'' the report says.
The report notes Mr. Taylor's idea was to have "hidden handgun in the hope that he might get a clear shot at (Miller) and a chance to end the situation and save (Ms. Arnold.)''
The report devotes a lot of attention to the workplace "culture'' DCC Warden Thomas Carroll inherited when he took the job in October 2001.
"Warden Carroll portrays the culture, at the time of his arrival at DCC, as autocratic and not compatible to his leadership style, which he describes as participatory,'' the report says.
"He further depicts the culture as one where communication between management and non-supervisory personnel was poor, resulting in a significant number of staff grievances, as well as an underground anti-management newsletter.''
Although the report says Mr. Carroll has attempted management changes, it says serious problem areas remain.
"Despite the well-intentioned efforts of the warden, and many staff who are undoubtedly sincere about their desire to change the prison's culture, there continues to be an integrity gap,'' the report concludes.
"This lack of consistency between articulated values and staff behaviors created an environment in which the recent hostage situation was able to occur.''
Much of the analysis is devoted to security, or the lack of it, within DCC and the inability, or unwillingness, of supervisory staff to enforce it. The situation, the consultants say, is compounded by "excessive layering in the organizational hierarchy.''
"Security practices at DCC were not good,'' the report says. "These problems were not new on the day of the hostage incident; they were longstanding. Over time, solid security practices had foundered on the twin shoals of staff complacency and staff convenience.
"...The consultants believe one of the most dysfunctional aspects of the DCC culture continues to be the degree to which supervisors don't effectively supervise and managers don't effectively manage. ... Effective communications are stymied, individual initiative and creative problem-solving are not valued."
The report also praises what it calls "positive aspects.''
"Foremost among these is that most staff deal with inmates effectively, in an informal but professional manner,'' the report says. "Most staff also deal with other staff quite well.
"Many staff, particularly younger staff, give the warden high marks and applaud the changes he is attempting. A smaller but substantial number of staff, particularly older staff with strong allegiances to specific top managers, remain cynical and negative about the warden and his program.''
Even more problematic, the reports says, is evidence that poor security continues.
"The kinds of security failures that were implicated in the development of the hostage incident were still evident when the consultants visited DCC several months after the incident,'' the report says.
"It may be tempting to assume that in the aftermath of the hostage incident and with all of the discussion about 'chocked' security doors, inoperative intercom systems and unused metal detectors, many of those problems would have been rectified.
"They were not, providing strong evidence that the security problems at DCC were longstanding, pervasive and deeply embedded in the institution's culture.''
The report says Ms. Arnold has accumulated significant debt for medical bills since the incident and that providers are dunning her for payment.
"The state has responded to one of the bills for ongoing psychotherapy treatment by sending a check for 50 percent of the amount the therapist charged along with an explanation that the therapist was charging too much per hour and that the state would not reimburse the whole amount,'' the report says.
"Given what happened to (Ms. Arnold), the department has a responsibility to do everything possible to make sure (she) is being fully and promptly paid for her medical expenses and that she does not have to deal with the stress of debts or bill collectors.''
DOC spokeswoman Elizabeth Welch said Mr. Taylor and other administrators declined comment on the report. She said the commissioner answered numerous questions when Gov. Minner's task force issued its report in February and that he had no additional observations to make.
To read the complete report, click here: http://www.state.de.us/correct/
Senior writer Tom Eldred can be reached at 741-8212 or teldred@newszap.com.
Reprinted with permission from newszap.com www.newszap.com
