Wilmington – Today, Tuesday, February 14, 2017, Governor John Carney announces his selection to lead the independent review of the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center incident.
Carney named two former judges to head the independent review of the prison uprising where four Department of Correction staffers were held hostage and one was killed.
Two tow are former Delaware Supreme Court Justice Henry duPont Ridgely and former Family Court Judge William Chapman Jr.
Carney originally announced, Tuesday, Feburary 7, 2017, that he will initiate an independent review of the hostage incident at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center last week that led to the death of a 16-year correctional officer, Lt. Steven Floyd.
“We will find out how this happened, and work together with all parties involved to prevent this type of incident from happening again,” said Governor Carney. “Every day, our correctional officers accept the risk of performing a dangerous job on behalf of the people of Delaware. And we must take the action necessary to ensure our correctional facilities remain safe and secure.”
The independent review will be initiated after the completion of a Delaware State Police criminal investigation into Lt. Floyd’s death, so as to not interfere with that investigation. A separate internal investigation at the Department of Correction also is ongoing.
The independent review will explore the immediate and underlying causes of the hostage incident at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center, which began on Wednesday, February 1. The reviewer will develop a series of actionable recommendations to prevent a similar situation from happening in the future.