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Nine staff members at Vaughn Correctional Center suspended

James Morrison
/
Delaware Public Media

Several Department of Correction employees working at the Vaughn Correction Center in Smyrna have been suspended.

Delaware's Department of Correction has suspended nine staff members while it investigates whether a violation of department policy or procedure recently took place at Vaughn.

A DOC spokesperson says the suspensions stem from the transport of an inmate from his housing unit to the infirmary for medical inspection – but would not offer further details since it is a personnel investigation.

DOC adds it “takes seriously any alleged incidents of misconduct and reported incidents are thoroughly investigated.”

The nine staff members have been placed on administrative leave.

In February, a 19-hour prison riot resulted in the death of correctional officer Lt. Stephen Floyd.  His widow and other employees held hostage during the siege have filed a federal lawsuit - claiming poor oversight of the prison helped lead to the riot.

Other inmates and their families have also complained of mistreatment at Vaughn in the wakes of the February uprising.

And an independent review of the riot released in early June pointed to a lack of properly trained staff, and poorly implemented policies as some of the factors that led to the uprising.

Tom Byrne has been a fixture covering news in Delaware for three decades. He joined Delaware Public Media in 2010 as our first news director and has guided the news team ever since. When he's not covering the news, he can be found reading history or pursuing his love of all things athletic.
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