Officer’s death demands action

Lt. Steven Floyd was honored Feb. 5 in Georgetown. The first correctional officer killed in the line of duty in Delaware, Floyd died during an intense 19-hour siege at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna, where he had worked for 16 years. His death has been ruled a homicide.

Floyd's family and friends, many who live in Sussex County, gathered at town hall in Georgetown, first meeting privately with Gov. John Carney before streaming out into bright sunshine on The Circle for a ceremony of remembrance.

Officials said Floyd was an outstanding officer, husband and father. As one of his last acts, he focused on the safety of other officers, warning them so they didn't get swept up in the siege.

"I would like him to be remembered as the happy, smiling man that he was," said Geoff Klopp, president of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware. "The guy who worked with all the new guys and trained them, and went the extra mile for anyone he could help."

Klopp insisted Floyd did not have to die, pointing out a task force convened following a violent incident at the same facility in 2004 – when Carney was serving as lieutenant governor – recommended improvements to prison staffing and salaries.

But even after another violent incident in 2010, those recommendations were never implemented. As Klopp put it, "We didn't see any positive results in any way, shape or form."

More recently, settlement of a suit on behalf of prisoners in solitary confinement means those prisoners must be allowed time out of their cells – placing even more demands on a staff already stretched to its limits.

Delaware faces big budget deficits, but this prison rebellion demands a response - and not in the form of a task force.

Carney's praise of Floyd's life work will offer little true comfort unless staffing, pay and prison safety are improved.