CO Union President: Del. correctional officer assaulted; More hires need to be done

DELAWARE – In the first state, another assault on a correctional officer has taken place at a Delaware correctional facility.

The Department of Correction confirmed that a CO at Howard R. Young Correctional Center sustained an injury Wednesday morning.

47 ABC spoke to the union president for the correctional officers, Geoff Klopp, who says this CO sustained a traumatic fracture to his leg and now needs surgery. Klopp says this situation involved an inmate.

We’re told this highlights that tensions are high, CO’s are being overworked and there is still a lack of employees.

Klopp says they lose between 12-15 officers every months due to retirement or other employment and that they made minimal progress in the past year when it comes to recruiting officers. The real vacancy numbers are over 400.

Currently, they are trying to do contract negotiations to find a legitimate pay scale and compensation package.