Former prison warden, Frank Thompson, has urged repeal of Delaware’s death penalty. In an op-ed for The News Journal of Delaware, the former warden, who has personally overseen two executions, describes “the immeasurable burden that th[e execution] process places on correctional officers” and the trauma experienced by correctional officers who must carry out executions. Thompson says, “Many of us who have taken part in this process live with nightmares, especially those of us who have participated in executions that did not go smoothly. Correctional officers who carry out execution can suffer from post-traumatic stress, drug and alcohol addiction, and depression.” He explains that capital punishment does nothing to “increase the safety of prison staff or inmates.” “Every warden in America knows the established protocols that effectively keep prisons safe for corrections staff and inmates,” he says. “These include programs to treat inmates with alcohol and drug dependency or mental illnesses, appropriate inmate-to-staff ratios for the proper supervision of prisoners, adequate activities and work programs, and effective classification systems that provide guidance on how to properly house and program inmates…I am not aware of and have not heard of a single prison administrator who would trade any of these programs or resources in order to keep the death penalty.” Thompson concludes by calling on the Delaware legislature to “repeal its death penalty and lead the way on smarter crime prevention policy by reinvesting the millions of dollars that the state currently spends on capital punishment into programs that will actually improve public safety.” Read the full op-ed below.

Ex-warden: Death penalty doesn’t make guards safer

More than once, during a heated discussion about the death penalty, I have heard someone exclaim, “I would pull the switch!” or “Who cares if these guys suffer during execution!” I certainly understand – and even share – the desire to hold people who commit brutal and violent crimes accountable, but as a former warden who has carried out two executions, I can honestly say that the death penalty just isn’t worth the human and financial toll it takes on the state and its employees.

As someone who has led an execution team and given the order to “proceed,” I am acutely aware of the immeasurable burden that this process places on correctional officers, and I am continuously being informed, by those who have been personally and directly involved in executing someone, of the awful, lifelong repercussions that can occur as a result in carrying out executions.

Many of us who have taken part in this process live with nightmares, especially those of us who have participated in executions that did not go smoothly. Correctional officers who carry out execution can suffer from post-traumatic stress, drug and alcohol addiction, and depression.

I also know from experience that the death penalty doesn’t increase the safety of prison staff or inmates. There is no relationship between having the death penalty and operating safe prisons.

Every warden in America knows the established protocols that effectively keep prisons safe for corrections staff and inmates. When violence takes place in a prison, it is most often because of either human error or negligence, or it is because there was insufficient funding in the system to have well known and established violence prevention tools and protocols available.

Cutting back on effective programs can create an unsafe environment for staff and inmates. These include programs to treat inmates with alcohol and drug dependency or mental illnesses, appropriate inmate-to-staff ratios for the proper supervision of prisoners, adequate activities and work programs, and effective classification systems that provide guidance on how to properly house and program inmates. The known violence prevention tools also include having adequate training for staff, having well-designed correctional facilities, and having adequate staffing patterns for all institutions.

I am not aware of and have not heard of a single prison administrator who would trade any of these programs or resources in order to keep the death penalty. During my more than two decades of running correctional facilities, I saw the population of those who are capable of extreme violence up close. I have no doubt that these offenders did not think about the death penalty for one second before committing violence.

Right now, Delaware has an opportunity to repeal its death penalty and lead the way on smarter crime prevention policy by reinvesting the millions of dollars that the state currently spends on capital punishment into programs that will actually improve public safety.

Study after study has shown that the death penalty is far more expensive than locking up prisoners for life without parole – without providing any additional benefit to society. If Delaware redirects the enormous amount of tax dollars that are currently spent trying to execute a handful of offenders who are already safely behind bars to law enforcement agencies so that they can solve more cases and fund the programs needed for keeping our correctional institutions safe, we will all be better off.

Replacing the death penalty with a sentence of life without the possibility of parole does not excuse the horrific acts these individuals have committed. This is a severe punishment that allows Delaware to use its limited public safety dollars more wisely, and removes the monumental responsibility placed on correctional officers to take a human life in the name of a public policy that does not work.

Frank Thompson has worked in corrections for 22 years. He previously worked as an assistant director of institutions and superintendent of the Oregon State Penitentiary, and as warden of prisons for the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

(F. Thompson, “Ex-warden: Death penalty doesn’t make guards safer,” The News Journal, April 1, 2015.) See New Voices and Deterrence.