Wilmington – The Delaware Department of Correction announces that a work release offender assigned to the Plummer Community Corrections Center failed to return to the facility from an authorized job seeking pass and is being sought by authorities. When the offender failed to return as required yesterday evening efforts were immediately made to locate him. Attempts to make contact with the offender have been unsuccessful and an escape warrant for his arrest has been issued.

Date of walkaway: May 21, 2015
Offender name: Ryan Koroma
Age: 24
Last known address: Wilmington, DE
Race/Gender: Black male
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 125 pounds
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
Aliases/Nicknames: N/A
Scars/Marks/Tattoos: Tattoo on neck
Current Offense: Koroma is serving a sentence of level 4 work release for a Violation of Probation of a conviction for Resisting Arrest.

Anyone with information about this offender’s whereabouts is asked to call (800) 542-9524 or their local police department.

Dover – The Department of Correction Friday marked the graduation of 43 individuals from its Correctional Employee Initial Training (CEIT) academy, which prepares new Correctional Officers and other staff for assignments in prison facilities across the state. These latest graduates consisted of 35 Correctional Officers, 5 Correctional Officer/Food Services Specialists, 2 Correctional Officer/Physical Plant Maintenance Mechanics, and 1 Correctional Counselor who took their oaths of office after successfully completing a rigorous 9-week program of classroom and hands-on training. With Friday’s graduation, more than 100 individuals have graduated from three academy classes that have taken place this year.

During remarks to the academy class and their families during a ceremony at the Department’s Dover headquarters, Commissioner Robert Coupe recognized the personal commitment of each graduate to public safety and spoke of their responsibilities as law enforcement officers. “As law enforcement professionals, whether we are working on the street or inside the prison walls, we are entrusted with power and authority by the citizens we serve and with it great responsibility,” Coupe said. “By completing your academy training you have earned the privilege to serve with the Department of Correction, and to be entrusted with the authority and responsibilities of your positions. But it doesn’t end here, as an Officer, Counselor or Service Specialist with the Department of Correction you will have to “earn” that privilege every day.”

During the ceremony, Correctional Officer candidates took the oath of office and received their facility assignments. Correctional Officer candidate Reynald Aguas was named Outstanding Cadet by Department of Correction training staff, and Correctional Officer candidate Rolanda Mulbah was selected by her peers as class speaker. Staff Lieutenant Phil Lawrence, the class Primary Instructor, commended his cadets for their hard work and perseverance and for holding true to the oft-repeated quote: “Through discipline and readiness we are masters of our fate.”

CEIT combines hands-on and classroom training in multiple subject areas, including inmate supervision, weapons familiarization, defensive tactics, emergency preparedness, report writing, substance abuse training, CPR/Basic First Aid and inter-personal communication.

CEIT Class 207 was led by the instruction team consisting of Primary Instructor, Staff Lt. Phil Lawrence, and Instructors Corporals Brian Lewis and Dallas Johnson, along with Drill Instructors, Corporals Latanya Smith, Otis Smith, and William Benton.

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Wilmington – The Delaware Department of Correction announces that a work release offender assigned to the Plummer Community Corrections Center in Wilmington has left the facility without authorization. This morning during an offender headcount, Zakai Smoke was found to be unaccounted for and a search of the facility failed to locate him. A subsequent review of security camera footage revealed that Smoke absconded over the perimeter wall during the overnight hours and proceeded on foot in the direction of Market Street. Attempts to make contact with Smoke have been unsuccessful and an escape warrant for his arrest has been issued.

Date of walkaway: April 29, 2015
Offender name: Zakai Smoke
Age: 31
Last known address: Wilmington, DE
Race/Gender: Black male
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 150 pounds
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
Aliases/Nicknames: N/A
Scars/Marks/Tattoos: Tattoos left and right shoulders
Current Offense: Smoke is serving a sentence of level 4 work release for a Violation of Probation of a conviction for Aggravated Menacing.

In addition, the Department of Correction also announces today that a work release offender assigned to the Morris Community Corrections Center in Dover has failed to return as required after leaving on an authorized pass. Offender Lance Parker departed the facility yesterday, April 28, on an approved job seeking pass, and did not return later in the day as required. Attempts to make contact with Parker have been unsuccessful and an escape warrant for his arrest has been issued.

Date of walkaway: April 28, 2015
Offender name: Lance Parker
Age: 24
Last known address: Felton, DE
Race/Gender: Black male
Height: 5’7”
Weight: 190 pounds
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
Aliases/Nicknames: Tattoos left and right arms
Current Offense: Parker is serving a nine month sentence of level 4 work release for a Violation of Probation of a conviction for Rape 3rd Degree.

Community Corrections Centers are Level 4 facilities where the Department of Correction manages offenders who are transitioning back into the community. These centers are not secured like Level 5 prisons, as offenders are permitted to the leave the facility to go to work, seek jobs or attend approved treatment sessions.

Anyone with information on these offenders is asked to call (800) 542-9524 or their local police department.

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Dover – The Delaware Department of Correction (DOC) today marked National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, observed this year from April 19-25, by reaffirming its commitment to engaging with survivors and their families and unveiling a new informational brochure for community members impacted by crime.

Last spring, Commissioner Robert Coupe strengthened DOC’s victim resources by establishing a statewide victim service coordinator position. Coupe hired experienced victim advocate Renee Buskirk as DOC’s first Victim Services Coordinator to serve as a direct point of contact for victims and to engage with state and local police agencies, the Attorney General’s office, and non-profit social service agencies in an effort to coordinate resources for victims as their cases move from the prosecution, through the term of offenders’ criminal sentences, and beyond.

“For many survivors of crime and their families, the arrest of a suspect and the conclusion of the prosecution are just two steps in a years-long recovery and healing process,” Commissioner Coupe said today. “Survivors and their families continue to need the support of the criminal justice system. That’s where our Victim Services program steps in to provide information about the DOC’s supervision of offenders who are serving criminal sentences and to offer referrals to services and programs that can support victims in their ongoing recovery.”

Commissioner Coupe reported today that over the past year DOC’s Victim Services Coordinator has responded to more than 1,400 inquiries. In response to those inquiries, the DOC has developed the Guide to Victim Services, an informational brochure that outlines several state resources for survivors and their families, features answers to frequently asked questions, and provides contact information for victim serving organizations. “We’re pleased that our enhanced victim services are meeting our goal of providing a new level of individual service to victims and families who have been impacted by offenders in our custody or in community-based supervision, and we hope that our new informational brochure empowers victims to reach out for help and engage in the correctional system,” Coupe said.

The DOC Victim Services Coordinator assists victims to:
• be prepared to participate in the correctional process, if they choose
• understand DOC’s role in supervising offenders who serve criminal sentences, including its supervision of offenders in prison and in the community
• obtain information and answers to questions surrounding the processes of incarceration and probation
• receive information and referrals to services
• register with VINELink, an automated notification system that allows crime victims to obtain real-time information about criminal court cases and changes in the custody status of offenders
• check eligibility for victim’s compensation
• establish Protection From Abuse (PFA) orders
• connect with domestic violence advocacy programs

DOC victim services contact information:
Renee Buskirk, Victim Services Coordinator
Phone: (302) 857-5440
E-mail: DOC_VictimServices@delaware.gov
Web: www.doc.delaware.gov (click on “Victim Services”)

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UPDATE: Department of Correction announces unauthorized departure of three offenders from Wilmington work release center

Two of the three work release offenders who left the Plummer Work Release Center without permission Sunday night have been taken into custody. Offenders Nycire Mills and Charles Hargroves were apprehended by Department of Correction Officers yesterday (Monday) afternoon in Wilmington. Both were charged with Escape After Conviction and Conspiracy 2nd Degree and were taken to Howard R. Young Correctional Center. At this time officers continue to search for offender Tommy Broomer who remains at large. Any members of the public with information on his whereabouts are asked to call (800) 542-9524 or their local police department.

Read the April 13 press release announcing the offenders’ unauthorized departure from the Plummer Community Corrections Center in Wilmington: https://news.delaware.gov/2015/04/13/department-of-correction-announces-unauthorized-departure-of-three-offenders-from-wilmington-work-release-center/

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