Press Releases

Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement today after learning that the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has finally allowed for a pepper spray pilot program to go forward in federal prisons:

“I’m very pleased to see that our efforts produced results.  I want to commend the brave prison guards at the U.S. Penitentiary (USP) in Lee County for their persistent efforts in applying pressure to the BOP director to help him finally see the validity of this pilot program. 

“On October 21, 2011, USP Lee Correctional Officer Adam Delp was viciously assaulted by an inmate with an improvised weapon.  Carrying only a radio, Officer Delp had nothing to defend himself during the attack.  Officer Delp suffered multiple wounds to his face before other correctional officers were able to help restrain the attacker.  Fortunately, Officer Delp’s injuries were not life threatening, but I worry that future incidents could result in more tragic outcomes. 

“While we wait for the details of the pilot program to unfold, I’m glad to see this important first step has been taken to better protect our federal prison guards.  I sincerely hope that pepper spray will improve the chances of preventing injuries to prison guards similar to those suffered by Officer Delp.”

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