Very informative report. -Angela
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
The Federal Bureau of Prisons ( BOP
), which is the component of the Department of Justice (Department) responsible
for incarcerating all federal defendants sentenced to prison, was operating at 20 percent over its rated capacity as of December 2015. To help alleviate overcrowding and respond to
congressional mandates , in 1997 the BOP
had begun contracting with privately operated institutions ( often referred to as “contract
prisons ”) , at first on a smaller scale and later more extensively, to confine federal inmates who are primarily low security, criminal alien adult males with 90 months or
less remaining to serve on their sentences.
As of December 2015 , contract prisons house d roughly 22, 660 of these federal inmates , or about 12 percent of the BOP’s total inmate
population . These contract prisons were
operated by three private
corporations: Corrections Corporation of
America; GEO Group, Inc.; and Management and Training Corporation.
The BOP’s annual expenditures on contract prisons increased
from approximately $562 million in fiscal year (FY) 2011 to $639 million in FY
2014. In recent years, disturbances in several federal contract pri sons resulted in extensive property damage, bodily injury, and the death
of a Correctional Officer.
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG ) initiated this review to
examine how the BOP monitors these facilities. We also assessed whether contractor performance meets certain inmate safety and
security requirements and analyzed how contract prisons and similar BOP
institutions compare with regard to inmate safety and security data. We found that, in most key areas, contract
prisons incurred more safety and
security incidents per capita than comparable BOP institutions and that the BOP needs to improve
how it monitors contract prisons in several
areas . Throughout this report, we note several important corrective actions the
BOP has taken, in response to findings
and recommendations in our April 2015 audit
of the Reeves County contract prison, to improve its monitoring of contract prisons , including in the areas of health and
correctional services.
The BOP’s administration, monitoring, and oversight of contract pri sons
is conducted through three branches at BOP headquarters and on site . According to the BOP, at each
contract prison, two BOP onsite monitors and a BOP Contracting
Officer , in cooperation with other BOP subject matter experts , oversee each contractor’s compliance with 29 vital functions
within 8 operational areas , including correctional programs , correctional services ,
and health services .
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