Prison deaths report finds latest signs of widespread missteps and failures in federal prison crisis

WASHINGTON: A watchdog report released on Thursday found that systemic failures that led to the high-profile deaths in prison of notorious gangster Whitey Bulger and financier Jeffrey Epstein also led to the deaths of several others over the years. The deaths of hundreds of other federal prisoners.

The latest damning report shows a lack of mental health care, emergency response and detection of illegal drugs and weapons, raising alarm bells for the chronically understaffed and crisis-ridden federal Bureau of Prisons.

The agency said it has taken “substantial steps” to reduce preventable deaths but acknowledged improvements are needed, including in mental health care assessments.

The report by the Justice Department watchdog, which investigated 344 deaths over eight years, was prompted in part by these high-profile deaths. Investigators found policy violations and operational failures in many of these cases.

Of the 187 suicides, they found that some prisoners’ mental health assessments appeared to be faulty and that some prisoners were placed in single cells, which increased the risk of suicide.

In a third of suicide cases, staff failed to adequately examine inmates, which investigators also found was one of the reasons Epstein killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. In this case, authorities said, the guards were sleeping and shopping online instead of checking in every 30 minutes as required. The jail also failed to search his cell and never followed through on recommendations to assign him a cellmate, factors echoed in other cases.

The report looked at deaths from 2014 to 2021 and found that deaths had increased in recent years despite a decline in prisoner numbers. The report noted that in many cases, prison officials were unable to provide documentation required by their policies.

Investigators are focusing on potentially preventable deaths, not those who died while receiving medical care in jails.

The second-highest death toll recorded in the report was homicide, including Bulger, who was beaten to death by an inmate in 2018. Investigators found “significant deficiencies” in staff emergency response in more than half of the deaths, including a lack of emergency situations, hesitancy to use the opioid overdose drug naloxone and equipment issues. In one case, an inmate died after a medical staff accidentally turned off a defibrillator instead of charging it.

Illegal drugs and weapons were also responsible for one-third of the deaths, including 70 inmate overdose deaths, said Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz. The report found that in one case a prisoner managed to collect more than 1,000 pills in his cell despite numerous searches, including the day before his death.

The report noted that the system faced significant operational challenges, including outdated camera systems and extensive staffing reserves that turned overworked employees into “walking zombies,” some of whom were required to work 16-hour days. The report found one prison had been without a dedicated doctor for more than a year and many other prisons also lacked clinical staff, making it difficult to assess prisoners’ mental health and suicide risks.

“Today’s report identifies numerous operational and management deficiencies that created unsafe conditions before and at the time of many inmate deaths,” Horowitz said. “It is critical that the BOP addresses these challenges so that it can Operate a safe and humane facility and protect the inmates in its custody and care.”

“Any unexpected death of an adult in custody is a tragedy,” the Bureau of Prisons said, outlining steps it takes to prevent suicides, screen for contraband and provide opioid overdose reversal medications in prisons. The agency said it is also working to reduce the number of people living alone and prevent conflicts that could lead to homicides.

An ongoing Associated Press investigation has uncovered deep, previously unreported problems within the Bureau of Prisons, including rampant sexual abuse and other staff crimes, dozens of escapes, chronic violence, deaths and severe staffing shortages, These problems hampered responses to emergencies including prisoner attacks and suicides.

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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from Yonhap News Agency-The Associated Press)