Serious Failures in Federal Prisons Contributed to Hundreds of Inmate Deaths: Report

Federal prison can be deadly. In the seven years from 2014 to 2021, a total of 344 inmates died while in custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), an average of 49 deaths a year, a report released this week said. The report, prepared by the Office of Inspector General (OIG), found serious job performance and management failures that created unsafe conditions related to some deaths and recurring issues after an inmate’s death that limited the BOP’s ability to identify ways to minimize future risks. More than half of the 344 inmate deaths were by suicide. While the BOP has policies in place to prevent suicide, the report notes a combination of recurring policy violations and operational failures contributed to inmate suicides. Often, inmate assessments were not completed to identify and address suicide risks....