A total of 344 inmates died from suicide, homicide, overdose, or other unexplained accidents from 2014 to 2021, according to the report. The majority of those deaths were suicides, and the majority of those suicides were by prisoners in solitary confinement.
The number of deaths gradually increased from 2014 to 2021, even as the federal prison population decreased to about 155,000 in 2024. In 2014, 38 inmates died from unnatural causes. The number of inmates in 2021 was 57.
Ultimately, the report concluded that the culture of neglect that led to the deaths of high-profile inmates Jeffrey Epstein and Whitey Bulger in recent years is pervasive in the prison system. Epstein. A convicted sex offender died by suicide while in federal custody. A separate inspector general report concluded that officials failed to conduct proper checks before hanging themselves.
Boston gangster Bulger was bludgeoned to death in his bed hours after being transferred to a new prison.
“Available BOP documents detailing the circumstances surrounding these inmate deaths indicate inadequate staff response to inmate emergencies, inadequate assessment and management of inmates at risk of suicide. , the report concludes, “[t]he BOP’s ability to collect, maintain, and learn from evidence and post-incident documentation is a key issue and contributing factor to recurring issues, such as failures in oversight, failures in oversight, and the BOP’s inability to collect, maintain, and learn from evidence and post-incident documentation.” ing.
Inspector General Michael Horowitz responded to a request for an investigation by Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) after a violent altercation at a federal facility in West Virginia left two D.C. residents dead. conducted an investigation into the prison system;
According to the report, federal policy requires staff to meet with residents in “restricted housing” at least twice an hour and no more than 40 minutes between check-ins. For at least 86 of the deaths, the medical examiner determined that officials were not conducting adequate check-in rounds.
In one case of suicide death, staff check-ins averaged 65 minutes between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. Officials also failed to properly search inmates’ cells for contraband items such as medicine, razors, and bed sheets.
After an inmate committed suicide, staff found more than 1,000 pills in his cell. Much of this contraband was smuggled in by drones dropping items into prison yards, often overnight.
Colette S. Peters, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, responded to the report in a 10-page letter, writing that her office is working to prevent these deaths.
“The unexpected death of an adult in custody is tragic,” Peters said. “That’s the next priority [Federal Bureau of Prisons] To meet the physical and mental health needs of people in our care and custody. ]