The Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Monitoring of Mail for High-Risk Inmates

Evaluation and Inspections Report I-2006-009
September 2006
Office of the Inspector General

Bid Position – A bid position is a post in which a BOP Correctional Officer can make a request for assignment.  Post assignments are generally based on seniority. BOP Administrative Facilities – Administrative facilities are institutions with special missions, such as the detention of pretrial offenders; inmates with serious medical problems; or the containment of extremely dangerous, violent, or escape-prone inmates. Administrative facilities include Metropolitan Correctional Centers, Metropolitan Detention Centers, Federal Detention Centers, and Federal Medical Centers, as well as the Administrative Maximum U.S. Penitentiary at Florence, Colorado. Administrative facilities are capable of holding inmates in all security categories. BOP Intelligence Operations Officer (IO) – The IO position exists at BOP institutions in select metropolitan areas such as the Metropolitan Correctional Centers and Metropolitan Detention Centers. This management-level position is supervised by the Intelligence Operations Officer (IO) located at the BOP Central Office in Washington, D.C. The IO works with law enforcement agencies and the courts to obtain information regarding inmates pending indictment or already in BOP custody. The information is to be used for determining the inmate’s security risk to the BOP and the public. BOP Unit Manager – The Unit Manager directs and manages an inmate housing unit and is responsible for the unit’s operation and security. The Unit Manager also is responsible for planning, developing, implementing, supervising, and coordinating individual programs for inmates, such as educational and vocational training, substance abuse treatment, counseling, and medical and health treatment. Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) – JTTFs are squads within the FBI’s field and select resident agency offices that focus primarily on addressing terrorism threats and preventing terrorist incidents. JTTFs are operational units that respond to terrorism leads and conduct terrorism investigations. The JTTFs pool the resources and expertise of multiple law enforcement agencies, federal, state, and local, to collect and share counterterrorism intelligence. JTTF Liaison – A JTTF liaison is not a participating member of the JTTF, but rather acts as a point-of-contact for an agency and may periodically attend JTTF meetings. JTTF Member – A member of the JTTF is supervised by and receives assignments from an FBI JTTF squad leader. These assignments could include assisting the JTTF in developing leads, conducting investigations, interviewing subjects, providing intelligence to the FBI on BOP inmates, and planning strategies for investigations to be conducted inside the BOP. Link Analysis – Link analysis is the process of identifying what relationships exist between objects that are not apparent from isolated pieces of information. Metropolitan Correctional Centers (MCC) and Metropolitan Detention Centers (MDC) – MCCs and MDCs are administrative facilities housing federal male and female inmates of all security levels who are primarily pretrial and holdover inmates (i.e., they have been convicted but are being held temporarily for a federal court appearance). National Crime Information Center (NCIC) – NCIC is a computerized index of criminal justice information (i.e., information on criminal histories, fugitives, stolen properties, missing persons, foreign fugitives, immigration violators, violent gangs, and terrorist organizations) maintained by the FBI. National Joint Terrorism Task Force (NJTTF) – The NJTTF is a multi-agency task force run by the FBI with representatives from the intelligence, law enforcement, defense, diplomatic, public safety, and homeland security communities. The NJTTF provides administrative, logistical, policy, financial, and training support and guidance to the JTTFs. According to the FBI, the NJTTF serves as the “point of fusion” for terrorism intelligence for the JTTFs, member agencies, and others in the intelligence community.