April 1, 2004–September 30, 2004
Office of the Inspector General
The Federal Bureau of Prisons
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The BOP operates a nationwide system of prisons and detention facilities to incarcerate those imprisoned for federal crimes and detain those awaiting trial or sentencing in federal court. The BOP has approximately 34,800 employees and operates 105 institutions, 6 regional offices, 2 staff training centers, and 28 community corrections management offices. The BOP is responsible for the custody and care of approximately 180,000 federal offenders, 153,000 of whom are confined in BOP-operated correctional institutions and detention centers. The remainder are confined in facilities operated by state or local governments or in privately operated facilities. |
Review of the BOP's Disciplinary System
The OIG previously reviewed the disciplinary systems of the USMS and the DEA. As the third major review of a component's disciplinary system, the OIG assessed the effectiveness of the BOP's system for investigating employee misconduct and disciplining employees when misconduct is confirmed. Specifically, we reviewed whether BOP employees properly reported misconduct; whether investigations were thorough; and whether disciplinary actions were reasonable, consistent, and timely.
We found that the investigative phase of the BOP's disciplinary process was thorough and the case files we reviewed were well documented. We also found no significant differences in how the BOP treated employees of different races, genders, job series, or grade levels during the disciplinary process. However, we identified several deficiencies in the BOP's disciplinary system:
- The BOP did not require all cases with sustained allegations to be fully adjudicated;
- The independence of the investigative and adjudicative phases could be compromised because the chief executive officers at each BOP facility have a role in both phases;
- The BOP did not ensure that its employees receive similar penalties for similar infractions BOP-wide;
- The BOP did not have written timeliness standards for processing misconduct allegations;
- The BOP did not monitor the reasonableness, consistency, and timeliness of disciplinary decisions; and
- BOP employees did not report all employee misconduct.
We made ten recommendations to help the BOP address these deficiencies. Among the recommendations were that the BOP establish a review process that ensures the investigative and adjudicative phases function independently and the BOP develop procedures to ensure that discipline is imposed consistently across all of its facilities. The BOP generally concurred with all but one of our recommendations.
The Process for Selecting Muslim Religious Services Providers
The OIG completed a review that examined the BOP's procedures for recruiting, selecting, and supervising individuals to provide Islamic religious services to approximately 9,000 BOP inmates who seek Islamic religious services. The OIG initiated this review in response to concerns from several members of Congress that the BOP relies solely on two Islamic groups to endorse its Muslim chaplains, and that these two groups allegedly are connected to terrorism and promote an exclusionary and extreme form of Islam.
The OIG's review found that while the BOP has made some improvements in how it selects and supervises Muslim religious services providers, a number of deficiencies remain. We found that the BOP typically does not examine the doctrinal beliefs of applicants for religious services positions to determine whether the applicants espouse extremist views that pose a security threat. In addition, we concluded that the BOP and the FBI had not adequately exchanged information regarding the possible connections to terrorism of Muslim organizations that endorse applicants for BOP religious services positions. We also found that because of a shortage of Muslim chaplains, inmates often lead Islamic religious services subject only to intermittent supervision from BOP staff members. This situation increases the risk that inappropriate messages will be delivered to inmates.
The OIG's report made 16 recommendations to help the BOP improve its process for selecting, screening, and supervising Muslim religious services providers. These recommendations include:
- More effectively using the expertise of its current Muslim chaplains to screen, recruit, and supervise Muslim services providers;
- Developing a strategy specifically targeted toward recruiting additional Muslim chaplains and contractors;
- Improving and increasing the information flow between the BOP and the FBI regarding the radicalization and recruitment of inmates;
- Requiring that all chaplain, religious contractor, and certain volunteer applicants be interviewed by at least one individual knowledgeable of the applicant's religion;
- Implementing additional security screening requirements for religious services providers; and
- Supervising inmate-led religious services more closely.
The BOP agreed to implement corrective action with regard to all but one of the recommendations.
During this reporting period, the OIG received 2,606 complaints involving the BOP. The most common allegations made against BOP employees included job performance failure, use of unnecessary force, official misconduct, and off-duty misconduct. The vast majority of complaints dealt with non-criminal issues that the OIG referred to the BOP's Office of Internal Affairs.
At the close of the reporting period, the OIG had 236 open cases of alleged misconduct against BOP employees. The criminal investigations cover a wide range of allegations, including bribery of a public official, sexual abuse of inmates, and introduction of contraband. The following are examples of cases investigated during this reporting period:
- A BOP correctional officer, two inmates, and a civilian were arrested, pled guilty, and were sentenced in the Eastern District of Texas on charges of bribery and conspiracy to introduce narcotics into a federal prison. An investigation by the OIG's Houston Area Office determined that the BOP correctional officer conspired with the inmates and the civilian to introduce four pounds of marijuana into the Federal Correctional Complex in Beaumont, Texas, in exchange for $3,000. The correctional officer was sentenced to 10 months' incarceration and 36 months' supervised release and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine.
- A BOP educational teacher assigned to the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Miami, Florida, was arrested and pled guilty to bribery of a public official. A joint investigation by the OIG's Miami Field Office and the FBI found that the teacher received approximately $66,000 from parents, relatives, and friends of a federal inmate under her supervision in return for a promise to provide benefits for the federal inmate. Some of the promised benefits included an early release from prison, food not provided by the prison, and the use of a cell phone. The teacher was sentenced to 18 months' incarceration and 36 months' supervised release, fined $20,000, and ordered to perform 400 hours of community service and participate in a drug and alcohol treatment program.
- A BOP correctional officer assigned to the Federal Medical Center-Carswell (FMC) in Ft. Worth, Texas, was arrested and pled guilty to an information filed in the Northern District of Texas charging him with having sex with inmates. An investigation by the OIG's Dallas Field Office determined that the correctional officer engaged in sexual relations on several occasions with four female inmates at the FMC. In addition, he smuggled contraband into the FMC. Sentencing is pending.
- A BOP correctional officer assigned to the FCI in Petersburg, Virginia, was arrested and pled guilty in the Eastern District of Virginia to willfully and knowingly making a materially false and fictitious statement. An investigation by the OIG's Washington Field Office developed evidence that the correctional officer was involved in a physical altercation with an inmate and the inmate suffered injuries that required surgery. The correctional officer submitted a written memorandum to his supervisor regarding the altercation, which he later admitted to the OIG contained materially false information. The correctional officer resigned from the BOP as a result of this investigation, and his sentencing is pending.
- A BOP correctional officer and a federal inmate assigned to the FCI in Victorville, California, were arrested and pled guilty in the Central District of California to charges of introducing narcotics into the prison and possessing narcotics in prison, respectively. An investigation by the OIG's Los Angeles Field Office determined that the correctional officer received a package containing one pound of marijuana from an outside source, smuggled it into the FCI, and delivered it to the inmate. Sentencing is pending for both the correctional officer and the inmate.
- A BOP correctional officer assigned to the Atwood Prison Camp of the FMC in Lexington, Kentucky, was arrested and entered a plea of no contest to charges of sexual abuse of a ward. An investigation by the OIG's Chicago Field Office determined that the correctional officer had engaged in sexual relations with a female inmate under his custodial supervision. Sentencing is pending.
The OIG prepares a Procedural Reform Recommendation (PRR) recommending corrective action by a Department component when an investigation identifies a systemic weakness in an internal policy, practice, procedure, or program. The following is an example of a PRR sent to the BOP during this reporting period.
An OIG PRR regarding the use of postage stamps as currency by BOP inmates was developed from information obtained in the course of several OIG investigations. The investigations disclosed that inmates frequently use postage stamps to purchase soft contraband and drugs, pay debts, engage in illegal gambling activities, and operate black market commissaries.
The PRR recommends that the BOP replace the process for issuing postage stamps to inmates with a metered postage system. This action would prevent inmates from using postage stamps as currency for illegal activities but still allow them to mail letters and legal correspondence. The BOP currently is considering the OIG's PRR.