Department of Justice (DOJ) Acting Inspector General William M. Blier announced today the release of a report on the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) oversight of the use of restraints. BOP staff are authorized to use force and physical restraints to gain control of an inmate to protect and ensure the safety of other inmates and staff, prevent serious property damage, and ensure institution security and good order.
The DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) identified concerns with the BOP’s oversight of its use of restraints during use of force incidents.
The OIG’s findings included the following:
- The BOP Should Clarify the Purpose of Required Real-Time Notifications to Regional Directors. BOP policy requires Wardens to verbally notify Regional Directors in real-time when restraints are used on inmates for lengthy periods of time. However, BOP policy does not identify a defined purpose of these notifications or what Regional Directors are expected to do in response.
- The BOP Needs Accurate Incident Data in Order to Conduct Effective After-Action Reviews. We found instances where BOP’s data did not match supporting documentation concerning the total length of time in restraints or the length of time in each type of restraint.
- The BOP Should Have Standard Procedures for Regional Office Reviews of After-Action Reports. While we found that the BOP’s regional offices completed reviews of use of force and application of restraints incidents, the reviews varied substantially in terms of substance, documentation, and timeliness. We concluded this is likely due to BOP policy lacking guidance on how regional offices should conduct and document reviews, or when they are expected to complete them.
- The BOP Should Develop a Reliable Notification and Tracking Process for Regional Office Reviews. The BOP lacks a mechanism for notifying regional offices that After-Action Reports are ready for review and for tracking regional office review completion. A reliable process is critical to ensure that reviews are completed in a timely fashion and that critical issues identified in those reviews are addressed promptly.
- The BOP Should Ensure Video Recordings are Being Timely Provided to Regional Offices. BOP policy requires its institutions to use a handheld video camera to record restraint incidents as soon as feasible and provide the video to regional offices within 4 working days for review. However, we found that the BOP did not have a reliable method for providing the videos to the regional office and lacked controls to track compliance with the 4-day requirement.
- The BOP Should Put in Place a Process to Address Systemic Issues and Violations Identified During Reviews. We found that the BOP does not have a process for tracking, addressing, or mitigating systemic issues identified during incident reviews.
The DOJ OIG made 10 recommendations to improve the BOP’s oversight of the use of restraints. The BOP agreed with all 10 recommendations.
High-resolution versions of the photos included in today’s report are available upon request.