By Ryan J. Relly—
NBC News
The Federal Bureau of Prisons failed to prevent
the deaths of 187 inmates who committed suicide
over the course of eight years in its prisons, a Justice Department watchdog concluded in a report. .
The investigation, led by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, “found that a combination of recurring policy violations and operational failures contributed to the inmate suicides.”
The report was based on a review of the deaths of 344 inmates between fiscal years 2014 and 2021, of whom 187 took their own lives.
Horowitz said “numerous operational and management deficiencies” created unsafe conditions that contributed to many of the deaths.
With the right protocols and resources, suicides are almost always preventable.
The Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York where financier Jeffrey Epstein was found dead. Jeenah Moon / Reuters file
The report focused on deaths that were likely preventable and not on deaths with more complex health care issues.
It found “numerous cases of potentially inappropriate mental health evaluations” for inmates who later died by suicide, and discovered that more than half of these inmates were in “single-cell confinement,” more commonly described as solitary, when they were removed. life.
The inspector general's report noted that a former official told them that placing inmates in single-cell confinement “facilitates inmate suicide” due to increased isolation and that they are “at greater risk of being able to take their own life” without a companion. .
According to the document, under these conditions, “the inmates were able to develop suicidal ideas and finally committed suicide.”
[A Latino stabbed to death inside a maximum security prison in California]
Prison staff “failed to properly conduct required inmate rounds and headcounts in more than one-third of inmate suicides,” and at times staff “failed to communicate with each other or coordinate efforts between departments to provide necessary treatment.” or monitoring prisoners in danger,” the report said.
The investigation follows the inspector general's reviews of what went wrong in the lead-up to the deaths by suicide of millionaire and abuser Jeffrey Epstein, as well as Whitey Bulger.
The number of suicides within the BOP system was higher in the last four years of the inspector general's review than in the first half of the review period, even though the total number of inmates fell dramatically during those years, from 214,149. in 2014 to 144,448 in 2021.
Many federal facilities failed to conduct “suicide drills” that they are required to conduct three times a year (once per shift), and, according to the report, 67 of the 194 facilities “were unable to provide evidence that they conducted a single drill from 2018 to 2020.” ”.
In one inmate suicide case, officials stated that they had searched the cell three times (including the day before the incident) and found no contraband.
However,
more than 1,000 pills were found inside the same cell
after his death from an overdose, according to the inspector general.
Chronic staffing problems at the BOP contributed to the problems, the report said.
If you or someone you know may be at risk,
call
or text
the Suicide Prevention Lifeline
number
988 , which offers free, confidential,
Spanish -language support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.