United States: privately run federal prison poses safety risks for inmates, says DOJ inspector general

A new report by the Department of Justice’s Inspector General says a privately-run federal prison in Kansas put the safety of its inmates in jeopardy because of understaffing, overcrowding and poor training.

The facility in question — The Leavenworth Detention Center — is a 1,200 bed maximum-security facility is run by CoreCivic, under a contract reached with the U.S. Marshals Service.

“[I]n our judgment, the [U.S. Marshal Service’s] lack of effective continuous monitoring at the [Leavenworth prison] presents risks that may extend throughout all its other contract detention facilities,” the audit said.

The audit made 24 recommendations for the facility after the review, which took place between 2010 and 2015.

One of the biggest issues was the lack of correctional officer vacancies. At times, 23 percent of guard positions remained vacant.

“These correctional officer vacancies led to several problems in 2015, including the LDC’s long-term use of mandatory overtime, which LDC personnel said led to lower morale, security concerns, and fewer correctional officers available to escort medical staff and detainees to and from the health services unit,” the audit said.

Another discovery was the U.S. Marshal’s decision to not punish CoreCivic for failing to uphold terms of the deal on run the facility.

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