ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General released a report reviewing and auditing all of the federal prisons in the United States.
Among the 10 federal institutions, the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta was reported to have had the highest number of deaths from 2014 to 2021, according to officials.
Among the 68 deaths reviewed from that time period, 17 were in Atlanta.
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The report says there were “significant issues” with security camera functionality at the Atlanta USP, having both more inmate deaths and more camera issues than any other Federal Bureau of Prisons facility in the United States.
“Our analysis found that, of the BOP institutions that experienced inmate deaths, USP Atlanta had the greatest number of camera issues, accounting for over 10% (7 of 64) of the camera issues we associated with inmate deaths,” the DOJ reported.
The department report added that “During a separate 2023 OIG review of the BOP’s systemic operational challenges, we found that camera issues posed serious operational security risks to institutions, including USP Atlanta.”
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Additionally, the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary was cited as having a series of recommendations to place defibrillators closer to housing units or even inside them, saying that staff who were overseeing secure housing units needed refresher training on how to use the devices.
An earlier report from BOP in May 2023 said that “operational issues became so serious at U.S. Penitentiary (USP) Atlanta...that in 2021, the Federal Bureau of Prisons significantly limited operations at the” facility. USDOJ then had their inspector general assess how critical issues at institutions are identified, communicated to staff, and corrected. Similar issues were identified at the Metropolitan Correction Center in New York.
“At the outset of our limited-scope review, then BOP Executive Staff told us they had been largely aware of the long-standing operational issues at USP Atlanta and MCC New York and expressed confidence in the BOP’s existing mechanisms to communicate information about operational issues,” the report from 2023 reads.
The OIG also reported that the audit ratings for the USP Atlanta facility did not accurately reflect the conditions inside the prison, saying that the “specific audit ratings at USP Atlanta were in stark contrast to actual conditions there.”
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