I haven't been on here in several weeks so I'm very late to the conversation, but perhaps I can shed a little light and clear up some myths on this subject. I happen to know a little bit about this...wink wink. Epstein was in suicide watch for longer than most inmates are. Folks on here stated that Epstein should have remained on suicide watch the entire time he was being held. There are a few reasons that is not practical. The Bureau's standard protocol is to keep an inmate on suicide watch ONLY for the amount of time the inmate is showing active signs of trying to harm himself. He is placed in a room that typically has large thick glass windows on three sides. There are typically a number of cameras in the room in which a Correctional Officer (not a "guard"!) sits directly outside of the room and constantly maintains view of the inmate. If the inmate tries to harm himself in any manner, then typically a team will enter the suicide watch room and "four point" the inmate - he is handcuffed to the bed with special soft restraints - each limb to a different corner. His status is reviewed every hour to determine if he has gained control of himself in order to release him from the restraints. The inmate has NOTHING in the cell that he can hurt himself with. The inmate may be given a paper gown, but most often they only have their underwear given to them. The inmate's status on suicide watch is consistently monitored by a committee usually consisting of Correctional Services staff, Health Services staff, Psychology staff, and typically an Associate Warden. Generally, in order to keep an inmate on suicide watch for more than 72 hours, the institution must gain the approval of the Regional Office. There must be written documentation as to why the inmate has to be kept on suicide watch. The Bureau has been under tremendous pressure by numerous civil rights and human rights activists in recent years regarding the housing of inmates in isolation, which has led to many revisions to its protocols in order to keep inmates in the least confines necessary. Again typically speaking, the Staff Psychologist is going to conduct interviews routinely with the inmate, and once they believe the inmate is no longer a threat to himself, they will remove the inmate from formal suicide watch and place him in Administrative Detention, (read "segregation"), under general suicide prevention rules. Someone pointed out that Epstein's attorneys requested he be taken off of suicide watch - let me assure you that would gain no traction what-so-ever with institution staff - they could not care less what his damn lawyers wanted. Once back in A.D. as it's referred to, there are no cameras in the cell, but there will be cameras at each end of the "range", the hallway that runs down between the cells. It's true that Epstein would have had a cell mate, but here's the catch, the cell mate must be one that is NOT conflicted with Epstein. If they had to move the cell mate out for any reason, then in order to place another inmate in Epstein's cell they would have had to thoroughly review any prospective inmates' history to ensure the inmate would not be a danger to Epstein. Now can you imagine how hard that would be? You can't just pull an inmate from general population and place them in A.D., so the inmate would have to be from some other cell in A.D. - which by and large, may not amount to any more than 25 inmates or so at any given time. About the only other inmate that would be suitable would be an inmate who is an accused pedophile, and one who is not violent at that. Now, on to the staff part. Yes the Bureau is extremely short-staffed. This is not the Bureau's fault, it is Congress' fault. Every Federal agency asks for a budget each year in order to ensure they have enough to operate. In the Bureau of Prisons, this means the budget must be sufficient to ensure the safety and welfare of staff and inmates, and that each institution can be operate in a secure and orderly fashion. The Bureau has well over a hundred facilities throughout the U.S., including Puerto Rico and Hawaii. Each stand-alone facility has a budget requirement of between 30 and 60 million dollars each fiscal year. That adds up. Staffing comes from an entirely different budget supplied through Congress, which often leads to staff shortfalls. That's why you are reading that the Staff that were suppose to be monitoring Epstein were working numerous overtime shifts, as well as one of the staff members being placed on mandatory overtime from another department. This is referred to as "augmenting." ALL staff who work within the confines of a Federal prison are classified as Law Enforcement officers and they must pass through the law enforcement academy - they are trained correctional workers - including Secretaries, Business Office staff, Human Resources staff, etc... everyone. They may not be as familiar with the instant confines of where they are working as a permanent correctional officer, notwithstanding, they are trained to work correctional posts the same as anyone. Now, with all that said, obviously there was a lapse in protocol and security, which allowed Epstein to hang himself. Epstein was not murdered. He set out to kill himself and he found the time to do it. If an inmate is bound and determined to kill himself, believe me, it's gonna happen. There is an on-going investigation by the Bureau's Inspector General. The staff responsible for decision-making as well as the staff who were suppose to monitor him will be held accountable. If anyone has questions I'd be happy to try an answer them.
