Prison deaths report finds widespread missteps, failures in latest sign of crisis in federal prisons

WASHINGTON (AP) — The kind of systemic failures that enabled the high-profile prison deaths of notorious gangster Whitey Bulger and financier Jeffrey Epstein also contributed to the deaths of hundreds of other federal prisoners over the years, a watchdog report released Thursday found.

Mental health care, emergency responses and the detection of contraband drugs and weapons all are lacking, according to the latest scathing report to raise alarms about the chronically understaffed, crisis-plagued federal Bureau of Prisons.

The agency said it’s already taken “substantial steps” toward reducing preventable deaths, though it acknowledged there’s a need for improvements, including in mental heath care assessments.

The Justice Department watchdog report, triggered in part by those high-profile deaths, examined 344 deaths over the course of eight years. Investigators found policy violations and operational failures in many of those cases.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«READ MORE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> READ MORE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Pennsylvania courts say it didn’t a pay ransom in cyberattack, and attackers never sent a demand </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Man accused of killing deputy makes first court appearance </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> A Florida man was imprisoned 37 years for a murder he didn’t commit. He’s now expected to get $14M </bsp-custom-headline> </bsp-list-loadmore>

Among the 187 suicide cases, they found inmates whose mental health