Book Description
"BOP operates 117 federal prisons tohouse approximately 178,000 federaloffenders, and contracts with privatecompanies and some stategovernments to house about another40,000 inmates. BOP calculates thenumber of prisoners that each BOPruninstitution can house safely andsecurely (i.e., rated capacity). GAOwas asked to address (1) the growth inBOP's population from fiscal years2006 through 2011 and BOP'sprojections for inmate population andcapacity; (2) the effects of a growingfederal prison population on operationswithin BOP facilities, and the extent towhich BOP has taken actions tomitigate these effects; and (3) actionsselected states have taken to reducetheir prison populations, and the extentto which BOP has implemented similarinitiatives.GAO analyzed BOP's inmatepopulation data from fiscal years 2006through 2011, BOP's 2020 long-rangecapacity plan, and BOP policies andstatutory authority. GAO visited fivefederal prisons chosen on the basis ofgeographic dispersion and varyingsecurity levels. The results are notgeneralizable, but provide informationon the effects of a growing prisonpopulation. GAO selected five statesbased on actions they took to mitigatethe effects of their growing prisonpopulations-and assessed the extentto which their actions would bepossible for BOP. GAO makes norecommendations in this report. BOPprovided technical clarifications, whichGAO incorporated where appropriate"
