Bureau of Prisons: Strategic Approach Needed to Prevent and Address Employee Misconduct
Fast Facts
The Bureau of Prisons receives thousands of employee misconduct allegations each year, including unexcused absences and physical abuse. As of February 2025, the bureau had 12,153 employee misconduct cases awaiting investigation or discipline.
The bureau has taken steps to reduce the number of pending cases, but its caseload management approach isn't comprehensive. For example, the bureau hasn't
Analyzed employee misconduct data to identify trends across more than 2 years
Developed a plan with clear milestones, roles, and responsibilities for reducing the pending caseload
Our recommendations address these issues and more.
A man’s hand is using one of many keys to open a prison gate, beyond which is a long, fluorescent-lit hallway.
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has policies and procedures on employee misconduct but has not fully communicated them. In June 2024, BOP updated its Standards of Employee Conduct and provides ongoing training on these standards. However, BOP is not sharing and using feedback from employees on the training, which is inconsistent with leading practices. Doing so would better position BOP to improve the training’s design, delivery, and overall effectiveness in preventing employee misconduct.
Additionally, BOP uses orientation handbooks and signs posted in facilities to inform incarcerated individuals how to report certain employee misconduct. However, the handbooks and signs discuss sexual misconduct rather than a broader range of allegations, such as contraband and physical abuse. Developing a communication strategy to fully inform incarcerated individuals about employee misconduct offenses that affect their health and safety could increase awareness about the standards BOP is trying to uphold and help ensure facility safety and employee accountability.
Further, BOP has not fully incorporated data analysis and planning into how it manages employee misconduct. For example, BOP collects employee misconduct data but does not assess these data to identify trends in misconduct across more than 2 years. By developing and implementing an approach to routinely and fully assess employee misconduct data over more than 2 years, BOP could better focus its efforts to prevent and address misconduct.
BOP increased staff and took other steps to reduce its employee misconduct caseload, but about 37 percent of the 12,153 cases open as of February 2025 had been unresolved for 3 years or longer. BOP’s approach to investigating and disciplining employee misconduct does not include establishing milestones or designating responsibilities to key officials. Implementing a comprehensive plan with these elements would help BOP allocate the resources necessary for investigating and disciplining employee misconduct cases, achieve desired results, and enhance safety and efficiency.
Length of Time Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Employee Misconduct Cases Had Been Open as of February 2025
Note: Includes cases reported from October 2013 through February 2025 that remained open as of February 27, 2025, when BOP retrieved the data from its system. While BOP’s Office of Internal Affairs investigates most cases, a small number are investigated by the Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General or another body, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Why GAO Did This Study
Each year, BOP receives and investigates thousands of employee misconduct allegations. These include sexual abuse of incarcerated individuals, unprofessional conduct, and failure to follow policy. The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported that BOP’s operational challenges have resulted in lengthy investigations and backlogged cases.
GAO was asked to review BOP’s efforts to prevent and address employee misconduct. This report examines (1) the extent to which BOP has established and communicated policies and procedures on employee misconduct and (2) the extent to which BOP has incorporated data analysis and planning into misconduct management, among other issues.
GAO analyzed BOP policy and data from October 2013 through February 2025 and interviewed BOP officials. GAO also interviewed staff and incarcerated individuals from three BOP complexes, selected in part to represent a variety of locations.
Recommendations
GAO is making eight recommendations to BOP, including the following:
- Develop an approach for sharing and using employee feedback on relevant training.
- Develop a communication strategy to fully inform incarcerated individuals about employee misconduct offenses that affect their health and safety.
- Routinely and fully assess misconduct data to identify and address trends.
- Implement a comprehensive plan for investigating and disciplining employee misconduct cases.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Bureau of Prisons | The Director of BOP should revise BOP's program statement on investigative policy to correctly cite Kalkines v. United States as the applicable legal decision for the administrative warning that OIA conveys before conducting compelled interviews. (Recommendation 1) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Bureau of Prisons | The Director of BOP should develop and implement a communication strategy that fully informs incarcerated individuals about employee misconduct offenses that affect their health and safety. (Recommendation 2) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Bureau of Prisons | The Director of BOP should (a) develop a routine and systematic approach for sharing employee feedback specific to the Standards of Employee Conduct training with regional and central offices and (b) use this feedback to help improve its design, delivery, and overall effectiveness. (Recommendation 3) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Bureau of Prisons | The Director of BOP should develop and implement an approach to routinely and fully assess employee misconduct data, identify trends across more than 2 years and within and across facilities, and identify any challenge areas to help focus efforts to prevent and address employee misconduct. (Recommendation 4) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Bureau of Prisons | The Director of BOP, after implementing routine assessments of employee misconduct data, should implement targeted approaches to address the identified trends and challenge areas in employee misconduct. (Recommendation 5) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Bureau of Prisons | The Director of BOP should document and implement a comprehensive plan that establishes responsibilities, measurable goals, and milestones for investigating and disciplining employee misconduct cases to ensure accountability for meeting those goals. (Recommendation 6) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Bureau of Prisons | The Director of BOP should (a) establish target time frames for each step in the employee disciplinary process and (b) designate responsibilities for developing and implementing a method of routinely evaluating the extent to which it is meeting targets. (Recommendation 7) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
|
| Bureau of Prisons | The Director of BOP, after establishing target time frames for steps in the employee disciplinary process, should develop and implement an approach to identify and address any delays in the employee disciplinary process that hinder its ability to meet target time frames. (Recommendation 8) |
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
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