A component of DOJ, BOP has obligations to confine offenders in a controlled, safe, and humane prison environment, while providing a safe workplace where officers can perform their duties without fear of injury or assault. In fiscal year 2010, $6.2 billion was appropriated for BOP to carry out its mission. For all 116 of its institutions, BOP has dedicated an average of almost $17 million annually from fiscal year 2000 through 2010 to expenditures that include protective equipment for its officers. In fiscal year 2010, BOP oversaw more than 209,000 inmates, housing more than 170,000 of these inmates in its 116 institutions. In addition, BOP utilizes privately managed secure facilities; residential re-entry centers— also known as halfway houses; bed space secured through agreements with state and local entities; and home confinement to house inmates. In fiscal year 2010, more than 22,000 inmates—or about 11 percent of the 209,000 inmates overseen by BOP—were housed in privately managed facilities, while more than 14,000—or about 7 percent—were housed in residential re-entry centers, bed space secured through agreements with state or local entities, or home confinement. BOP’s 116 institutions generally have one of four security level designations: minimum, low, medium, and high. The designations depend on the level of security and staff supervision the institution is able to provide, such as the presence of security towers; perimeter barriers; the type of inmate housing, including dormitory, cubicle, or cell-type housing; and the staff-to-inmate ratio. Further, BOP designates some of its institutions as administrative institutions, which specifically serve inmates awaiting trial, or those with intensive medical or mental health conditions, regardless of the level of supervision these inmates require. To determine the institution in which an inmate is confined, BOP considers the level of security and supervision the inmate requires and that the institution is able to provide; the inmate’s rehabilitation needs; the level of overcrowding at the institution; and any recommendations from the court at the inmate’s sentencing. Table 1 depicts the percentage of inmates incarcerated in BOP institutions, by security level of the institution in fiscal year 2010. Since fiscal year 2000, BOP’s inmate population has grown by 45 percent, as shown in figure 1. See appendix II for information on the characteristics of BOP’s inmate population. BOP tracks information related to inmate assaults on staff in two data systems: SENTRY and TRUINTEL. First created in 1974, BOP’s SENTRY system maintains most of BOP’s operational and management information, such as inmate data and property management data, among others. According to the Acting Director of BOP’s Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE), SENTRY was updated in 1997 to capture reports of inmate incidents, including assaults on staff. Assaults on staff can include a variety of violent acts. For instance, BOP officials with whom we spoke provided examples of assaults, such as stabbing a staff member with a homemade weapon, punching or kicking staff, or throwing bodily fluids on a staff member. Assaults are classified as serious or less serious based upon the injury sustained or intended as a result of the assault. For instance, officials at one BOP institution reported that they would classify an assault in which an inmate threw food at an officer as a less serious assault, but an assault in which the officer was stabbed as a serious assault. To report an inmate assault on a BOP staff member in SENTRY, BOP instructs its personnel to follow the procedures for incident reporting and investigations described in BOP’s Program Statement on Inmate Discipline and Special Housing Units. Figure 2 depicts this process. In addition to the information captured in SENTRY, BOP’s TRUINTEL system—created in October 2009—provides BOP with a number of capabilities, including an intelligence gathering function that provides real- time information on assaults on staff. Unlike SENTRY, Correctional Services Branch officials reported that TRUINTEL captures only data from the initial incident report, and is not updated based on the subsequent investigation or hearings related to the assault. According to these officials, TRUINTEL allows managers at BOP institutions to see trends in incidents, including assaults, across BOP institutions. The Correctional Services Branch officials stated that if an assault on an officer occurs, an individual at the institution—generally the lieutenant on duty—completes a Form 583 Report of Incident (Form 583) in the TRUINTEL system, indicating that the incident was an assault on staff. The lieutenant also records information on the incident’s cause, such as alcohol or a disrespect issue; the inmate(s) involved in the assault; whether restraints were applied to the inmate; and whether any lethal or less-than-lethal weapons were used to resolve the incident. The officer involved in the assault may also submit a description of the incident, which is entered into the Form 583. After the lieutenant completes the Form 583, the institution’s captain generally reviews the report before it is reviewed and finalized by the institution’s warden. Once the warden finalizes the Form 583, managers across BOP institutions can view the information in the TRUINTEL system. Further, following any incident involving an officer’s use of force against an inmate, such as the use of a less-than-lethal weapon, BOP requires that a Form 586 After Action Review Report be completed in TRUINTEL. To complete this report, an after action review committee first meets to review the incident. The facility’s warden, the associate warden responsible for correctional services, the health services administrator, and the captain comprise this review committee and their purpose is to assess the rationale for why the staff involved took the actions or used the equipment they did. The committee also determines if these actions, including the use of any equipment, were appropriate given BOP policy. Since BOP’s inmate population changes each year, BOP calculates the rate of inmate assaults—both of a serious and less serious nature—per 5,000 inmates incarcerated based on the information submitted in its SENTRY system. For example, in fiscal year 2010, the total number of assaults on staff was almost 1,700, for a rate of about 49 serious and less serious assaults per 5,000 inmates. Figure 3 displays the serious and less serious assaults on BOP staff, as recorded in SENTRY from fiscal year 2000 through 2010. As the trends illustrate, less serious assaults have followed a generally upward trend, while serious assaults have experienced fewer fluctuations over time. According to BOP officials from the Correctional Services Branch, upward trends in assault data may be influenced by a number of factors, including the number of inmates affiliated with gangs, the staff-to-inmate ratio in the institutions experiencing assaults, or the opening of additional BOP institutions because inmates incarcerated in these new institutions are not familiar with each other, which can lead to initial tension between the inmates. Correspondingly, the officials explained that the decrease in assaults may be a result of the inmate population at a new institution stabilizing and becoming less tense. In addition, the officials reported that the downward trend in assaults from 2009 to 2010 may be related to BOP creating Special Management Units (SMU) to house inmates who present unique security and management concerns, such as those who participated or had a leadership role in gang activity, by removing them from other BOP facilities. While these data systems track inmate assaults on staff while staff are on duty, officers may also encounter former inmates or inmates’ families or associates while in the community, including while commuting to and from work. In part due to these potential threats to officers’ safety in their communities, the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act of 2004 (LEOSA) was passed. LEOSA exempts qualified law enforcement officers and qualified retired law enforcement officers from state and local laws that prohibit carrying concealed firearms. BOP staff who have primary and secondary law enforcement status are “qualified law enforcement officers” as defined by statute and qualify to carry concealed firearms. However, with limited exceptions, BOP prohibits anyone, including officers, from storing personal firearms carried while commuting to and from work on institution property. In addition to BOP, other federal government and nongovernmental organizations also engage in activities that relate to officer safety. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is DOJ’s research, development, and evaluation component. In addition to awarding grants and cooperative agreements to research, develop, and evaluate criminal justice programs, NIJ coordinates various technical working groups comprised of subject matter experts who work in the field of criminal justice to address a variety of law enforcement issues. Three of NIJ’s technical working groups relevant to officer safety in correctional settings are: Institutional Corrections, Personal Protective Equipment, and Less Lethal Technologies. Further, NIJ funds the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC), which assists state, local, tribal, and federal correctional agencies, as well as law enforcement and criminal justice agencies, in addressing technology needs and challenges, which can help address officer safety. In addition, BOP’s National Institute of Corrections (NIC) provides training, technical assistance, information services, and policy and program development assistance to federal, state, and local correctional agencies. The NIC also maintains an extensive library of research and evaluations related to corrections, including those related to officer safety. Further, the Office of Law Enforcement Standards within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the Department of Commerce, helps criminal justice, public safety, emergency responder, and homeland security agencies make decisions, primarily by developing performance standards, measurement tools, operating procedures and equipment guidelines. For instance, NIST has conducted research on the long-term durability of body armor, which is worn by correctional officers to ensure their safety.