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U.S. Senators launching a bipartisan inquiry to protect Federal prison employees

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Citing high numbers of incidents, US senators are working on ways to strengthen the safety for federal prison staff from inmates.

On Thursday, U.S. Senators Jon Ossoff from Georgia, and Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee, launched a bipartisan inquiry to protect Federal prison staff members from sexual assault and harassment from inmates.

A report from Feb. 2023 by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General showed 40% out of 7,000 Federal Bureau of Prisons surveyed staff stated they had been sexually harassed by an inmate.

The Senators wrote to Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters regarding the reports and corrective procedures for inmate-on-staff sexual assault/harassment are insufficient and creating a culture that lacks accountability and puts BOP employees in danger.

As part of their inquiry, the Senators requested that BOP release information about their inmate-on-staff sexual assault and harassment reporting procedures, correctional methods, and staff assistance programs, including statistics and data from FCI Atlanta, formerly USP Atlanta, and Federal prison facilities around the country.

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