Myth:  Government contractors do not provide the same safety standards as public facilities.

Fact:

The GEO Group possesses unparalleled corrections management expertise that enables facilities under GEO’s subcontracted management to operate more safely that prisons operated directly by government entities.

A recent study conducted by the Reason Foundation comparing safety statistics at Pennsylvania’s 67 county prisons between 2013 and 2017 found that when compared to statewide averages, GEO Group’s George W. Hill Correctional Facility was safer than government-operated facilities in a number of categories. Their research found that Delaware County’s prison saw fewer inmate deaths, attempted and successful escapes, contractions of diseases, uses of force, and assaults on inmates than the statewide average.

The study also found that inmates at one of Pennsylvania’s 66 government-operated county prisons were “nearly twice as likely to be subjected to use of force, and three times more likely to experience a physical use of force from corrections staff” than were inmates in Delaware County.


Myth:  According to an August 2016 report from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General, contract facilities were less safe and less secure than comparable Bureau of Prisons facilities.

Fact:

A detailed analysis of the OIG Report revealed that the facility performance ratings used by the OIG actually indicated that contract facilities were, in fact, comparably as safe and secure as government-run prisons in this “apples-to-oranges” study. The report compared 14 low-security BOP facilities with 12% criminal aliens, to 14 low-security contracted facilities with 96% criminal aliens.

The OIG Report indicated that the contract facilities were in many respects actually safer by having lower monthly rates per 10,000 beds in the following important safety indicators:

  • Rate of deaths in custody (Contract: 54 vs. BOP: 127);
  • drug confiscations;
  • inmate fights;
  • suicides;
  • disruptive behavior incidents;
  • uses of force;
  • overall inmate grievances;
  • medical and dental grievances;
  • grievances in Special Housing Units;
  • positive drug tests;
  • guilty findings on inmate sexual misconduct against inmates;
  • and allegations of staff sexual misconduct against inmates.