The Federal Bureau of Prisons Just Locked Down All 122 Facilities in Their Purview

Due to a fight in one facility in Texas, all federal inmates are being punished.

Photo by Grant Durr on Unsplash

On January 31st all Bureau of Prisons (BOP) employees received the following:

“Effective January 31, 2022, The Federal Bureau of Prisons was placed on a National Lock-down. The Lock-down was initiated out of abundance of caution due to current events which occurred at another facility. This order is to ensure the safety and security of all staff and inmates.”

The incident in questions occured at USP Beaumont in Texas, a fight between rival gang members of MS13 and Surenos, which led to the death of two inmates and a third in critical condition. According to the BOP, they feared further violence within the prison system, so their answer was to lock down all 122 facilites within the federal system.

To those on the outside, this may seem like common sense policy, but for those of us who live behind bars, we know a much different story. I am not in the BOP system, I’m in the state system in NC, however, I am learning quickly how things work.

They’re worried about “spillage” which doesn’t make much sense when you consider it. The system population control gangs so that they’re not in every prison especially MS-13. Some gangs only in some prisons, some gangs only in others. The problem is MS-13 and Surenos aren’t traditional rivals, so they’re often housed in the same prison. The fear is that once gang affiliated inmates at other prisons hear about the fighting, the violence will spill over to other prisons.

This was a quick knee jerk reaction. Because it’s much easier to just lock everyone down than it is to actually do their jobs.

I won’t say there is no way inmates can communicate with one another across prison systems, because I’m not ignorant. They’re not supposed to, but clearly, that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. However, unless you plan to keep inmates permanently locked down, you’re just delaying what you think is inevitable. These men have nothing but time on their hands, do you really think having to wait to get to someone they want to is going to keep them from doing it, if that was the plan all…