We are an agency like no other.
We protect public safety by ensuring that federal offenders serve their sentences of imprisonment in facilities that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and appropriately secure, and provide reentry programming to ensure their successful return to the community.
157,504 Inmates
Our agency is responsible for the custody and care of federal inmates.
Lower Rate of Recidivism
In 2016, the U.S. Sentencing Commission found that only 34% of the inmates released from the Bureau of Prisons in 2005 were rearrested or had their supervision revoked over a three year period and returned to federal custody. As well, the BOP's 2019 Second Chance Act report provides crude recidivism rates for inmates released from BOP custody during FY 2014-2016 and compares inmates who participated in various programs to inmates who did not participate. The BOP's overall recidivism rate (as defined by a rearrest or return to any jurisdiction's custody) is around 43% which is lower than most studies of state prisoners using comparable definitions and methodologies.
The Bureau of Prisons provides a myriad of inmate programs to address criminogenic needs such as those related to substance abuse, education, employment and more, thereby ensuring inmates' successful transition to the community. Accordingly, the federal recidivism rate has declined over the past couple of decades and is now 20% lower than the rate of many large state Departments of Corrections.
35,764 Employees
We ensure the security of federal prisons and provide inmates with programs and services that model mainstream values.