Watchdog Calls Out BOP for Widespread Abuse of Restraints on Prisoners
by Chuck Sharman
A June 2025 report from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) called out the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) for misuse of restraints on prisoners. The OIG also called on BOP leadership to step up enforcement of policies governing restraint use that were found to be widely ignored, causing serious problems on many levels.
The report drew on six years of BOP records that the OIG analyzed, finding “thousands of incidents” where prisoners were abused with restraints “for 16 hours or longer.” Those where restraint use stretched over 24 hours numbered in the hundreds, and some went on “for over a week or weeks.”
First, the OIG said it was apparent that many BOP guards didn’t know the definition of a four-point restraint, so they couldn’t connect the governing policy to restraints that involve “four points of contact—both wrists and both ankles.” The problem is that some policies limit the definition to restraint on a bed, while others do not. But any use of a four-point restraint triggers heightened supervision requirements, with checks “every 15 minutes by correctional staff, every 2 hours by a lieutenant, twice every 8 hours by Health Services staff, and every 24 hours by Psychology Services.” When guards don’t know that the restraint employed meets the definition of four-point restraint, they fail to provide this crucial extra supervision.
The BOP also has no time limit for keeping a prisoner in restraints, including four-point restraints. What it has is a basic timeline, which the four-point-restraint guidelines enhance. The process begins with securing a warden’s approval before placing a prisoner in restraints. He then must be checked every 15 minutes by guards and every two hours by a guard lieutenant. After the prisoner has been in restraints for eight hours, the warden must notify the BOP Regional Director or Regional Duty Officer and create a behavior management plan for the prisoner, developed in concert with the associate warden, guard captain, unit manager, Health Services Administrator and Chief Psychologist. That same team must then review the case after the prisoner has been in restraints for 24 hours and every 48 hours after that.
“Despite this timeline,” the OIG said, it reviewed complaints from “multiple” prisoners who claimed that they suffered from “nerve damage or other long-term injuries due to the prolonged use of restraints.” The injuries ranged from “long-term scarring” to carpal tunnel syndrome—even amputation in one case, where the prisoner was shackled in a restraint chair “for over [two] days.”
The report concluded with a lengthy list of recommendations, beginning with new training and training materials to get everyone on the same page. Medical checks of prisoners in restraints should be video-recorded and any injuries photographed. The Health Services Restraint Review Form should be revised to require “greater detail regarding inmate injuries, toilet usage, and food and liquid consumption” while in restraints. There must also be a detailed report to explain whenever a supervisory level staffer concurs with a decision to keep a prisoner in restraints after he has been injured.
BOP Director William Marshall III responded to the report, concurring with each of its recommendations. After that, the OIG determined each of the matters resolved. See: Notification of Concerns Regarding the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Policies Pertaining to the Use of Restraints on Inmates, DOJ OIG Management Advisory Memorandum 25-064 (June 2025).
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