In accordance with section of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act , it is my privilege and duty to submit to you the 50th Annual Report of the Correctional Investigator. Correctional Investigator's Message. Thematic Inspection: Dry Cells. Patient Advocacy Services in Federal Corrections. Gender Diversity Policy Review.
Anniversaries are moments for reflection and the celebration of achievement. I am extremely proud of the fact that this little office with an outsized mandate has served and stood the test of time for half a century now. I am deeply privileged, in my capacity as Correctional Investigator, to offer a few personal reflections about an extraordinary place that has been my home for most of my professional career. The origins of the Office lie in a system that failed to provide incarcerated people with an external and independent outlet to raise and redress legitimate grievances.
Today, serving as a prison oversight and ombudsman body for federally sentenced persons, the OCI remains as vital and focused as ever on this core mandate. Since its creation, the Office has answered hundreds of thousands of calls and resolved tens of thousands of complaints. At a more macro level, the Office is part of an overall network of oversight and accountability that provides some level of assurance that people serving a sentence of two years or more are treated fairly, lawfully and humanely.
In a system that has periodically tolerated abuse and impunity, the Office is the eyes and ears of transparency. As I recall, the Office was not all that well known and struggled to be heard.
A new Correctional Investigator — only the third in the history of the Office up to that point and my immediate predecessor — Mr. Howard Sapers, was appointed in April , a role he would keep for the next 12 years. To his enduring credit, Howard steered the Office through a challenging transition period and into an era of increased visibility and influence. Under his leadership, the Office brought attention to mental health concerns in corrections, initiated public coverage of preventable deaths in custody, raised concerns around safe and humane custody and produced more focused yearly reporting on issues facing federally sentenced Indigenous people and women in federal custody.
