DOJ-OGR-00023450.jpg
Extracted Text (OCR)
recorded video was available for several of the institution's cameras, so she reported the matter to the
Communications Office, and the Electronics Technician arrived to assess the problem sometime before his
shift was scheduled to end. The Electronics Technician told the OIG that he found that roughly half of the
institution's approximately 150 cameras, which were assigned to record to DVR 2, were displaying a live
video feed but were not recording.
The Electronics Technician told the OIG that, before Epstein’s death, no one was specifically tasked with
ensuring that video from the cameras was being recorded. The Electronics Technician said he therefore did
not perform any daily checks to ensure that video was being recorded. The Warden indicated that SIS staff
are usually responsible for checking the system for recording functionality and reporting any problems to
the Communications Office. However, the SIS Lieutenant told the OIG that it was her belief that the
Electronics Technician should have been checking the system daily to ensure it was recording. The OIG
found that there are no BOP policies that specifically state that institutional staff must perform periodic
checks to ensure the camera system is fully functional or that security camera systems have the capacity to
record.*° The Facility Manager told the OIG that since Epstein’s death, he now checks to ensure that all
cameras and the recording system are working on a daily basis, and he subsequently provides a report
about the status of the system to the facility's executive staff, the SIS, and the electronics technicians.
B. Response on August 8 and 9 to Discovery of the Recording Failure
On August 8, following discovery of the recording failure, Company 1 service request records reflect that the
Electronics Technician contacted a Company 1 technical support representative, who ultimately determined
that two hard drives within DVR 2 had failed. According to the Electronics Technician and the Company 1
service request record, the Company 1 representative informed the Electronics Technician that the two
drives needed to be replaced and DVR 2 needed to be rebuilt in order for the cameras to record again. The
Electronics Technician told the OIG that he informed a Company 1 Technician that he had to obtain the
drives from MCC New York's Computer Services Manager. The Electronics Technician further stated that he
left the institution at the end of his shift and did not obtain the hard drives and did not continue to work on
the matter. The Electronics Technician told the OIG he had “no idea” why he did not stay at the facility to
resolve the problem that day, but he noted for the OIG that he had not historically been required to stay
after his shift ended to work on such matters, and even if he had begun working on the DVR that day, he
would not have completed the work on August 8 due to the time the rebuilding process takes.>"
The OIG found that the Electronics Technician’s immediate supervisor, the Facility Manager, was on leave
that week and therefore was not told on August 8 about the DVR recording failure. The Facility Manager
confirmed that he did not learn about the camera problem until days after Epstein’s death. The Electronics
Technician told the OIG that he did not report the problem to the Lock and Security Supervisor, who was the
Acting Facility Manager in the Facility Manager's absence. The SIS Lieutenant told the OIG that after the
Electronics Technician had examined the system on August 8, the Electronics Technician informed her that
cameras were not recording and said, “I'm going to stay and do overtime tonight.” Based on his comment,
5° For example, BOP Program Statement 5500.15, Correctional Services Manual, states generally that the Warden must
establish a security inspection system that involves all departments but does not specifically address security camera
systems. This program statement is a restricted policy that is not released to the public in its entirety.
5’ According to open source information on digital data storage system rebuilds, the rebuilding process can take up to
several days to complete depending on the number of hard drives that were damaged and the storage capacity of each.
83
DOJ-OGR-00023450