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Only two cameras in the vicinity of the SHU area were recording to DVR 1 at the time of Epstein’s death. One camera was located on the upper-level entrance to the 10 South Unit, a housing unit adjacent to the SHU, near the door MCC New York staff referred to as the “46 door.” That camera captured video of a large part of the common area of the SHU, including the SHU Officers’ Station and portions of the stairways leading to the different SHU tiers, including the tier containing Epstein’s cell. Thus, anyone entering or attempting to enter the L Tier from the common area of the SHU on August 9 and 10 would have been picked up by the video recorded by that camera. Epstein’s cell door, however, was not in that camera’s field of view. The other camera that was recording was located in one of the ninth floor’s two elevator bays and provided video of the ninth-floor fire exit and two of the floor’s four elevators. The available video showed that at approximately 7:49 p.m. on August 9, Epstein was escorted toward the L Tier stairway by an individual believed to be the Evening Watch SHU Officer in Charge. At approximately 10:39 p.m., an unidentified CO appeared to walk up the L Tier stairway, and then reappeared within view of the camera at 10:41 p.m. This is believed to be the last time anyone entered L Tier before approximately 6:30 a.m. on August 10. Between approximately 10:40 p.m. on August 9 and just before 6:30 a.m. on August 10, the OIG did not observe on the recorded video any CO or other individual enter any of the SHU tiers, which is consistent with CO Tova Noel and Material Handler Michael Thomas's admissions to the OIG that the SHU rounds and counts were not conducted during that time frame. At approximately 6:28 a.m., an unidentified officer was observed on the L Tier stairway, presumably to deliver breakfast food trays. Between 6:28 a.m. and 6:32 a.m., an unidentified officer, believed to be Noel, moved back and forth several times between the L Tier stairway and the SHU Officers’ Station. At approximately 6:33 a.m., additional officers entered the SHU and ascended the L Tier stairway, presumably after Noel activated her body alarm when Epstein was discovered hanged in his cell. As noted above, the camera at the end of the L Tier was providing a live video feed at the time of Epstein’s death but the video was not being recorded. The Electronics Technician told the OIG that certain MCC New York personnel, including the Control Center, SIS personnel, the Warden, most Lieutenants, and the Electronics Technician, had access to the live video feed of the institution’s security cameras. He explained that to view the live feed of a particular camera an employee with access would need to key in the specific camera into the security camera system to call up the live feed. The Correctional Systems Officer, who was working in the Control Center on August 10 from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m., and the Morning Watch Operations Lieutenant both told the OIG that the only live feed from the SHU on their screens was video from the camera showing the SHU common area, and they did not perceive a need to take the necessary steps to see the live feed from the SHU L Tier from either of their duty stations on the evening Epstein died. 53 One additional camera located at the 10 South Officers’ Station was recording on August 10, 2019. That camera is not depicted in Figure 4.12 because neither the SHU nor the SHU entrances were within the field of view of that camera. “4 The OIG found the video captured by the camera at the entrance to the 10 South Unit to be of low quality. Due to the video's low quality and the distance between the camera and the SHU common area, the OIG was able to observe movement of individuals within the SHU but was not always able to conclusively identify the individuals. The OIG was also not always able to determine the specific destinations of the individuals seen in the video given that the camera only captured partial views of the stairways to the various SHU tiers. The OIG found that movements captured on the video were generally consistent with employee actions described by multiple witnesses and certain actions documented in BOP records. 85 DOJ-OGR- 00023452

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Filename DOJ-OGR-00023452.tif
File Size 72.7 KB
OCR Confidence 95.2%
Has Readable Text Yes
Text Length 4,244 characters
Indexed 2026-02-03 20:38:43.878993