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As detailed in Chapter 4 of this report, the SHU was a housing unit within MCC New York where inmates were securely separated from the general inmate population and kept locked in their cells for approximately 23 hours a day, to ensure their own safety as well as the safety of staff and other inmates. Access to the SHU was controlled by multiple locked doors. The primary entrance to the SHU (Main Exterior Entry Door) was opened remotely by a staff member in MCC New York's centralized Control Center. Additionally, there was a second locked door at the main entrance (Main Interior Entry Door), which could be opened only with a key held by a limited number of Correctional Officers (CO) while on duty.°> Within the SHU, the entrance to each tier could be accessed only via a single locked door at the top or bottom of the staircase leading to the individual tier. Keys to open the locked tier doors were available only to a limited number of COs while on duty. Each tier had eight cells, each of which could house either one or two inmates. Each individual cell, which was made of cement and metal, could be accessed only through a single locked door, to which only a limited number of COs had keys while on duty. The SHU cell doors were made of solid metal with a small glass window and small locked slots that correctional staff used to handcuff inmates and provide food and toiletries to inmates. As a further security measure, during each shift a limited number of the COs had keys while on duty. BOP policy and practice require that all SHU inmates be locked in their cells overnight. The OIG found no evidence indicating that the door to Epstein’s cell or any other cell in the SHU tier in which Epstein was housed was unlocked on the evening of August 9-10, 2019, after SHU staff locked Epstein in his cell at approximately 8 p.m. SHU staff told the OIG that at approximately 8 p.m. on August 9, all SHU inmates were locked in their cells for the evening and that there was no indication that any of the other inmates could have gotten out of their cells. Epstein did not have a cellmate after Inmate 3 was transferred out of MCC New York on August 9, and therefore Epstein was alone in his cell the evening of August 9-10. The door to Epstein’s cell was visible from the SHU Officers’ Station, and CO Tova Noel and Material Handler Michael Thomas told the OIG that no one entered or exited Epstein’s cell during their shift on August 10. Both of them further described delivering breakfast to the L Tier at about 6:30 a.m. on August 10, and how Noel unlocked the door to the L Tier, Thomas entered the L Tier and called for Epstein, and then Thomas unlocked his cell door when Epstein failed to respond. Additionally, the three inmates who were housed in the same SHU tier as Epstein on August 9 and 10, and who had a direct line of sight to the door of Epstein’s cell from their cells, stated that no one entered or exited Epstein’s cell after the SHU staff returned Epstein to his cell on the evening of August 9, which is consistent with the security measures in place within the MCC New York SHU. Further, the OIG analyzed the available recorded video of the SHU, which was limited to the common area of the SHU, including the SHU Officers’ Station, due to the MCC New York security camera system's video recording issues that we detailed in Chapter 6. The OIG’s analysis of the recorded video did not identify any COs (other than those assigned to the SHU during that timeframe or had a specific reason for visiting the SHU) or other individuals present in the common area of the SHU approach any of the SHU tiers, including the L Tier where Epstein was housed, between approximately 10:40 p.m. on August 9 and approximately 6:30 a.m. on August 10. In sum, the OIG’s investigation did not find any evidence that anyone was present in 55 The primary entrance doors to the MCC New York SHU are shown in Figure 4.1. Access to the secondary entrance to the SHU, which was adjacent to the elevator bay on the south side of the floor, was also controlled by an exterior entry door opened by the Control Center and an interior door opened only with a key held by one of the COs assigned to the SHU while on duty. The secondary entrance doors to the SHU are shown in Figure 4.2. 95 DOJ-OGR- 00023462