Epstein guards were on overtime
Union president: Staff ‘ severely overworked’
The two correctional officers assigned to watch the special unit in the jail where financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was being housed when he apparently hanged himself Saturday were working overtime — one forced to do so by management, the other for his fourth or fifth consecutive day, the president of the local union for jail staffers said Sunday.
The assertion came as investigators continued to explore the circumstances surrounding Epstein’s death. New York City’s chief medical examiner, Barbara Sampson, said her office conducted an autopsy of Epstein’s body Sunday but had not yet reached a determination on cause of death “pending further information.” The medical examiner also allowed a private pathologist, Michael Baden, to observe the autopsy examination at the request of Epstein’s representatives, Ms. Sampson said.
Serene Gregg, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3148, said the Metropolitan Correctional Center
in Manhattan is functioning with less than 70% of the needed correctional officers, forcing many to work mandatory overtime and 60- or 70- hour workweeks.
She said one of the individuals assigned to watch Epstein’s unit did not normally work as a correctional officer but, like others in roles such as counselors and teachers, was able to do so, she said. She declined to say which one or specify the person’s regular role.
“If it wasn’t Mr. Epstein, it would have been somebody else, because of the conditions at that institution,” Ms. Gregg said. “It wasn’t a matter of how it happened or it happening, but it was only a matter of time for it to happen. It was inevitable. Our staff is severely overworked.”
Ms. Gregg’s comments are sure to increase scrutiny of the Bureau of Prisons and the Metropolitan Correction Center, the high- rise jail in Manhattan where Epstein, 66, was found hanging in his cell Saturday while he was awaiting trial on federal allegations that he sexually abused dozens of young girls in the early 2000s. He was taken to the hospital after being found and was pronounced dead.
The death, which authorities had classified initially as an “apparent suicide,” triggered multiple investigations into how such a high- profile inmate, who had previously been placed on suicide watch, could have died in federal custody. It also sparked outrage among his victims and their representatives, who had hoped that Epstein’s trial next year would finally produce the justice they felt he had long evaded.
Epstein was not on suicide watch Saturday before he was found, but he was held in the jail’s special housing unit — which, according to union officials, meant he should have been checked on every 30 minutes. It was unclear whether that procedure was followed or exactly when personnel last checked on Epstein.
It was also not clear how much, if any, of the hanging or authorities’ check- ins was captured on camera. E. O. Young, the national president of the Council of Prison Locals C- 33, said that while cameras are prevalent in the facility, he did not believe they generally captured inmates’ cells.
Epstein had been placed on suicide watch after a July 23 incident in which he was found in his cell with marks on his neck — which subjected him to near constant monitoring and daily psychological evaluations, according to people familiar with the case. But he was taken off that about a week later and brought to the special housing unit, which subjected him to a higher level of security but not constant monitoring.