TO: GDC Staff FROM: Commissioner Brian Owens DATE: October 2013 RE: Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) Standards As the state's largest law enforcement agency, with more than 12,000 dedicated professionals, it is with great emphasis that we strive to work diligently on creating and maintaining safe and secure facilities for our nearly 60,000 state inmates, eliminating any opportunities for sexual abuse to occur to offenders in our custody. The Department of Corrections has a zero tolerance policy toward all forms of sexual abuse, sexual harassment and sexual activity among inmates. Offenders who engage in sexual contact, attempt to engage in or solicit such contact, or help another engage in sexual contact will be disciplined in a progressive manner with each occurrence. Those offenders who engage in sexual contact with another offender without that offenders' consent will be disciplined progressively and referred for criminal prosecution. In addition, the Department has a zero tolerance policy for staff who engage in sexual abuse or harassment with an offender. Those staff members will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination and banishment from all Georgia correctional institutions, whichever action is applicable. Staff members who engage in sexual abuse with an offender will also be subject to criminal prosecution, pursuant to O.C.G.A. 16-6.5.1. Our mission is clear, create a safer Georgia by effectively managing and providing opportunities for positive change to our offenders. I entrust we will be diligent in the task at hand. Sincerely, Brian Owens, Commissioner Department - - . of Corrections Georsicr Office of Investigations & Compliance 2013 PREA Annual Report Prison Rape Elimination Act 2013 Annual Report The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was establi shed in 2003 by then President George W. Bush. The act mandat ed th e Department of Ju sti ce t o establish sta ndards to eliminat e prison rape w hi ch in cl udes all correctional settings. The goal of the PREA is to elimin ate sexual abuse and sexua l harassment of th ose in confi nement settings. The fi nal PREA st andards were published in August 2012. The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) creat es a safer Georgia by effectively managing offenders and providing opportunities for positive change. As part of meeting t his mission and in com pliance with PREA st andards, GDC has est ablished a zero to lerance for all forms of sexual abuse and sexual harassment , as well as prot ection from retaliati on f rom th ose w ho make a report and pa rticipat e in an investigati on. The agency is in process of implementing processes and proced ures t o meet t he req uirements of t he st andards. Agency policy currently in place establishes th e zero to lerance policy and is under review for revisions to include all requirements of the publi shed st andards. As we move forward, additi onal measures will be adopted to ensure improved dat a reporti ng and collecti on met hods as well as a more comprehensive com pil ation of implementation of com pliance measures and corrective actions for each faci lity. PREA Highlights 2013 Conducted internal PREA audits at 35 state and private prisons across the state. Conducted 35 train ing classes for agency staff. Over 4,700 ca lls were received on the PREA Hotline and reviewed. A tota l of 890 allegations were reported and reviewed. First full year of tracking allegations statewide. Utili zation of the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program continues to expand and has proven to be very effective in providing a highly tra ined response to allegations of sexual assault. Rema ining funds from the PREA Demonstration Grant from Bureau of Justice Assistance in 2011 aided in the final stage of research and program implementation of successful re-entry preparation for fema le offenders. Gender specific train ing delivered to Bleckley PDC and Whitworth Pre-release Center staff for their upcoming remission to fema le population. Conducted vulnerabil ity assessment at Bleckley Probation Detention Center. CCTV enhancements were made at Coastal State Prison, Central State Prison and Wh itworth Womens Facility. Inmate PREA education is delivered within 72 hours of intake, barring exigent circumstances . PREA 2013 Corrective Actions Implementation efforts have been made across the state in all facilities toward PREA compl iance. Current policy addresses zero tolerance for sexual abuse in our prisons; cu rrently under revision to include all aspects of the 2012 published standards. Continue to work diligently at all facilities to identify bl ind areas and provide safety management of these areas through staffi ng efforts, mirrors, or video monitoring, where available. ...