Audio Transcript

Mollie Halpern: The FBI’s prison corruption cases have more than doubled since 2014.

The increase is partly attributable to the Bureau’s Prison Corruption Initiative, which targets corrupt prison officials who smuggle cell phones, drugs, and more behind bars.

Eric Field: The goal of the Prison Corruption Initiative is to form partnerships with the state, local, and federal agencies who are in charge of the prisons. And with that relationship, we want to ensure that the proper investigative techniques and resources are being utilized to effectively combat prison corruption.

Halpern: That was Supervisory Special Agent Eric Field of the Public Corruption Unit, who says inmates use contraband, like cell phones, to commit crimes inside and outside of prison.

Inmates call out hits on people, use social media to commit telemarketing fraud, and recruit gang members with clean records to become correctional officers.

Field: The prisoners are still in contact with their gang members and still hold an active role in the gangs, and that is something that should not be tolerated. Which is why I have a strong passion for this initiative, because I want to hold the individuals accountable for the actions that they have committed—which is why they are in the prison to begin with.

Halpern: With FBI, This Week, I’m Mollie Halpern of the Bureau.