This op-ed originally appeared in the Washington Examiner.
Editor’s Note: This column was co-authored by David Safavian and Patrick Purtill.
Pairing a veteran police officer with a former inmate to crack down on crime seems the stuff of Hollywood — in fact, it was a winning formula when Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte teamed up in 48 Hours. President Donald Trump is hoping to replicate that success as he attempts to turn around a federal prison system in crisis. The gamble may pay off.
With tight budgets, aging facilities, and a personnel crisis, the Bureau of Prisons is widely considered a management disaster. There have been seven directors over the past eight years, fitting for a federal prison system that has become a revolving door for inmates. Trump has taken a novel approach to correct the failures of the past, tapping William Marshall and his deputy Josh Smith to fulfill his campaign pledge to “make America safe again.”
In Marshall and Smith, he picked an improbable duo. The new director, Marshall, was a state trooper before leading West Virginia’s Department of Corrections. Appointed as his deputy, Smith was a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist who served time in federal prison himself — Trump pardoned him in 2021.
Both know keeping prisons secure is priority No. 1. But they also understand that fulfilling the BOP’s mission to rehabilitate offenders is also critical, because 97% of all inmates will return home eventually. Failure means that too many will leave prison and commit more crimes. Each time someone reoffends, it’s another court case, another prison cell, and another victim. That’s why the BOP’s rehabilitation mission is critical to making communities safer.
The former police officer and former criminal have begun to turn the BOP around by focusing on three priorities: addressing operational problems with facilities and staff, implementing the First Step Act, and strengthening ties between inmates and families. Each one targets both security and rehabilitation.
Read the full op-ed in the Washington Examiner.
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