Explainer: The BOP's New Mission, Vision and Core Values

Last week, the Bureau of Prisons announced its “New Mission, Vision and Core Values.” Put another way, it announced its “[s]trategic plans to guide the Agency forward.” “During the last nine months,” the BOP’s announcement of its new mission, vision and core values begins, “Director Peters and her executive team have spent countless hours together team building and engaging in strategic planning….”

“Capitalizing on a great opportunity to pivot out of the pandemic,” the BOP Director’s executive team has apparently been “examining the Bureau’s strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats.” Weighing “40,000 foot level” questions — like “Where do we want to go?” and “What could the future look like?” — “the executive team reviewed the Bureau’s existing mission, vision and core values.”

In this Explainer, we’ll tell you what the BOP’s new mission, vision and core values look like. Then we’ll tell you whether its new mission, vision and core values will have any impact on incarcerated people and their loved ones. Finally, we’ll remind you of just a few of the controversies that have rocked the agency since Director Peters took over the troubled agency.

What Are The BOP’s New Mission, Vision and Core Values?

According to the BOP’s announcement, it’ll be changing its mission, vision and core values.

The BOP’s Mission

First, the BOP is changing its mission to the following: “Corrections professionals who foster a humane and secure environment and ensure public safety by preparing individuals for successful reentry into our communities.” For comparison’s sake, this was the BOP’s prior mission: “It is the mission of the Federal Bureau of Prisons to protect society by confining offenders in the controlled environments of prisons and community-based facilities that are safe, humane, cost-efficient, and appropriately secure, and that a provide work and other self-improvement opportunities to assist offenders in becoming law-abiding citizens.”

The BOP’s Vision

Second, the BOP is changing its vision to the following: “Our highly-skilled, diverse, and innovative workforce creates a strong foundation of safety and security. Through the principles of humanity and normalcy, we develop good neighbors.” Prior to the change, this was the BOP’s vision: “The Federal Bureau of Prisons, judged by any standard, is widely and consistently regarded as a model of outstanding public administration, and as the best value provider of efficient, safe and humane correctional services programs in America.”

The BOP’s Core Values

Finally, the BOP will now have the following core values: accountability, integrity, respect, compassion and correctional excellence. The BOP’s previous core values were courage, respect, integrity, and correctional excellence.

Image courtesy of txking via iStock by Getty Images.

What Do These New Changes Mean For You?

On the surface, the BOP’s changes to its mission, vision and core values aren’t bad. In terms of plain language, the changes are a good thing (although hyphenating an adverb ending in “ly” is a mistake). But describing them as anything more than semantic changes would probably be overstating them.

In terms of substance, the changes are equally unremarkable. For example, what will the swap from courage to accountability and compassion mean for the everyday life of the folks in BOP facilities? Probably not much.

This doesn’t mean, however, that the changes are meaningless. Adding things like a “diverse” workforce and “accountability” to its vision and core values matters. And if those changes actually change the day-to-day operations for lower-level BOP staff, these changes will be a good thing even if the time it took to make them feels like a waste.

Will The BOP’s New Mission, Vision and Core Values Make A Difference?

Adding things like “accountability” to the BOP’s mission, vision and core values matters simply because, frankly, the BOP needs it.

The BOP used to claim that it was, “judged by any standard, is widely and consistently regarded as a model of outstanding public administration, and as the best value provider of efficient, safe and humane correctional services programs in America.” Anyone who has been detained in or had a loved one in a BOP facility knows how ridiculous that statement is.

It wasn’t that long ago, for example, that Interrogating Justice published a story about the the gun incident at USP Tucson and how the victims and innocent bystanders, not the BOP staff who failed to keep the facility secure, were the only ones held accountable.

In addition to failing to keep facilities “safe,” the BOP also completely botched the implementation of First Step Act Time Credits, resulting in hundreds (and maybe thousands) of people staying in BOP facilities for weeks or months longer than they should have.

Image courtesy of YayaErnst via iStock by Getty Images.

The Takeaway:

For someone who isn’t involved in the criminal justice system on a daily basis, the changes to the BOP’s mission, vision and core values don’t seem like much. For someone who is involved in the criminal justice system on a daily basis, the changes don’t seem like much either. But things could change. And if “accountability” truly becomes a core value of the BOP, the agency will absolutely change for the better.