根据司法部长梅里克·加兰(Merrick Garland)发布的一份声明，司法部已任命俄勒冈州教养局局长科莱特·彼得斯(Colette Peters)领导联邦监狱局。
彼得斯自2012年以来一直担任目前的职位，预计将执掌一个饱受争议和管理不善的机构。据一位熟悉情况的消息人士透露，彼得斯何时开始工作尚不清楚，因为员工在周二早上接到了彼得斯的任命通知。
司法部长在周二发布的一份声明中称赞彼得斯30年来为公共安全服务。
“彼得斯局长是唯一有资格领导BOP努力确保被监禁者的康复、健康和安全，为惩教人员提供安全可靠的工作环境，以及整个联邦拘留设施的透明度和问责制，”司法部长说。
监狱管理局是司法部内最大的机构，负责122个设施和36，000多名员工。尽管国会试图这样做，但BOP主任并不是参议院确认的职位，现任主任迈克尔卡瓦亚尔已经表示，一旦新主任到位，他将退休。
彼得斯在接受美国广播公司新闻采访时表示，她对加入监狱管理局感到“谦卑和荣幸”。
彼得斯说:“我们在惩教领域面临的挑战一直是复杂和困难的。“但从我在俄勒冈州的经历中我知道，如果我们继续专注于为我们的工作人员提供安全可靠的环境、为我们羁押的个人提供安全和人道的条件以及适当的康复和重返计划，我们就能成功实现这些目标。我期待着了解这个团队，向他们学习，并支持这个组织。”
代表33，000名联邦惩教工作者的工会——监狱地方理事会的主席谢恩·福西(Shane Fausey)说，他期待着与新主任合作。
福西在周二的一份声明中说:“我们乐观地认为，我们可以通过安全地为我们的监狱配备人员，同时平衡像第一步法案这样负责任的监狱改革，来共同关注我们机构最困难的挑战。”“我们相信，在领导俄勒冈惩教部期间学到的经验教训可以用来有效地改善BOP。任何决策都必须优先考虑官员和员工的安全，包括他们在我国联邦监狱中的工作条件。”
监狱管理局一直处于一些备受瞩目的囚犯和对其处理新冠肺炎疫情的审查的争议中心。
2018年，臭名昭著的犯罪头目詹姆斯“怀蒂”巴尔杰在西弗吉尼亚州黑泽尔顿的一所联邦监狱被杀，一年后，被定罪的性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦在曼哈顿等待审判时自杀身亡。BOP还没有就这两起事件发布任何官方时间表或事后报告。
这个庞大的机构还因其早期处理新冠肺炎疫情政府问责局而受到工会和政府监察机构的指责找到不足。
Justice Department taps Oregon Corrections head as new Bureau of Prisons director
The Justice Department has tapped Colette Peters, who serves as the director of the Oregon Department of Corrections, to lead the federal Bureau of Prisons, according to a statement released by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Peters has been in her current role since 2012 and is expected to take the helm of an agency marred in controversy and mismanagement. It is unclear when Peters will start, as staff was notified Tuesday morning of Peters' appointment, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The attorney general lauded Peters for her 30 years of public safety service in a statement released Tuesday.
"Director Peters is uniquely qualified to lead BOP in its efforts to ensure the rehabilitation, health, and safety of incarcerated individuals, a safe and secure work environment for correctional staff, and transparency and accountability across federal detention facilities," the attorney general said.
The Bureau of Prisons is the largest agency inside the Justice Department with responsibility of 122 facilities and over 36,000 employees. Despite congressional attempts to do so, the BOP director is not a Senate-confirmed position, and the current director, Michael Carvajal, has said he will retire once a new director is in place.
In a statement to ABC News, Peters said she was "humbled and honored" to join the Bureau of Prisons.
"The challenges we face in the field of corrections have always been complex and difficult," Peters said. "But I know from my experience in Oregon that if we remain focused on the vision of a safe and secure environment for our staff, safe and humane conditions for the individuals in our custody, and appropriate rehabilitation and re-entry programming, that we can successfully meet them. I look forward to getting to know the team, learning from them, and supporting the organization.”
Shane Fausey, president of the Council of Prison Locals, the union that represents 33,000 federal corrections workers, said he was looking forward to collaborating with the new director.
"We are optimistic that we can collaboratively focus on our agency's most difficult challenges by staffing our prisons safely while balancing responsible prison reforms like the First Step Act," Fausey said in a statement Tuesday. "We believe that the lessons learned while leading the Oregon Department of Corrections can be used to effectively improve the BOP. It is imperative that the priority on any decisions made must be officer and employee safety, including their working conditions within our nation's federal prisons."
The Bureau of Prisons has been at the center of some controversy with high-profile inmates and scrutiny over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2018, notorious crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger was killed at a federal prison in Hazelton, West Virginia, and a year later, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in Manhattan while awaiting trial. BOP has not released any official timeline or after-action report regarding the two incidents.
The sprawling agency was also chided by the union and a government watchdog for its early handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, which the Government Accountability Officefoundinsufficient.
