Why Did Lompoc Prison Explode with COVID?

Staffing shortages, inadequate screenings, a scarcity of protective equipment, poor communication, and a lack of leadership all contributed to the deadly COVID-19 outbreak that swept through the federal correctional complex in Lompoc, an inspection by the Department of Justice has found.

Even before the virus was first detected in late March, the agency’s 36-page report states, medical staffing at the complex was at a mere 62 percent. That made it difficult to implement new COVID-19 protocols while also providing routine care to the institution’s 2,700 inmates. Correctional staffing was also critically short, which prevented officers from limiting their movement between the property’s multiple facilities, a key strategy in reducing transmission of the virus in a closed prison setting.

In fact, the report states, it took Lompoc officials more than two weeks to carry out an order from their superiors at the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to begin the “compartmentalization” of staff because the complex didn’t have enough bodies to fill all its mandatory posts, including 24-hour guard duty at local hospitals where some Lompoc inmates were receiving care. By the end of April, the BOP had dispatched nine medical staff and 99 correctional officers from other prisons around the country to fill Lompoc’s ranks.