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Comments (10)
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Save/ShareIn the past three years, about 5,000 minimum-security inmates have traveled between prisons on Greyhound and other bus lines.
Only inmates who are near their release date and who are judged to be "a minimum security risk" are sent on commercial buses.
Some bus owners are upset. Bus operators do not accept on their coaches "unguarded prisoners still serving time for their crimes," a spokesperson for their association tells Budget Travel. Greyhound and hundreds of other bus operators did not know about this practice until this spring, the spokesperson adds. The story was broken by investigative reporters with the Dallas/Ft. Worth TV station WFAA.
But it will be difficult for bus drivers do anything about the practice. The inmates are on furlough, and during a furlough an inmate can wear ordinary personal or work-release clothing. In other words, no one would recognize these passengers as prisoners by their dress.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has not changed its practice of buying bus tickets for inmates, despite a letter of complaint from the bus owners' group. A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons says that using their staff or any other type of escort would be an unnecessary cost to the taxpayer. The Bureau spends more than $1.5 million a year on bus tickets for inmates from all 114 of its institutions.
It turns out that there are two types of inmates traveling by bus.
The first group is not controversial. These are inmates leaving prison for good, heading to halfway houses (listed here), where they're able to find jobs, attend medical appointments, and sign up for schooling. These inmates have served their allotted jail time. They travel without escorts. The federal government bought bus tickets for about 84,600 of these inmates in the past three years. And America's major bus lines don't mind these passengers. If an inmate has "paid his or her debt to society" and is "deemed rehabilitative," they're welcome to ride, says a spokesperson for the bus owners's association.
A second, smaller group of inmates is controversial, however. Nearly 5,400 inmates in this group have been transferred in recent years from minimum-security prison camps to other minimum-security prison camps. These are minimum risk offenders, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) told Budget Travel. The inmates are non-violent, just as Martha Stewart was when she was jailed. Naturally, the prisons for these minimum-security prisoners don't need perimeter fences or armed guards.
Out of this latter group of prisoners, a few do escape from the buses as they travel between prison camps. For example, between 2003 and 2005, 77 inmates escaped en-route and 19 of them were not immediately taken back into custody, reports the AP. But a spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons says these numbers need to be put into perspective. Less than 0.2 percent of inmates fail to report to their intended location. In other words, it's a rare occurrence. When inmates abscond, they run the risk of being re-captured and returned to a higher security institution than they had previously been in.
Note: Maximum-security prisoners are never transported by commercial bus. Those prisoners are always escorted by armed officers from prison to prison, says a Bureau spokeswoman.
Greyhound has asked federal authorities to stop using its buses. Its officials remain concerned and "support[s] the industry's efforts to put a stop to it," a company spokeswoman tells Budget Travel. Greyhound has worked informally with the Bureau of Prisons in the past by escorting completely released prisoners from institutions, but has never had a corporate contract, a Greyhound spokeswoman told Budget Travel. (As noted above, Greyhound isn't only company used to transport prisoners. Other bus companies and taxi services around the U.S. are used, too.)
What do you think about the federal policy of sending inmates via major bus lines along with other passengers?
—David Cumming
RELATED
The story was broken this spring by a Dallas/Ft. Worth TV station, WFAA, whose reporters followed one inmate traveling on a bus for 30 hours and 55 minutes.
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How many uncaught criminals travel via the same buses?
Posted By John Lameck on June 10, 2009, 5:07 PM
I wonder why in the world, a topic like this would come up on Budget Travel. Perhaps the Feds are exercising fiscal restraint...that's the only reason that I can come up with.
In the past two years I have been to Belize, Costa Rica, Dominica, Croatia, Slovenia, Egypt, Turkey, Holland, Slovenia, Mexico, and Germany. I have never been afraid. I refuse to be afraid in my own country in spite of the best attempts of people like Mr. Cumming to stoke false fears. Enough already! This has nothing to do with Budget Travel, its subscribers, or anyone with a basis in reality.
Posted By Tom B on June 11, 2009, 12:55 AM
I hardly think this story is even news.
For my money I would rather have a prisoner, who is trusted enough to travel on his own, take a bus than be escorted by someone who then has to return thus wasting more public money. Or worse having to be driven in a car or a Prison bus to wherever they were going.
This does seem to be scare mongering. I expected better from Budget Travel unless the point was that the use of the bus is an economical measure.
Posted By Kris on June 11, 2009, 2:48 PM
Nine years ago, I took my first solo Greyhound bus trip to visit my older sister at college. Two female former inmates were sitting behind me, on their way home to NYC, swapping stories from prison. It wasn't a particularly big deal, and nothing dangerous happened, but it was quite an eye-opening bus ride for a then-quite-sheltered 15 year old girl.
Posted By Ali K on June 11, 2009, 3:43 PM
GO GREYHOUND AND LEAVE THE DRIVING TO "BUST"!
Posted By hippityhoppity on June 11, 2009, 3:49 PM
I have been a bus rider most of my life especially Greyhound, and I have be on buses with inmates who has been release and I have need had any dangerous moments on my bus trips. And this is nothing new this has been going on for a time.
Posted By Angela C on June 11, 2009, 3:53 PM
Wonderful! Anything for a buck... I guess they might a well join the fleeing felons, illegal aliens, and gangsters on the grey dog.
Greyhound Lines Inc.= Outlaw Lines Inc.
Posted By David S. Schneider-Citizen on June 12, 2009, 8:50 AM
Hi everyone!
Thank you very much for your responses to this article.
The reason we published this article was mainly to clear up a few nuances as well as misinformation that was received by various media outlets over the past few months since the story was first released. We also thought this story was pertinent to the majority of our audience who has used public transportation whether locally or abroad.
We wanted to stifle the fear mongering that was so apparent regarding this topic as well and were very interested to hear what you all thought about both sides of this issue.
Again, we appreciate your opinions about this topic and will take them all into consideration the next time we approach a topic such as this.
All the best,
David Cumming
Posted By David Cumming on June 22, 2009, 4:25 PM
Hey David,
Just wanted to thank you for linking to our site - we routinely sell work release clothing to prisons and jails, but the typical work release programs for which they are intended involve some level of supervision or oversight, to prevent crimes of opportunity that might otherwise arise.
Posted By Austin Cushing on December 1, 2009, 12:43 PM
Hey Everyone,
I am a chicano, 24 yr. old, male, ex "club fed" inmate. I too used this system of B.O.P. transportation via Bus and Taxi (From Ft. Worth Texas to Florence Colorado). I know my opinion and so called "word" does not amount to much to any other "normal" citizen.
However let me just say that it literally takes years of incarceration without any disciplinary spot or blemish on an inmates record while in custody, before a Fed. inmate is granted a furlough bus ride from a minimum security Fed. prison to a Fed. camp w/ no security fence (which is usually the case).
The Fed. system that is put in place for this "Bus furlough" topic at hand is a system that works. And statistically I imagine that to ultimately do away with this wouldn't accomplish anything but satisfying a minority of views of "inmates joy riding a bus" and oh yes cost the tax payer more money or budget cuts.
In the end, I guess I need to thank the those whom deem this "Bus riding" as a nuisance to the community. Because hey you just gave this ex-felon a great idea, I think I'm going to open a business to drive my unwanted AMERICANS myself! Felons driving Felons! Oh no!, I can feel another controversy coming...
P.S. I'm all ears for those who would like to know more.
Posted By Che Ramirez on February 27, 2010, 10:49 PM