Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System
Encyclopedia
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
charged with the transportation of persons in legal custody between prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
s, detaining centers, courthouses, and other locations. It is the largest prison transport network in the world. Though primarily used by the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a federal law enforcement agency subdivision of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The system also handles prisoners who committed acts considered felonies under the District of Columbia's...
or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security , responsible for identifying, investigating, and dismantling vulnerabilities regarding the nation's border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security...
, JPATS also assists military
Military police
Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...
and state law enforcement.
The agency is managed by the United States Marshals Service
United States Marshals Service
The United States Marshals Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice . The office of U.S. Marshal is the oldest federal law enforcement office in the United States; it was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789...
out of the JPATS headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
. JPATS was formed in 1995 from the merger of the Marshals Service air fleet with that of the Immigration and Naturalization Service
Immigration and Naturalization Service
The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , now referred to as Legacy INS, ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new components within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as...
. JPATS transports more than a quarter million prisoners and aliens
Alien (law)
In law, an alien is a person in a country who is not a citizen of that country.-Categorization:Types of "alien" persons are:*An alien who is legally permitted to remain in a country which is foreign to him or her. On specified terms, this kind of alien may be called a legal alien of that country...
each year. Air fleet operations are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...
, with hubs in Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...
; Mesa, Arizona
Mesa, Arizona
According to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of Mesa was as follows:* White: 77.1% * Hispanic or Latino : 26.54%* Black or African American: 3.5%* Two or more races: 3.4%* Native American: 2.4%...
; Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
; and the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
. Additionally, the Federal Transfer Center
Federal Transfer Center, Oklahoma City
The Federal Transfer Center , located on the western edge of Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is an administrative facility of the Federal Bureau of Prisons that houses male and female holdover offenders....
at Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport
Will Rogers World Airport
Will Rogers World Airport , also known as Will Rogers Airport or simply Will Rogers, is located in southwestern Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 6 miles from downtown and is the principal commercial airport of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area...
was built especially to facilitate prisoner transport on JPATS.
Usually, the airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
employs Boeing 727
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...
or McDonnell-Douglas MD-83 aircraft to transport convicts and illegal residents of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for extradition. Smaller jets and turboprops are also used to transport individual prisoners who are considered particularly dangerous.
According to the Boeing Jetliner Databook, JPATS operates four Boeing 727s. JPATS also operates an additional four McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft.
JPATS aircraft use the ICAO
International Civil Aviation Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organization , pronounced , , is a specialized agency of the United Nations. It codifies the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth...
designator DOJ with the callsign JUSTICE.
During ATC Zero
ATC Zero
ATC Zero is an aviation term used when local airspace is closed. All aircraft going to any destination inside of the airspace must re-route, and any aircraft already in the airspace must either land or fly outside of the affected airspace.ATC Zero gained widespread notability in the aftermath of...
immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, when the Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
grounded all civilian air service, JPATS was the only non-military air service allowed to continue flying in U.S. airspace.
History and evolution
Prior to the existence of JPATS, the transport of federal inmates over long distances was complicated. The process required an escort by two U.S. Marshals, accompanying the inmate on a regular passenger airplane. This posed numerous problems, including danger to civilians, a backlog of marshals needed to perform such escorts, and a high taxpayer expense.In the early 1970s, the U.S. Marshals were offered a transfer from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
of a Boeing 727
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...
aircraft. Though no purpose was originally designated for this plane, one official had the idea of using it for the mass transportation of federal inmates. JPATS' predecessor was the National Prisoner Transportation System of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The airline ultimately improved the efficiency of inmate transportation and made the sight of a shackled commercial airline passenger largely a thing of the past. For a plane full of 200 inmates, only 12 marshals are required. Marshals are trained with aircraft emergency procedures very similar to those flight attendant
Flight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
s learn to protect the aircraft's occupants.
JPATS today
Today's JPATS (a.k.a. ConAir) fleet has expanded to ten full-sized aircraft. These planes fly a large series of routes that serve nearly every major U.S. city.The flight schedule is kept secret from the public, and is known only to those directly involved in its operation. Passengers scheduled to fly are given little advance notice of their flight. There are several benefits of keeping the schedule secret including:
- the location of airplanes is not known to the public (especially to those who may have an interest in sabotaging a flight or harming any of its passengers).
- as inmates are taken by surprise, they cannot plan their own escape or arrange with outsiders to aid their escape from custody.
Passengers aboard a flight are restrained with handcuffs as well as ankle and waist chains which are double or even triple locked. Those who pose additional danger may be given additional restraints, such as reinforced mittens that completely isolate and almost completely immobilize the hands and face masks to prevent biting and spitting.
Flight and seating arrangements are made carefully with the intent to separate inmates who may be of conflict to one another. Members of rival prison gangs may be transported on different days to help reduce the risk of an in-flight incident.
Unlike the practice in most jails, male and female inmates fly together on the same planes.
Prisoners are not physically restrained to the seats due to Federal Aviation Administration safety regulations. This contrasts with the practice on most other modes of transport.