Private Equity Detention and Surveillance Tracker

The Private Equity Detention and Surveillance Tracker details the involvement of private equity firms in the US mass incarceration system, covering facility management, healthcare, food services, telecommunications, and surveillance tools. It highlights how profit motives lead to cost-cutting in critical services, high markups on basic necessities, and the deployment of controversial surveillance technologies.

• Private equity-owned companies provide critical healthcare services in detention facilities, with some facing severe allegations of negligence. Wellpath, owned by H.I.G. Capital, filed for bankruptcy in November 2024 while facing 1,000 federal lawsuits and accusations of contributing to at least 70 deaths. In one California facility, the U.S. Department of Justice found that medical care was "inadequate in violation of prisoners’ constitutional rights,"
• Private equity firms profit from the captive market of prison commissaries through significant price markups. In 2022, Keefe Group (owned by H.I.G. Capital) sold toothpaste in a Kentucky commissary for $3.77, a 173% markup compared to a local Wal-Mart price of $1.38. The company also raised prices in Idaho, Kentucky, and Nevada in 2022, citing supply chain and labor costs.
• The prison telecommunications market is dominated by private equity-backed firms Securus (Platinum Equity) and ViaPath (American Securities), which held an estimated 74 to 83 percent of the market as of 2019. In November 2024, federal regulators ordered ViaPath to pay $3 million for illegally taking funds from inactive accounts and blocking consumer accounts.

APA

Private Equity Stakeholder Project (2025). Private Equity Detention and Surveillance Tracker. https://pestakeholder.org/reports/private-equity-detention-and-surveillance-tracker/

Chicago

Private Equity Stakeholder Project. Private Equity Detention and Surveillance Tracker. 2025. https://pestakeholder.org/reports/private-equity-detention-and-surveillance-tracker/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Private Equity Stakeholder Project |title=Private Equity Detention and Surveillance Tracker |date=13 May 2025 |url=https://pestakeholder.org/reports/private-equity-detention-and-surveillance-tracker/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{privateequitystakeholderproject2025private, author = {{Private Equity Stakeholder Project}}, title = {{Private Equity Detention and Surveillance Tracker}}, institution = {Private Equity Stakeholder Project}, year = {2025}, month = may, url = {https://pestakeholder.org/reports/private-equity-detention-and-surveillance-tracker/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }