FROM DAWN ‘TIL DUSK

The report details how private equity firms utilize institutional capital to invest in companies providing healthcare, labor, food, electronic monitoring, telecommunications, and construction services for the U.S. detention and surveillance industry. It argues that these investments often lead to substandard care, exploitative wages, and inflated costs for captive audiences, disproportionately affecting working-class, Black, indigenous, and immigrant communities.

• Private equity firms have consolidated the correctional healthcare market, with companies like Wellpath (owned by H.I.G. Capital) and Corizon/YesCare (owned by Perigrove Capital) emerging from the merger of smaller providers. These companies have faced significant legal challenges; Correct Care Solutions was sued at least 1,395 times in federal court up to 2019, and Corizon faced over 1,000 lawsuits alleging substandard care as of late 2021.
• H.I.G. Capital's TKC Holdings, which combines Trinity Services Group and Keefe Group, controls both food and commissary services in some facilities. This creates an incentive to lower food quality to drive customers toward the higher-priced commissary. In 2022, a 4.6 ounce Crest toothpaste in a Keefe Group-run Kentucky commissary cost $3.77, a 173% markup compared to the $1.38 price at Wal-Mart.
• The electronic monitoring industry is dominated by four companies, three of which are private equity-owned: Satellite Tracking of People LLC (Platinum Equity), Sentinel Offender Services (Bison Capital Asset Management), and Attenti (Warburg Pincus). Research indicates these services can increase incarceration rates and impose high user costs, sometimes up to $600 a month.
• Private equity firms Platinum Equity (via Securus) and American Securities (via ViaPath) controlled an estimated 74 to 83 percent of the prison telecommunications market as of 2019. These companies often provide 'commissions' or kickbacks to facilities to secure contracts; for instance, Georgia made over $8 million from such kickbacks in 2019, while Dauphin County, PA, collected $3.7 million since 2019, using funds for staff perks like gun range memberships.
• Private equity firms are also invested in the physical infrastructure of the carceral system. Saybrook Capital owns Layton Construction, which builds facilities for county governments and state corrections in the western U.S. AE Industrial Partners acquired CDI Corporation, which designs detention facilities, and Harbour Group has owned Cleaver Brooks, a provider of boiler room systems for correctional settings, since 2012.

APA

Agbebiyi, K., Creeks, A., & Fenne, M. (2023). FROM DAWN ‘TIL DUSK. Private Equity Stakeholder Project. https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Final-Report-From-Dawn-Til-Dusk.pdf

Chicago

Agbebiyi, K, Azani Creeks, and Michael Fenne. FROM DAWN ‘TIL DUSK. Private Equity Stakeholder Project, 2023. https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Final-Report-From-Dawn-Til-Dusk.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Agbebiyi |first1=K |last2=Creeks |first2=Azani |last3=Fenne |first3=Michael |title=FROM DAWN ‘TIL DUSK |publisher=Private Equity Stakeholder Project |date=September 2023 |url=https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Final-Report-From-Dawn-Til-Dusk.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{agbebiyi2023from, author = {Agbebiyi, K and Creeks, Azani and Fenne, Michael}, title = {{FROM DAWN ‘TIL DUSK}}, institution = {Private Equity Stakeholder Project}, year = {2023}, month = sep, url = {https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Final-Report-From-Dawn-Til-Dusk.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }