Detainees are routinely subjected to the threat of stabbings, sexual assault and gang violence inside the crumbling walls of a South Carolina jail, according to a Justice Department report released Wednesday.

The Justice Department launched an investigation into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in November 2023 based on reports of violence, homicides and unsafe conditions, said Adair Boroughs, U.S. attorney for the district of South Carolina. The probe uncovered a failure by jail staff to protect detainees from assault, partly due to chronic staffing shortages and systemic security issues, according to the report.

“The incidents of violence at Alvin S. Glenn are pervasive, systematic and commonplace,” Boroughs said. “Alvin S. Glenn is marked by a culture of violence that poses a risk to those that are housed there as well as to staff and to law enforcement.”

Boroughs said local officials have made some headway in addressing structural concerns through renovations but “widespread violence” at the facility continues. The Justice Department warned in its report it may file a lawsuit after 49 days if Richland County doesn’t address the dangerous conditions, which investigators say amount to constitutional violations.

The Justice Department under the Biden administration has investigated conditions at prisons and jails across the country, including in Texas, Georgia, California, Kentucky and Mississippi. Alleged issues at detention facilities include physical violence, sexual abuse and crumbling infrastructure.

DOJ blames chronic staff shortages for jail violence

The Justice Department’s new report said there were at least 60 stabbings in 2023 at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, which is located in South Carolina’s capital city of Columbia. The DOJ noted the rate of such assaults at the center roughly matches the New York City jails, where the city was recently found in contempt in federal court for systemic violence at its facilities.

Investigators blame, in part, a chronic staff shortage going back at least five years that has impeded routine security checks at the Richland County jail and forced staff to monitor several units at once.

Detainees were often found assaulted or dead only after medical staff made their rounds, officers came to deliver meals, or when a victim’s relative called the jail to report an assault, the report said.

In one case, the DOJ said a detainee was beaten and stabbed “multiple times” in three years at the jail, and in every instance, staff was not present. In the first stabbing, the jail took no action until the victim’s mother called two days later, according to the report. In February 2024, the same person suffered his fourth assault, this time by seven detainees.

The jail has also routinely failed to protect detainees from sexual assault, the Justice Department alleges. One person, who was admitted in August 2023, was reportedly assaulted by his cellmate three times in two days in his first month, but staff didn’t listen to him when he tried to get help. The DOJ report said the man “resorted to cutting himself in order to be placed on suicide watch, where he could report the rapes and get away from his attacker.”

The Justice Department did not name victims of the reported assaults in its report.

Chronic staffing shortages have also endangered jail staff. The Justice Department cited a 2023 study by the South Carolina Association of Counties, which found that understaffing at the jail “contributed to an increase in officer injuries and workers’ compensation claims over the past five years.”

USA TODAY has reached out to Richland County for comment on the report.

Contraband, crumbling facility fuel violence

In dozens of interviews with detainees, the Justice Department said many described being assaulted and confirmed unchecked gang violence such as robberies and extortion. Nearly all of the interviewed detainees told investigators they witnessed violence regularly. But the report said it is unclear how pervasive the pattern of violence is since the jail does not keep complete or accurate records of incidents.

The Justice Department said violence, including gang-related incidents, is fueled by unusually high levels of contraband such as shanks, drugs and lighters. In 2023, investigators said 150 weapons were found – almost quadruple the average amount recovered in state prisons in the U.S.

In addition to smuggled weapons, illicit drugs led to eight overdoses over the course of two months in 2024, the Justice Department said, three of which resulted in deaths. The report said detainees were able to get contraband in through holes in the building and that some jail staff also smuggled in items, including cocaine and oxycodone.

The report also criticizes structural issues with the facility, including holes in walls, ceilings and fences, as well as broken light fixtures, furniture and toilets that have been used to craft weapons.

The Justice Department recommends that the jail update its staffing plan, control contraband, revise detainees’ housing placements based on risk of violence, address maintenance issues, and revise how it responds to violent incidents.

Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said the jail has a “constitutional duty to protect people in its care from the horrific violations we uncovered here.”

“Incarceration in our nation’s jails should not expose a person to severe and pervasive violence like that in the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center,” Clarke said. “Most people in the jail have not been convicted of any crime — they are awaiting hearings or trial dates. They have a right to be free of violence, threats and sexual assault.”

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) – The state of South Carolina now faces a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the misreporting of a $1.8 billion surplus that never existed, lawmakers have confirmed.

Gov. Henry McMaster released a statement late Wednesday after a forensic accounting report that found the reported surplus never actually existed.

“This comprehensive forensic accounting report confirms that there is no $1.8 billion surplus. There is no missing or stolen money. The funds do not exist,” McMaster said in a statement.

The independent report, released Wednesday by AlixPartners, cited “unintended accounting mistakes made by different parties involved in state government’s transition from an old accounting system to the new accounting system,” the governor said.

“I am confident that the corrective measures recommended in the report will be embraced by the parties and the General Assembly so that this does not happen again,” McMaster said.

State Treasurer Curtis Loftis also released a statement on the report:

We thank Alix Partners for their efforts, which have validated what we’ve known all along – there is no mystery bank account with $1.8 Billion in it, no missing money, and all cash and investments are accounted for.The citizens of South Carolina can be confident that their money is safe. We, along with our state partners, look forward to reviewing the report in its entirety.

Click here to read the full audit.

The price tag for the report from the Washington, DC-based financial advisory and consulting firm, was estimated to be as high as $3 million.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Copyright 2025 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Over the last year, NPR graphics reporter Daniel Wood — a busy dad of three — says he’s been able to maintain “a workout cadence I’ve never, ever had before.”

The secret to his good exercise regime? He has an accountability group.

Wood and a few dads in his neighborhood in Cheverly, Md., wake up before their childcare morning duties to drink coffee and lift weights in one of the dad’s garages.

“Through a combination of good encouragement and friendly rivalry, we hold each other accountable to be there,” says Wood.

Accountability buddies or groups can be powerful and effective in helping you complete tasks and reach your objectives, says Ayelet Fishbach, a professor of behavioral science and marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Why accountability buddies work

We’re social animals, says Fishbach. “We know that people work in groups. People have been working in groups from the beginning of time.”

Research has shown that people accomplish more when they buddy up. A 2015 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that couples were more likely to make healthy behavioral changes, such as working out more or cutting back on smoking, if their partner adopted healthy changes too.

So if you’ve struggled to check boxes off your to-do list or achieve your goals, you might benefit from an accountability buddy or group. Here’s what to know.

What kinds of goals should I set with my accountability partner? 

Before you set out to find a buddy, think about a project you need help getting done. Maybe you want to get a new job or start that business or learn how to paint, maybe you want to cook more or do those exercises your physical therapist gave you.

Your partner should have their own goals too. The relationship should be mutually beneficial. Here are a couple ways you can work together.

Work toward a common goal: Leah Shaffer, who lives outside of Houston, works with an accountability buddy to focus on her creative writing goals.

She and her buddy, who is also a writer with their own writing goals, have been meeting every Friday for over a year on Zoom.

Before she met her buddy, she had written maybe one draft of her vampire novel. But this year, she’s rewritten it three times and written two more books, she says. “ I don’t think I would have gotten the work done I hadn’t had my buddy.”

Enforce healthy habits: Francisco Ramirez, who lives in New York, joined forces with an accountability partner to tackle everyday tasks: going for walks, cooking healthy meals and getting out of bed on time.

Every Sunday at 10 a.m, he and his partner meet online. They tell each other what they accomplished, go over any challenges they faced and offer each other encouragement and support.

Where do I find an accountability partner? 

The person should have a shared desire to accomplish their own goals and be willing “to check on you and follow your progress,” says Fishbach.

They should also be able to meet on a consistent basis. “The most helpful buddies are the ones who are going to show up,” says Ramirez.

Not sure where to find a good partner? Here are a few places to look.

Your social network: Wood connected with his workout group when someone at a holiday party invited him. If you already have a friend who you think could be a good fit, ask them.

Your community: Your partner does not have to be someone you already know. Ask around about an existing group that aligns with your interests. “In a sense, a book club is an accountability group” because it helps you stay committed to reading, says Cynthia Pong, founder and CEO of the career coaching firm Embrace Change.

Apps and online platforms: Ramirez uses Focusmate to stay on task. The website matches you with a stranger to co-work over video for 25- 50- or 75-minute sessions. 

He’s attended more than 6,000 of these sessions to do “anything from knocking out contracts, blazing through invoices, writing my book, studying French, writing thank-you notes, whatever it may be,” he says.

The workout app Strava can help you stick to your exercise goals by allowing you to share your workout stats with your followers on the platform. Maybe seeing that your sister posted and completed a long bike ride will help motivate you to get out for your planned run.

How should I structure my accountability meetings?

“There’s really no one recipe that fits all,” says Fishbach. It’s up to you and your partner to decide how often to meet, where to meet and what to talk about.

Ramirez and his partner update a spreadsheet to keep track of their progress. It includes questions like, “How did I do? What worked? What didn’t work?”

Shaffer and her buddy create monthly, quarterly and yearly goals in addition to their weekly ones.

If you aren’t meeting all of your goals, cut yourself some slack. But if you’re not seeing any progress, or you and your partner keep canceling your accountability meet-ups, then Pong says it’s time to check in.

Maybe your buddy will say, “You know, I’m actually not as into this as I thought. Let’s try again in six months.” Or maybe your Zoom meeting time is not convenient for both of you.

Whatever the reason, see how you can adjust the partnership. Maybe you do your check-ins over text. Or maybe you move your meeting time, says Pong.

Keep sticking with your buddy or group, and you may find an unexpected motivator: friendship.

Wood says that ultimately, the social aspect is what gets him to show up and exercise at 5:45 a.m.

Not only does he have a more consistent workout routine, he says — he has a new group of best friends.

The digital story was edited by Malaka Gharib. The visual editor is Beck Harlan. We’d love to hear from you. Leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823, or email us at LifeKit@npr.org.

Listen to Life Kit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and sign up for our newsletter. Follow us on Instagram: @nprlifekit.

Copyright 2025 NPR