View source for Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System

{{short description|Transport agency of the US Department of Justice}}
{{Infobox airline
| airline=Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System
| logo= File:Seal of the United States Marshals Service.svg
| image= Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System MD-83 N311FV taking off.jpg
| image_size=
| caption= An unmarked [[McDonnell Douglas MD-83]] flying for JPATS (2008)
| fleet_size= 4
| destinations=
| IATA=-
| ICAO=DOJ
| callsign=JUSTICE
| founded=1995
| headquarters=
| Key people=
| hubs= [[OKC Will Rogers International Airport|Oklahoma City]] ([[Federal Transfer Center, Oklahoma City|Federal Transfer Center]])
| focus_cities=
| website= {{URL| https://www.usmarshals.gov/what-we-do/prisoners/transportation}}
|aoc=
|frequent_flyer=
|parent=[[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals Service]]
|num_employees=
}}

[[File:Conair-Marshal.jpg|thumb|A U.S. Marshal on a "Con Air" flight (c. 2000)]]
[[File:United States Marshals Service - JPATS, Air Operations Division, Air Crew.jpg|thumb|Patch of JPATS, Air Operations Division, Air Crew.]]

The '''Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System''' ('''JPATS'''), nicknamed "'''Con Air'''",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usmarshals.gov/jpats/conair.htm |title=Con Air: America's High-Flying Paddy Wagon |publisher=Usmarshals.gov |date=2004-06-03 |access-date=2012-03-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207220129/http://www.usmarshals.gov/jpats/conair.htm |archive-date=2012-02-07 }}</ref> is a [[United States Marshals Service]] airline charged with the transportation of persons in legal custody between [[prison]]s, detention centers, courthouses, and other locations. It is the largest prison transport network in the world.<ref name="wired">{{citation |title=Relocating Prisoners |last=Graves |first=Lucas |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |date=June 2010 |volume=18 |issue=6 |pages=148–149|url=https://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/05/process_prisoners/}}</ref>  Though primarily used by the [[Federal Bureau of Prisons]] or [[U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement]], JPATS also assists [[military police|military]] and state law enforcement. Marshals involved in prisoner transportation are referred to as '''Aviation Enforcement Officers''' (AEOs).<ref>{{cite web |title=Aviation Enforcement Officer |url=https://www.usmarshals.gov/careers/aviation-enforcement-officer |website=U.S. Marshals Service |access-date=14 February 2025}}</ref>

The agency is managed by the [[United States Marshals Service|USMS]] out of the JPATS headquarters in [[Kansas City, Missouri]].<ref name="wired" /> JPATS was formed in 1995 from the merger of the Marshals Service air fleet with that of the [[Immigration and Naturalization Service]]. JPATS completes more than 260,000 prisoner/alien movements per year.<ref name="usmarshals.gov">{{Cite web|url=https://www.usmarshals.gov/jpats/|title=U.S. Marshals Service|first=U. S. Marshals|last=Service (USMS)|website=www.usmarshals.gov|access-date=2019-09-12|archive-date=2018-01-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180111051228/https://www.usmarshals.gov/jpats/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Air fleet operations are located in [[Oklahoma City, Oklahoma]], with hubs in [[Las Vegas, Nevada]]; [[Puerto Rico]] and the [[Virgin Islands]]. Additionally, the [[Federal Transfer Center, Oklahoma City|Federal Transfer Center]] at Oklahoma City's [[Will Rogers World Airport]] was built especially to facilitate prisoner transport on JPATS.

Usually, the [[airline]] employs [[Boeing 737]] aircraft to transport convicts and illegal residents of the [[United States]] for [[extradition]]. Smaller jets and turboprops may also be used to transport individual prisoners who are considered particularly dangerous or notorious, as well as individuals in the [[United States Federal Witness Protection Program|witness protection program]].

According to the Marshals Service, JPATS owns and operates four Boeing 737s.<ref name=":0" />

JPATS aircraft use the [[International Civil Aviation Organization|ICAO]] designator '''DOJ''' with the callsign '''JUSTICE'''.

==History and evolution==
On November 1, 1919, [[San Francisco Police Department|San Francisco Police]] officer (and future [[Barnstorming|barnstormer]]) [[Ivan R. Gates]] became the first to transport a prisoner by air, one James Kelly (convicted of carrying concealed weapons), from [[Alameda, California|Alameda]] to San Francisco.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78615997/first-prisoner-by-air/ |title=Odd Items From Everywhere |date=November 11, 1919 |newspaper=The Boston Globe |page=16 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78646992/photo-of-first-prisoner-transport-by-air/ |title=The Black Maria has a Rival in the Airplane  |date=December 11, 1919 |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|The Atlanta Constitution]] |via=[[Newspaper.com]] |quote=Ivan R. Gates, San Francisco's first aero policeman ... delivering his prisoner, James Kelly, to Chief of Police D. A. White ...}} {{open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/78646086/first-prisoner-transfer-ever-with-photo/ |title=Here's Your Prisoner, Chief-By Air |date=November 2, 1919 |newspaper=San Francisco Examiner |page=11 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{open access}}</ref>

Prior to the existence of JPATS, the air 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.

On August 20, 1985, the U.S. Marshals were offered a transfer from the [[Federal Aviation Administration|Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)]] of a [[Boeing 727]] aircraft.<ref>{{Cite web|title=History - National Prisoner Transportation System|url=https://www.usmarshals.gov/history/npts/index.html}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usmarshals.gov/history/npts/index.html |title=U.S. Marshals Service, History, National Prisoner Transportation System |publisher=Usmarshals.gov |date=1985-08-20 |access-date=2012-03-07}}</ref>

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]]s learn to protect the aircraft's occupants, though no data shows the efficiency of this training.{{Citation needed|date=March 2015}}

==Today==
[[File:JPATS-prisoners stepping down an aircraft.jpg|thumb|Prisoners deplaning (c. 2000)|right]]
Today's JPATS fleet has expanded to four full-sized aircraft.<ref name=":0" /> These planes fly a large series of routes that serve nearly every major U.S. city.<ref name="usmarshals.gov"/>

The flight schedules are kept secret from the public, and are known only to those directly involved in its operation. Inmates scheduled to fly are given little or no advance notice of their flight, to deter escapes and sabotage, and to prevent harm from outsiders.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}

[[File:"blue box" handcuff cover.jpg|right|thumb|Prisoner in handcuffs augmented with a handcuff cover and belly chains]]
Passengers aboard a flight are [[physical restraints|restrained]] with [[handcuffs]] as well as [[Fetters|ankle]] and [[Belly chain (restraint)|waist chains]] which are double- or even triple-locked. Those who pose additional danger may be forced to wear additional restraints, such as reinforced mittens that completely isolate and almost completely immobilize the hands, [[handcuff cover]]s which conceal the keyholes, and face masks to prevent biting and spitting. However, due to [[FAA]] regulations inmates are not physically restrained to their seats in any way except for seat belts used during takeoff and landing.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}

Flight and seating arrangements are made carefully with the intent to separate inmates who may  conflict with one another. For example, members of rival prison gangs may be transported on different days to help reduce the risk of an in-flight incident.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}} Unlike the practice of most jails and prisons, male and female inmates fly together on the same planes.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kerman|first1=Piper|title=Orange is the New Black, My Time in a Women's Prison|date=2010|publisher=Abacus|location=London|isbn=978-0-3491-3987-6|page=193|edition=2013}}</ref>

==Fleet==
{{As of|2023|8}}, the JPATS fleet consists of the following aircraft:<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=August 11, 2023 |title=United States Department of Justice, United States Marshals Service Office of Procurement, FAR PART 12 Brand Name Justification |url=https://sam.gov/opp/c4067a7407624c1b982494dfc1e9b6a7/view}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;margin:1em auto;"
|+Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System fleet
|- style="background:red;"
! style="width:125px;" rowspan="1" | Aircraft
! style="width:60px;" rowspan="1" | In service
! style="width:60px;" rowspan="1" | Orders
! Passengers
! rowspan="1" | Notes
|-
|[[Boeing 737-400]]
|2
|—
|126<ref name="oig">{{cite web |title=Audit of the United States Marshals Service's Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System |url=https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2019/a1933.pdf |access-date=3 August 2021 |publisher=Office of the Inspector General}}</ref>
|
|-
|[[Boeing 737 Next Generation|Boeing 737-700]]
|1
|—
|—
|
|-
|[[Boeing 737 Next Generation|Boeing 737-800]]
|1
|—
|—
|
|-
!Total
!4
!
!
|-
|}

=== Fleet development ===
{{As of|2023|8}}, JPATS was seeking to purchase an additional Boeing 737-700 or Boeing 737-800 to replace one of its current Boeing 737-400 aircraft.<ref name=":0" />

==In popular culture==
*''[[Con Air]]'' (1997), starring [[Nicolas Cage]], was inspired by the operations of the agency, with the title being a reference to its nickname. The film is set on a [[Fairchild C-123 Provider]], an aircraft that JPATS never actually operated, and its interior more closely resembles a prison than actual JPATS aircraft, which do not significantly differ from most airliners. The film's screenplay explains this by saying that the prisoners on the flight are "the worst of the worst", including several serial killers and mass murderers.
*''[[U.S. Marshals (film)|U.S. Marshals]]'' (1998) depicted the story of a JPATS Flight 343, a Boeing 727-200 that crashed during flight and the manhunt for a prisoner who escapes following the crash.
*The ''[[Freakazoid!]]'' episode "Island of Dr. Mystico" features an airline named "Prison Air", a parody of JPATS.
*In ''[[The Unusuals]]'' episode "The Dentist" (2009), Det. Eddie Alvarez asks suspended U.S. Marshal and suspected felon Ben Foster if he will be transporting a prisoner via "JPATS". Marshal Foster appears confused until Det. Alvarez explains that it is the "Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System". Marshal Foster then confirms the prisoner will be transported via JPATS, however he is really breaking the prisoner out of custody after robbing the police precinct of valuable evidence against a criminal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1422565/|title=The Dentist|via=www.imdb.com}}</ref>
*In the ''[[Orange Is the New Black]]'' episode "Thirsty Bird" (2014), prisoner [[Piper Chapman]] is transported on a JPATS plane for a transfer from Litchfield prison in New York to a Chicago detention facility. US Marshals are shown doing prisoner pat-downs before boarding and then staffing the flight. Prisoners are shown boarding the flight from various locations, including both males and females.

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
* {{cite web |url= http://www.ice.gov/partners/dro/airtran.htm |publisher= U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement |title= Air Transportation |url-status= dead |archive-date= September 16, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080916073926/http://www.ice.gov/partners/dro/airtran.htm }}
* {{cite book |title= Increasing the local use of the US Marshals Service Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS) |first= Ingo Remo |last= Johnson |publisher= Western Baptist College |date= Jan 1, 1994 |asin= B0006RI4HS |url= https://www.amazon.co.uk/Increasing-Marshalls-Service-Prisoner-Transportation/dp/B0006RI4HS }}
* {{cite book|title= Out of Orange: A Memoir |publisher= Harper Collins |date= May 5, 2015 |first= Cleary |last= Wolters |isbn= 9780062376152 }}

== External links ==
* {{Official website|https://www.usmarshals.gov/what-we-do/prisoners/transportation}}

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[[Category:Airlines of the United States]]
[[Category:Prisoner transport]]
[[Category:Police aviation units of the United States]]
[[Category:United States Department of Justice agencies]]
[[Category:Government agencies established in 1995]]
[[Category:Airlines based in Missouri]]