I'm Larry Levine and having spent 10 years as aFederal Inmate and 2 years at MDC Los Angeles which is pretty much the same as MCC  where Jeff Epstein allegedly hung himself, and having been held in the SHU, I have a working knowledge of the protocols used within the BOP at the 12  MCC, MDC and FDC Federal Detention Centers. 

First off, when he allegedly tried to commit suicide on July 23, reports say he was asssualted by his Cellie in the Special Housing Unit (SHU), then they were saying he tried to kill himself. We may never know the truth to that. But apparently, his goal was to show the Federal Court that the BOP was unable to protect him and he should be on Home Confinement. 

US District Judge Richard Berman flatley denied Epstein's request for home confinement and he remained in custody at MCC. 

Right after Epstein's apparent suicide attempt on July 23, BOP protocol would be for him to be seen by a staff psychologist and have him evaluated for depression. They would have immediately moved him to a suicide watch cell where the lights are left on 24 / 7 and possibly be watched through a large plexiglass window by an inmate assigned to a suicide watch detail. At many Federal Prisons inmates perform jobs like that to free staff up. Inmates suspected of being suicidal are under constant watch and surveillance. 

He may or may not have been put on Psych meds for depression, as the BOP loves to hand Psych meds out to keep inmates in a Zombie Type State. Inmates call that the "Federal Shuffule" when people are all doped up on sedatives. 

In order for him to have released from the a Suicide Watch status, a shrink would have had to evaluated him and said he was nolonger a threat to himself, staff or other inmates. At this point he was apparently transferred back to a regular SHU cell from the suicide watch cell. 

Even in the SHU BOP staff are constantly walking around looking in cell doors checking on inmates, so why did it take so long for them to detect him hanging himself 

As all inmates in any SHU have limited access to items that could be used as a weapon or could be harmful to themselves, it's unlikely that anything that should have been in the cell was used to facilitate him hanging himself. BUT, what needs to be looked as is whether someone placed something in the cell that should not have been there.

That's the real question, what was in Epstein's cell that shouldn't have been, and who reclassified him and deemed him not to be suicidal. Did a BOP employee purposely leave something in the cell that should not have been, and knew given the opportunity Epstein would  kill himself.