The Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn (MDC Brooklyn) is a United States federal prison
in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, New York which holds male and female inmates
prior to and during court proceedings, as well an inmates serving short
sentences. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.[1]
History
It opened in the early 1990s over opposition from neighbors and local elected officials.[2]
Critics feared that the jail, with its staff, inmates, visitors, and
supply deliveries would overburden neighborhood traffic and water and
sewer systems.[3]
The federal detention center was built to hold 1,000 inmates.[2]
It was built to hold prisoners awaiting arraignments or trials in Federal courts.[2] The center was built mainly to serve the Federal courts of the Eastern District of New York, which includes Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Long Island.[2] But it also can be used to hold prisoners awaiting trial or arraignment in the Southern District of New York, including Manhattan, the Bronx, Westchester, and five upstate New York counties.[2]
In 1999, a second facility (the West Side) was opened adjacent to the
original complex (the East Side) to house federal inmates
in-transit/holdover (those inmates who have already been sentenced and
are on their way to another institution), bringing the total number of
inmates being housed at the institution to close to 3,000.
In order to run the largest detention center in the country, the
Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) opened a prison camp within the confines
of the institution. Currently, over 300 "cadres" (so called "campers")
are designated at MDC in order to maintain the facilities and feed the
3,000 or so inmates.
The Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix (FCI Fort Dix) is a low-security United States federal prison for male offenders in New Jersey. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. A satellite prison camp houses minimum-security male inmates.
FCI Fort Dix is located in Burlington County on the Fort Dix/McGuire Air Force Base military installation. It is approximately 40 miles from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1]
Fort Dix is named for Major GeneralJohn Adams Dix, a veteran of the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Construction began in June 1917. Camp Dix, as it was known at the time, was a training and staging ground for units during World War I.
The camp became a demobilization center after the war. Between the
World Wars, Camp Dix was a reception, training and discharge center for
the Civilian Conservation Corps. Camp Dix became Fort Dix on March 8, 1939, and the installation became a permanent Army post. During and after World War II
the fort served the same purpose as in the first World War. It served
as a training and staging ground during the war and a demobilization
center after the war.
On July 15, 1947, Fort Dix became a Basic Training Center and the home of the 9th Infantry Division.
In 1954, the 9th moved out and the 69th Infantry Division made the fort
home until it was deactivated on March 16, 1956. During the Vietnam War rapid expansion took place. A mock Vietnam
village was constructed and soldiers received Vietnam-specific training
before being deployed. Since Vietnam, Fort Dix has sent soldiers to
Operation Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Fort Dix is also home to Fort Dix Federal Correctional Institution,
the largest single federal prison in America. It is a low security
installation for male inmates located within the military installation.
As of November 19, 2009 it housed 4,310 inmates, and a minimum-security
satellite camp housed an additional 426.[6] Inmates use plastic pouches of mackerel as commodity money.[7]
Mission realignment
Knowing that Fort Dix was on a base closure list the U.S. Air Force attempted to save the U.S. Army post during 1987. The USAF moved the Security Police Air Base Ground Defence school from Camp Bullis
Texas to Dix in the fall of 1987. It was eventually realized that it
was not cost effective to put 50-100 S.P. trainees on a commercial
flight from San Antonio, Texas to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania every
couple of weeks, so the school was later moved back to Camp Bullis Texas. Fort Dix was an early casualty of the first Base Realignment and Closure
process in the early 1990s, losing the basic-training mission that had
introduced new recruits to military life since 1917. But Fort Dix
advocates attracted Army Reserve interest in keeping the 31,000-acre
(13,000 ha) post as a training reservation. With the reserves, and
millions for improvements, Fort Dix actually has grown again to employ
3,000. As many as 15,000 troops train there on weekends, and the post
has been a major mobilization point for reserve and National Guard
troops since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.
Fort Dix has completed its realignment from an individual training center to a FORSCOM Power Projection Platform for the Northeastern United States under the command and control of the United States Army Reserve
Command. Primary missions include being a center of excellence for
training, mobilizing and deploying Army Reserve and National Guard
units; providing regional base operations support to on-post and
off-post active and reserve component units of all services; and
providing a high-quality community environment, including 848 housing
units for service members and their families. Fort Dix supported more
than 1.1 million man-days of training in 1998. A daily average of more
than 13,500 persons live or work within the garrison and its tenant
organizations. Fort Dix subinstallations include the Charles E. Kelly
Support Facility in Oakdale, Pennsylvania and the Devens Reserve Forces Training Area in Ayer, Massachusetts.
This recommendation transforms Reserve Component facilities and
command and control structure throughout the Northeast Region of the
United States. The implementation of this recommendation will enhance
military value, improve homeland defense capability, greatly improve
training and deployment capability, create significant efficiencies and
cost savings, and is consistent with the Army’s force structure plans
and Army transformational objectives.
The BRAC recommendations directly affecting Fort Dix are:
Realign Pitt USARC, Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, by disestablishing the HQ 99th Regional Readiness Command and establishing a Northeast Regional Readiness Command Headquarters at Fort Dix, NJ, while Closing Charles Kelly Support Center and relocating the units to Pitt US Army Reserve Center.
Realign Fort Dix, NJ, by relocating Equipment Concentration
Site 27 to the New Jersey Army National Guard Mobilization and Training
Equipment Site joint facility at Lakehurst, New Jersey.
In 1970, the Weather Underground planned to detonate a nail bomb
at a noncommissioned officers dance at the base to "bring the war home"
and "give the United States and the rest of the world a sense that this
country was going to be completely unlivable if the United States
continued in Vietnam." The plot failed the morning of the dance when a bomb under construction exploded at the group's Greenwich Village, New York townhouse, killing three members of the group.[8]
On May 8, 2007, six individuals, mostly ethnic Albanian Muslims,[9] were arrested for plotting an attack against Fort Dix and the soldiers within. The men are believed to be Islamic radicals who may have been inspired by the ideologies of Al-Qaeda.[10] The men allegedly planned to storm the fort with automatic weapons in an attempt to kill as many soldiers as possible.[9] The men faced charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. Soldiers.[11]
1969 stockade riot
On June 5, 1969, 250 men imprisoned in the military stockade for being AWOL, rioted in an effort to expose the unsanitary conditions.[12][13][14]
"Ultimate Weapon" monument
In 1957, Specialist 4 Steven Goodman, assisted by PFC Stuart Scherr,
made a small clay model of an infantryman during their leisure hours.
Their tabletop model was spotted by a public relations
officer who brought it to the attention of Deputy Post Commander Bruce
Clarke, who suggested the construction of a larger statue to serve as a
symbol of Fort Dix.[15] Goodman and Scherr, who had studied industrial arts together in New York City and were classified by the Army as illustrators,
undertook the project under the management of Sergeant Major Bill
Wright. Operating on a limited budget, and using old railroad track and
other available items, they created a 12-foot figure of a charging
infantryman in full battle dress,[15] representing no particular race or ethnicity.[16]
By 1988, years of weather had taken a toll on the statue, and a
restoration campaign raised over $100,000. Under the auspices of Goodman
and the Fort Dix chapter of the Association of the United States Army, the statue was recast in bronze and its concrete base replaced by black granite.[17]
The statue stands 25 feet tall at the entrance to Infantry Park. Its inscription reads
This monument is dedicated to
the only indispensable instrument of war,
The American Soldier---
THE ULTIMATE WEAPON
"If they are not there,
you don't own it."
17 August 1990
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 11.3 square miles (29.3 km2), of which 11.2 square miles (29.1 km2)of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km2)of it (0.53%) is water.
As of the 2000 United States Census[19] there were 7,464 people, 843 households, and 714 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 663.9 people per square mile (256.4/km2). There were 1,106 housing units at an average density of 98.4 homes per square mile (38.0/km2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 58.4% White, 35.6% African American, 0.4% Native American, 1.3% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.5% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 22.8% of the population.
There were 843 households, of which 63.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.2% were married couples
living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present,
and 15.3% were non-families. 14.7% of all households were made up of
individuals and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 3.06 and the average family size
was 3.39.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 13.6% under the age of
18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 62.1% from 25 to 44, 15.1% from 45 to 64, and
1.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For
every 100 females there were 491.0 males. For every 100 females age 18
and over, there were 734.5 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $41,397, and the
median income for a family was $41,705. Males had a median income of
$31,657 versus $22,024 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $10,543. About 2.5% of families and 3.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.2% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
The United States Penitentiary, Canaan (USP Canaan) is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates, with a satellite prison camp for minimum-security male inmates. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.
USP Canaan is located in northeastern Pennsylvania, 20 miles east of Scranton, and 134 miles north of Philadelphia.[1]
History and facility
USP Canaan is a 170,000-square-yard (140,000 m2) facility designed by David R. Cassara Associates, Structural Engineering and Consulting of Rochester, New York for $141 million.[2]
USP Canaan opened in March 2005 and is designed to house 1088 male
inmates in six housing units. Six V-shaped buildings facing each other
and a larger maintenance building surround a central yard with a tower
in the middle. Six additional towers are lined along the rectangular
shaped facility. The facility is surrounded by a lethal electrical
double fence. Cells are approximately 4 × 2 m (13 × 7 feet) in size
equipped with a bunkbed, a stainless steel sink-toilet combination and a
small table with a non-removable stool. Cells are usually occupied by
two inmates and are air conditioned. The administrative and disciplinary
unit, called the Special Housing Unit, can hold approximately 250
inmates. Cells in the disciplinary unit have showers and are occupied by
two inmates.
Prison schedule and regulations
Inmates are counted 5 to 6 times a day, at 12:01 a.m., 3:00 a.m.,
5:00 a.m., 4:00 p.m. (stand up count), 10:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m. (on
weekends and holidays). Initial work movements start at 4:30 a.m. and
inmates must be up at 7:30 a.m. All inmates must be back inside their
cells at 10:00 p.m.[3]
Prisoners have access to a text-based e-mail program known as Trust Fund Limited Inmate Communication System (TRULINCS).[4]
Prisoners are only allowed 13,000 characters per e-mail, and
attachments cannot be sent, received, or viewed. Inmates are not allowed
to retain more than two newspapers, 10 magazines and 25 letters in
their cells. Inmates are allowed to place phone calls to up to 30
approved numbers. Phone calls are restricted to 15 minutes per call and
five hours per month. Inmates pay for their phone calls through their
trust accounts. Inmates can buy additional food, hygiene articles and
clothes from commissary for a maximum of $290 a month.
Notable incidents
There have been two inmate murders at USP Canaan since its opening.
On April 25, 2010, Allen Hurley, an inmate serving a 37-year sentence
for multiple armed robberies,
became involved in a physical altercation with Joseph O'Kane while they
were both in Hurley's cell. Hurley pulled out a homemade prison knife
known as a shank, and stabbed O'Kane 92 times. O'Kane, an associate of the Gambino Crime Family in New York City who was serving life sentence for racketeering and murder, died at the scene. Hurley was convicted of manslaughter on June 21, 2012 and faces a mandatory life sentence when he is sentenced in September 2012.[5][6]
On August 23, 2010, inmate Jose Antonio Perez, the leader of a major drug trafficking ring in Hartford, Connecticut, died of a single stab wound to the neck. Perez was serving a life sentence for drug trafficking and murder for hire in connection with the 2002 shooting death of Theodore Casiano, the leader of a rival drug trafficking organization.[7][8] Perez' murder remains under investigation.
In June of 2011, 300 inmates and several staff members became ill
after eating chicken in the prison dining room. The Pennsylvania State
Department of Health was called in to investigate and determined that
the cause was salmonella poisoning. The incident constituted one of the largest institutional outbreaks of salmonella poisoning in US history. No one became critically ill.[9]
The United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg (USP Lewisburg) is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Pennsylvania. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. An adjacent satellite prison camp houses minimum-security male offenders.
USP Lewisburg is located in central Pennsylvania, 200 miles north of
Washington, DC and 170 miles west of Philadelphia. The prison is located
in the same town as Bucknell University.[2]
Initially named North Eastern Penitentiary, USP Lewisburg was one of four federal prisons to open in 1932.[3][4]
USP Lewisburg had a prison riot
in November 1995. Although started by only 10 prisoners, more than 20
visited the hospital that November 1, with one prisoner recording
multiple broken bones and missing teeth. Many were sentenced to the
"hole" and over 400 were transferred.[5] This incident thrust the Penitentiary into the national spotlight, where it gained much of its current notoriety.
A local non-profit group, the Lewisburg Prison Project, assists
prisoners here and in the surrounding area with issues of conditions of
confinement.[6]
USP Lewisburg was the focus of a 1991 Academy Award-nominated documentary titled, Doing Time: Life Inside the Big House,
by filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond. The one hour long film described
conditions inside the prison and focused specifically on the abolition
of parole
within the federal system and the fears held by many prisoners about
re-integrating into society upon their eventual release from prison.[7]
As of 2009, USP Lewisburg was designated as a Special Management Unit
intended to house the most violent and disruptive inmates in the Bureau
of Prisons. Although most USP Lewisburg inmates are housed in the SMU,
there remains a work cadre of approximately 200 inmates in the USP's
general population.
Funding Issues
In July 2008, correction officers at USP Lewisburg expressed concerns
about underfunding. Over the past four years, union leaders and other
officials had been lobbying in an attempt to quell staff reductions and
cutting costs. The Federal Bureau of Prisons had proposed $143 million
in possible spending cuts, including not replacing vehicles and
equipment, eliminating overtime, reducing corrections officer training,
and a possible cut in officer staff positions.[8] Under such conditions, many of the Correctional Officers expressed concerns about their own safety.
Recent events
In 2012, Jeff Thomas replaced Bryan E. Bledsoe as Warden of USP Lewisburg.[9] USP Lewisburg is currently facing a civil trial for allegedly keeping prisoners shackled for days at a time. [10]
This is a list of United States federal prisons managed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice.
The Bureau of Prisons divides facilities into various security levels ranging from ADX Maximum Security (supermax), through High, Medium, Low, and Minimum, to Community Corrections Centers. Examples are the ADX facility in Florence, Colorado;
High security such as Lewisburg and Atlanta, and numerous other lower
level facilities throughout the United States. A list of all the various
facilities within the BOP system is at BOP website.[1]
Although the more common BOP facilities mentioned in the media are
the High and Medium ones, the minimum-security facilities, commonly
referred to as Federal Prison Camps, are usually the most famous ones.
Federal prison camps are now more commonly referred to as Federal
Prison Camps ("FPC") or Satellite Prison Camps ("SPC"). The FPCs are
usually stand-alone facilities that are self-contained and, more often
than not, found adjacent to a military or other government installation.
The SPC is usually co-located with a higher security BOP facility
(ADX-High) and is designed to provide the workforce to assist in
maintaining the infrastructure of the entire facility—providing
landscaping, repair services, and a host of other daily duties.
This list does not include military prisons, state prisons, jails, or prisons operated under contract to BOP by private companies or local governments. It also does not include detention centers and facilities and processing centers run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Classification
Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) are institutions with different missions and security levels located in proximity to one another.
Federal Correctional Institutions (FCI) are Low and Medium Security facilities.
Federal Detention Centers (FDC) are inmate reception and transfer centers.
Federal Medical Centers (FMC) handle inmates requiring medical or psychiatric care.
Federal Prison Camps (FPC) are for minimum security inmates.
Federal Transfer Center
Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC)
Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC)
U.S. Penitentiaries (USP) are for inmates classified for High (Maximum) Security.