Thursday, November 29, 2012

Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn: NY

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.


Fort Dix, New Jersey

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 General John 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.

U.S. Coast Guard site

The Atlantic Strike Team (AST) of the U.S. Coast Guard is based at Fort Dix. As part of the Department of Homeland Security, the AST is responsible for responding to oil pollution and hazardous materials release incidents to protect public health and the environment.[4][5]

Federal Correctional Institution

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.

2005 Realignments

In 2005, the United States Department of Defense announced that Fort Dix would be affected by a Base Realignment and Closure. It will be merged with two neighboring military bases, McGuire Air Force Base and Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst, establishing Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. This will be the first base of its kind in the United States.
The preliminary 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) list was released by the United States Department of Defense on May 13, 2005. The proposal recommends closing 33 major United States military bases and the "realignment" (either enlarging or shrinking) of 29 others. The justifications made are, in part:
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:
  1. 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.
  2. Close Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, and relocate the HQ 78th Division at Fort Dix, NJ.
  3. Realign Fort Totten, NY, by disestablishing the HQ 77th Regional Readiness Command and establishing a Sustainment Brigade at Fort Dix, NJ., while at the same time Closing Carpenter USARC, Poughkeepsie, New York, McDonald USARC, Jamaica, New York, Fort Tilden USARC, Far Rockaway, New York, and Muller USARC, Bronx, New York, and relocate the units to a new Armed Forces Reserve Center at Fort Totten, NY.
  4. Realign Fort Sheridan, IL, by relocating the 244th Aviation Brigade to Fort Dix, NJ.
  5. 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.

Attack plots

1970

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]

2007

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.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1990 10,205
2000 7,464
−26.9%
source:[18]
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.


United States Penitentiary, Canaan: PA

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]

United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg : PA

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]


List of U.S. federal prisons

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.

List of federal prisons

Name Location
Federal Correctional Institution, Allenwood Low Pennsylvania
Federal Correctional Institution, Allenwood Medium Pennsylvania
Federal Correctional Institution, Ashland Kentucky
Federal Correctional Institution, Bastrop Texas
Federal Correctional Institution, Beckley West Virginia
Federal Correctional Institution, Beaumont Low Texas
Federal Correctional Institution, Beaumont Medium Texas
Federal Correctional Institution, Bennettsville South Carolina
Federal Correctional Institution, Berlin New Hampshire
Federal Correctional Institution, Big Spring Texas
Federal Correctional Institution, Butner Low North Carolina
Federal Correctional Institution, Butner Medium North Carolina
Federal Correctional Institution, Coleman Low Florida
Federal Correctional Institution, Coleman Medium Florida
Federal Correctional Institution, Cumberland Maryland
Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury Connecticut
Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin California
Federal Correctional Institution, Edgefield South Carolina
Federal Correctional Institution, Elkton Ohio
Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno Oklahoma
Federal Correctional Institution, Englewood Colorado
Federal Correctional Institution, Estill South Carolina
Federal Correctional Institution, Fairton New Jersey
Federal Correctional Institution, Florence Colorado
Federal Correctional Institution, Forrest City Low Arkansas
Federal Correctional Institution, Forrest City Medium Arkansas
Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix New Jersey
Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Worth Texas
Federal Correctional Institution, Gilmer West Virginia
Federal Correctional Institution, Greenville Illinois
Federal Correctional Institution, Herlong California
Federal Correctional Institution, Jesup Georgia
Federal Correctional Institution, La Tuna Texas
Federal Correctional Institution, Lompoc California
Federal Correctional Institution, Loretto Pennsylvania
Federal Correctional Institution, Manchester Kentucky
Federal Correctional Institution, Marianna Florida
Federal Correctional Institution, McDowell West Virginia
Federal Correctional Institution, McKean Pennsylvania
Federal Correctional Institution, Memphis Tennessee
Federal Correctional Institution, Mendota California
Federal Correctional Institution, Miami Florida
Federal Correctional Institution, Milan Michigan
Federal Correctional Institution, Morgantown West Virginia
Federal Correctional Institution, Oakdale Louisiana
Federal Correctional Institution, Otisville New York
Federal Correctional Institution, Oxford Wisconsin
Federal Correctional Institution, Pekin Illinois
Federal Correctional Institution, Petersburg Low Virginia
Federal Correctional Institution, Petersburg Medium Virginia
Federal Correctional Institution, Phoenix Arizona
Federal Correctional Institution, Pollock Louisiana
Federal Correctional Institution, Ray Brook New York
Federal Correctional Institution, Safford Arizona
Federal Correctional Institution, Sandstone Minnesota
Federal Correctional Institution, Schuylkill Pennsylvania
Federal Correctional Institution, Seagoville Texas
Federal Correctional Institution, Sheridan Oregon
Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega Alabama
Federal Correctional Institution, Tallahassee Florida
Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island California
Federal Correctional Institution, Terre Haute Indiana
Federal Correctional Institution, Texarkana Texas
Federal Correctional Institution, Three Rivers Texas
Federal Correctional Institution, Tucson Arizona
Federal Correctional Institution, Victorville California
Federal Correctional Institution, Waseca Minnesota
Federal Correctional Institution, Williamsburg South Carolina
Federal Correctional Institution, Yazoo City Low Mississippi
Federal Correctional Institution, Yazoo City Medium Mississippi
Federal Detention Center, Honolulu Hawaii
Federal Detention Center, Houston Texas
Federal Detention Center, Miami Florida
Federal Detention Center, Oakdale Louisiana
Federal Detention Center, Philadelphia Pennsylvania
Federal Detention Center, SeaTac Washington
Federal Medical Center, Butner North Carolina
Federal Medical Center, Carswell Texas
Federal Medical Center, Devens Massachusetts
Federal Medical Center, Lexington Kentucky
Federal Medical Center, Rochester Minnesota
Federal Prison Camp, Alderson West Virginia
Federal Prison Camp, Bryan Texas
Federal Prison Camp, Duluth Minnesota
Federal Prison Camp, Montgomery Alabama
Federal Prison Camp, Pensacola Florida
Federal Prison Camp, Yankton South Dakota
Federal Transfer Center, Oklahoma City Oklahoma
Metropolitan Correctional Center, Chicago Illinois
Metropolitan Correctional Center, New York New York
Metropolitan Correctional Center, San Diego California
Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn New York
Metropolitan Detention Center, Guaynabo Puerto Rico
Metropolitan Detention Center, Los Angeles California
United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, Springfield Missouri
United States Penitentiary, Allenwood Pennsylvania
United States Penitentiary, Atlanta Georgia
United States Penitentiary, Atwater California
United States Penitentiary, Big Sandy Kentucky
United States Penitentiary, Beaumont Texas
United States Penitentiary, Canaan Pennsylvania
United States Penitentiary, Coleman Florida
United States Penitentiary, Florence ADX Colorado
United States Penitentiary, Florence High Colorado
United States Penitentiary, Hazelton West Virginia
United States Penitentiary, Lee Virginia
United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth Kansas
United States Penitentiary, Lewisburg Pennsylvania
United States Penitentiary, Lompoc California
United States Penitentiary, Marion Illinois
United States Penitentiary, McCreary Kentucky
United States Penitentiary, Pollock Louisiana
United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute Indiana
United States Penitentiary, Tucson Arizona
United States Penitentiary, Victorville California