Metropolitan Detention Center - Brooklyn

As a metropolitan detention center, MDC Brooklyn houses both female and male offenders. It has 1,641 inmates of all security levels and is located in Brooklyn, New York. MDC Brooklyn opened in the early 1990s and was originally built to hold 1,000 inmates awaiting arraignment or trial at federal court. In less than a decade, a second facility was opened next door for inmates who have already been sentenced and are awaiting placement to a permanent facility. This more than doubled the total capacity of the facility to close to 3,000, and made MDC Brooklyn the largest detention center in the United States.

Inmates are housed in traditional cells with two or more bunks.

Prison Insights

Visiting Hours and Rules

The visiting hours at MDC Brooklyn are scattered over different days and times throughout the week. We will try to break this down the best we can, but you might want to consider contacting the facility directly to find out specific times for visiting.

The length of your visit and the specific times you can visit will depend on if you are visiting a female or male offender, and what their detainment status is.

Pretrial and Holdover Inmates

Pretrial and holdover inmates are allowed to visit for one hour each week, and they can have a maximum of four visitors at one time.

In an effort to accommodate the inmate population and alleviate congestion during evening visitations, an "Odd/Even" visiting system has been implemented. Social visits are scheduled to occur weekday afternoons (including those falling on federal holidays) from 12:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m., evenings from 5:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m., and weekends from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

An inmate alternates between afternoon and evening visiting each month based on the 5th digit of their register number. For example, an inmate with the register number 00005-053 would follow the "odd" number schedule; whereas, an inmate with the register number 00006-053 would follow the "even" number schedule.

During the even numbered months (February, April, June, October, and December) the "even" numbered inmates will visit in the afternoon, and the "odd" numbered inmates would visit in the evening. During the odd numbered months (January, March, May, July, September, and November), the visiting times reverse: the odd numbered inmates visit in the afternoon, and even numbered inmates visit in the evenings.  

Designated Inmates

Approved social visitors may visit cadre inmates for the duration of 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on each day designated for cadre unit visiting, space permitting. On weekdays and holidays, visitors will not be permitted to enter the facility after 6:30 p.m. On weekends, visitors will not be permitted to enter the facility after 2:00 p.m.

Each visiting session permits an entire housing unit to visit during one specific date. The sessions are as follows:

East Building -

Sunday: Female Units

Wednesday: Female Units (Afternoon)

Saturday: Female Unit

West Building -

Sunday: Male Cadre

Monday: 6th Floor

Tuesday: 7th Floor

Wednesday: 8th Floor

Thursday: 4th Floor

Friday: 5th Floor Male Cadre (Afternoon)

Saturday: Male Cadre

Authorized visitors who can visit an inmate include family, friends, and associates. You can't visit an inmate unless he puts you on the visiting list.

Everyone must fill out a visitor form, and they must have a relationship with the inmate prior to incarceration. If a potential visitor does not have a prior relationship with the inmate, their request will be reviewed by the warden.

Once the inmate requests to add someone to their visit list, a correctional counselor will provide them with a visiting form, and the inmate is responsible for mailing these out and letting the potential visitor know that they need to fill out the form and return it to the institution staff.

The unit team will do a background check and determine if a visitor application is approved. They make their decision based on constructive and security factors. The process takes about a week, and the unit staff will notify the inmate when the requested visitor is approved or refused.

It is the inmate’s responsibility to notify the visitor of the decision, and the process is the same for both adult and minor visitors.

Visitors must adhere to the dress code guidelines specified below:

• Visitors are expected to wear clothing appropriate for the institution
• All visitors are expected to wear proper undergarments
• Clothing cannot be provocative, revealing, or offensive (containing profanity, nudity, or disparaging remarks) 

The following attire is prohibited:

• Outerwear. Visitors are not permitted to wear overcoats, rain coats, parkas, winter coats, or puffy vests into the institution
• Open toe shoes or sandals, and no wheeled shoes
• Shirts or pants with holes
• Military without identification, khaki, tan, or beige clothing
• Sweatpants or hooded shirts
• Swimwear, tube tops, midriffs, or low cut (revealing) clothing
• Lycra or spandex or tight fitting clothing to include yoga pants and jeggings
• See-through clothing
• Hats, visors, scarves, sunglasses, or long hair picks.
• Sleeveless clothing, to include tops, dresses, or blouses, unless covered by a sweater/cardigan, suit jacket or blazer, which must have sleeves that extend past the bend in the shoulder joint and remain on throughout the entire visit
• Skirts, dresses, or shorts must be no shorter than three inches above the knee. If the skirt or dress has a slit, this slit must also not go above three inches above the knee.

Once you arrive at the facility for a visit, make sure to park in the designated visitor parking area and lock all personal items in the vehicle. You will need to bring photo identification into the institution with you. All visitors will first pass through a metal detector followed by a physical pat down search by an officer before signing in for the visit.

Visitors under the age of sixteen must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Young children, 4 and under, who will remain on the visitors lap during the entire visit do not counttowards the visitor limit of four total visitors per visit.

Visitors are allowed to bring in one small, clear plastic bag and change for the vending machines- not to exceed thirty dollars and bills must be in one and five dollar increments.

There is no limit on the amount of mail that inmates receive, but all correspondence must have the inmate’s complete name, registration number, facility name, and address.

You can only send cards or letters to this address. Paperback books, newspapers, and magazines must come directly from the publisher via a subscription or mail order.

Inmates cannot receive packages through the mail, with the exception of a package of release day clothing. You can't send the release day package until 30 days prior to the scheduled release date.

How to Call an Inmate

Federal inmates are not allowed to have cellphones and they can't receive inbound calls. They can make outbound calls during approved hours, and they must pay for them with the money that is on their personal account or call collect.

Inmates will use TRULINCS to call to both landline and cell phones. This is also how inmates are able to send and receive emails. Your number must be added to the contact list for approval.

All phone calls are limited to 15 minutes, and will be monitored and recorded.

How to Send Money

Sending money is one of most important things you can do for an inmate. The prison will issue each prisoner the minimum amount of clothing and hygiene items, and provide them with three meals a day. But, it is extremely difficult for prisoners to have any level of comfort when living with just the items that are prison-issued.

Inmates can receive outside funds while incarcerated at a BOP-managed facility, which are deposited into their commissary accounts.

Postal Service

For federal prisoners, you can send money through the United States Postal Service by MONEY ORDER to the following address:

Federal Bureau of Prisons
Inmate Name
Eight-Digit Register Number
Post Office Box 474701
Des Moines, Iowa 50947-0001

MoneyGram

You can send an inmate funds electronically using MoneyGram's Express Payment Program.To send funds using this method, please read and follow these steps carefully:

Wait until an inmate has physically arrived at a MDC Brooklyn.Gather the information you'll need. Which includes the inmate’s name and number.Visit moneygram.com to complete your payment.

Information needed to complete the MoneyGram payment:

Account Number: Inmate's eight-digit register number with no spaces or dashes, followed immediately by the inmate's last name (example: 12345678DOE).
Company Name: Federal Bureau of Prisons
City & State: Washington, DC
Receive Code is always: 7932
Beneficiary: Inmate's full committed name

Western Union

If you would like to see a sample Western Union form click here. On their website, they have a special form for sending money to inmates, and you go directly to it by clicking here.

You will need to know the inmate’s full name and number, and you can pay with a debit or credit card at westernunion.com. Remember, any time you send money to an inmate you must always include their name and registration number on everything.

There are a few things that inmates can spend their money on. This includes phone calls, emails, and commissary.  The commissary is the prison store, where inmates can buy things like beverages, meals and snacks, OTC medications, stationary, personal hygiene items, clothing, or other miscellaneous products.

Please be aware that prisoners have their own economy inside the prison walls just like we do in the real world. Inmates that have a lot of money can do a lot of things both legal and illegal. Prisoners can potentially use the money in their account to buy things for other inmates in exchange for drugs and paraphernalia. This activity is illegal and can get an inmate in a lot of trouble.

Is important to keep track of how much money you are sending your incarcerated loved one, and watch out for any suspicious behavior.

​Programs For ​Inmates

Designated inmates will maintain a regular job assignment. Institutional maintenance jobs are usually the first assignment an inmate receives. This might include work in Food Service, as a unit orderly, or in a maintenance.

• Literacy/GED programs offered in both English and Spanish.
• ESL is required for all non-English speaking federal inmates who have limited English proficiency skills.
• Adult Continuing Education Programs (ACE)
• Post Secondary Education Programs (PSE) inmate correspondence courses
• Parenting Programs
• Leisure Library Services
• Law Library Services
• Recreation, Leisure, Wellness, and Social Programs
• Art and Hobby Craft Programs
• Drug Abuse Programs
• Drug Abuse Education Course
• Nonresidential Drug Abuse Treatment
• Residential Drug Abuse Treatment
• Community Transition Drug Abuse Treatment
• The Resolve Program [female institutions only]
• The Trauma in Life Workshop
• Nonresidential Counseling Groups
• The Sex Offender Management Program
• The Residential Sex Offender Treatment Program [male institutions only]
• The Non-residential Sex Offender Treatment Program

Pictures of Metropolitan Detention Center - Brooklyn

Careers at Metropolitan Detention Center - Brooklyn

If you are interested in pursuing a career with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, you can find available positions at MDC Brooklyn by visiting USAJobs.gov. The salaries at the facility begin around $40,000 and can go up into the six-figure range, depending on the position.

Reviews from employees at MDC Brooklyn report that it was a challenging experience but they learned a lot. It can be a stressful and potentially dangerous place to work, but is still considered an above average work environment. Plenty of overtime is available that will be added on to your base salary, and the job also comes with good benefits.