NEW YORK (AP) — The federal Bureau of Prisons says it has increased staffing in recent months to make up for staggering shortfalls at the troubled New York City jail where Sean “Diddy” Combs is awaiting trial after pleading not guilty Tuesday to sex trafficking charges. The agency’s push to fix the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn comes as detainees, advocates and judges have continued to raise alarms about “dangerous, barbaric conditions," rampant violence and multiple deaths. Some judges have refused to send people to the jail, the only federal lockup in the nation’s biggest city.
Combs’ lawyers are pushing to have him moved to a jail in New Jersey, arguing that the Brooklyn jail, known as MDC Brooklyn, is unfit for pretrial detention. Combs, 54, is being kept in the facility’s special housing unit, confined to his cell up to 23 hours a day with around-the-clock monitoring. His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said that's routine for high-profile new arrivals.
MDC Brooklyn is getting needed attention thanks to a group of senior Bureau of Prisons officials known as the Urgent Action Team, which is focusing on bringing the facility back to adequate staffing levels and ensuring it is in good repair. The agency said Friday that it has increased staffing at the jail by about 20%, bringing its total number of employees to 469. Even so, there are still 157 vacant positions.
The new hires include correctional officers and medical staff. Before the surge, the facility.