OIG asked to probe response to power outage at NYC jail

NEW YORK – The Justice Department has asked the Office of Inspector General to undertake a review to determine if the Bureau of Prisons responded appropriately to the weeklong power outage at a New York City federal lockup.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Justice Department says it asked the OIG to assess whether the agency “has in place adequate contingency plans for such an incident.”

The heat and electrical failure at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn during last week’s cold spell left inmates shivering and led to a lawsuit in which lawyers called it a “humanitarian crisis.” The facility currently houses over 1,600 inmates.

The statement said the Bureau of Prisons will also conduct a “thorough investigation of the infrastructure at the facility” and its emergency response planning for similar incidents.