Emergency buttons that allow detainees at the Metropolitan Detention Center to call for help when they’re locked in their cells have often malfunctioned or been ignored for years, according to court records and close observers of the jail, most recently in an incident where two detainees were trapped as smoke filled their cells.

Earlier this month, two detainees at the infamous federal jail in Sunset Park repeatedly hit an emergency button as smoke filled their locked cell, but no one responded for half an hour, the Federal Defenders of New York said.

The emergency buttons are installed in cells throughout MDC so detainees can call for help when they can’t leave their cells, including during lockdowns. Various court filings cite frequent lockdowns at the facility in recent years, initially to prevent the spread of COVID, but later due to dire staffing shortages. Attorneys, judges and incarcerated people have expressed concerns that malfunctioning or ignored emergency buttons could endanger the health and safety of people in the jail.

MDC houses defendants facing federal charges in New York City, as well as some people serving sentences or in immigration detention. High-profile defendants like Luigi Mangione and Nicolas Maduro are also currently detained at the jail.

Nora Hirozawa, director of strategic litigation for Federal Defenders of New York, said a client and his cellmate were trapped inside as smoke blew out of an air vent and filled the room. She said they pressed the button, screamed for help, and kicked the cell door until an official came about 30 minutes later.

“No one should have to worry about making it out of MDC Brooklyn alive, regardless of the charges against them,” Hirozawa said in a statement.

Scott Taylor, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said on Sept. 18, a detainee lit a small amount of toilet paper, which caused smoke to enter an air conditioning vent. He said staff responded promptly, the smoke cleared, and no one was injured.

Taylor did not directly respond to questions about how many emergency buttons are malfunctioning or what is being done to fix them. He said in an email that “all incidents are reviewed to ensure safety protocols and emergency procedures are functioning as intended, and any concerns are addressed immediately.”

But federal court filings document years of issues with the emergency buttons.

A 2019 class-action lawsuit filed against MDC’s warden accused jail staff of routinely ignoring people who pressed the devices during a weeks-long power outage, including two people experiencing seizures.In 2020, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres visited the detention center and spoke with a detained person who said an officer “jammed” the emergency button, so he was unable to press it when he needed medical attention, according to a transcript of her visit.Also in 2020, an attorney representing several people detained at MDC during the pandemic said in court papers that a client with severe asthma lived in a cell where the emergency button did not work. The man said he was worried that if he had a serious asthma attack, he would not be able to call for help.In January 2024, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman ruled that a 70-year-old man with health issues who pleaded guilty to distributing and possessing a substance containing fentanyl should not be detained at MDC while awaiting sentencing. Furman said he and other judges had been inundated with filings from people at the jail who complained about “near-perpetual lockdowns (no longer explained by COVID-19), dreadful conditions, and lengthy delays in getting medical care.” He said the court had also recently learned that “many, if not most” emergency call buttons in the jail’s main building were not working. Furman said the “only option” was to detain fewer people in the jail until the conditions improved.Another federal judge, U.S. District Judge Gary Brown, ruled in August 2024 that he would vacate a man’s nine-month prison term and have him serve his sentence under home confinement if he were assigned to MDC. Brown said it would be “unacceptable” to send a man who was more than 70 years old and had “significant health challenges” to a facility with such “unimaginable” conditions, including “inoperable panic buttons.”

Hirozawa said Federal Defenders understands the need to maintain safety in the jail but said lockdowns should be used sparingly.

“If there’s a fire or a medical emergency, they have no way to escape or seek help,” she said.