Outside review says sheriff addressing jail problems
Report gave 17 recommendations; 15 have already been implemented
An outside review of the Milwaukee County Jail found outdated policies, lengthy waits for inmate medical screenings, widespread use of overtime because of staff shortages and other problems.
But in the weeks since the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office received the findings, the agency “has aggressively worked” to address those issues, according to a copy of the report released Thursday.
Acting Sheriff Richard Schmidt asked the National Institute of Corrections to review all operations at the jail after seven custody deaths over two years.
One of those deaths — that of Terrill Thomas who died of dehydration in April 2016 — led to criminal charges being filed against three jail staffers and Armor Correctional Health Services, the private medical contractor at the jail.
“The National Institute of Corrections does not pull punches,” Schmidt said Thursday. “They document those areas needing correction and they also document what’s working.”
Of the report’s 17 recommendations, 15 already have been implemented, he said.
The two not yet completed are a review of policies and a staffing analysis. A separate state inspection in December found no violations, he added.
On Thursday, Schmidt took local officials and reporters through the jail in an unprecedented one-hour tour and to see what he called the “transparent transformation” of the jail since he took over in September.
More than 34,000 people are booked into the jail
every year. At the time of the tour, the jail was housing about 900 inmates, less than its capacity of about 960.
“Every inmate must be treated with respect, with proper humanity,” Schmidt said.
The report, known as an “operational assessment,” was paid for by the National Institute of Corrections, which sent two expert consultants to do the evaluation. They visited the jail Feb. 28 through March 2.
The report noted the findings were their opinions and do not represent the official opinion of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Report findings
The report outlines 17 recommendations and includes a detailed review of the jail. Among the findings:
Outdated policies: The Sheriff’s Office’s policies and procedures were last reviewed and revised in October 2014. Best practice calls for annual reviews.
Sheriff’s officials said a “thorough and complete policy review” for the agency is underway and will be completed by the end of this year.
Lock downs: The consultants heard complaints from inmates about what they saw as unnecessary lock-downs. They recommended the agency do a time audit to determine how much time inmates spend in lock-downs.
The Sheriff’s Office did the audit and has made changes so inmates now are locked down about two hours less each day.
Staffing analysis: The report recommended undertaking a staffing analysis, and the Sheriff ’s Office says it’s working to find a company to do that.
Consultants also told the agency to have a better system for tracking overtime. One jail staffer said he had worked 207 hours in the last two-week period.
Sheriff’s officials said the agency should be at full staff by June, which will eliminate widespread overtime. They have a budget for 260 correctional officers employed, and as of right now, have 239 employed. A captain also has been assigned to track all overtime.
Turnover is an ongoing issue. About one-third of the jail’s correctional officers leave the job each year, officials said Thursday.
Suicide watch logs: Inmates on suicide watch are supposed to be checked on every 15 minutes. A review of the watch logs found one officer making entries at specific times, but the second-shift officer was writing down “observation times” at exactly 15-minute intervals.
The report said staff should note the actual time they make the checks. Sheriff’s officials said this has been addressed with training.
Programming coordinator: Only one jail staffer was assigned to coordinate programs in the jail — and had only two days a week to do so.
The position is responsible for a host of activities, including volunteer training, volunteer background checks, law library requests and coordinating with the nonprofit organizations and teachers that work in the jail.
Since then, the staffer now has three days to focus on the role and another officer is being trained to cover the other two days.
Medical screenings
The jail is facing a nursing shortage, and that has led to a backlog in the initial and secondary medical screenings, the report found.
The nurses who conduct the screenings are employees of Armor Correctional, a Miami-based forprofit company.
New inmates are required to undergo two screenings before they are accepted into the jail.
During their visit, the consultant observed 28 inmates waiting for the secondary health screening in the booking area, which is required before they can be housed in the jail.
The consultant watched the screening of two young men who had been waiting overnight in the booking area for about 10 hours.
The Sheriff ’s Office says it has reworked the process so correctional officers are checking wristbands and talking with medical staff prior to the inmates being accepted into the jail and being housed.
The typical wait time for the booking process, which includes the second medical screening, is about four hours, Deputy Inspector Aaron Dobson, the jail administrator, said during the tour.
About 100 people are booked into the jail each day and depending on the person, the medical screening alone can take 30 minutes, he said.
What’s next
The county, which spends about $16.5 million annually in medical and mental health care for inmates, is developing a request for proposals for that contract — a process that could lead to a new provider coming in.
Armor Correctional currently is the medical provider for the jail and the House of Correction in Franklin. The administration at the House of Correction handles the contract.
Schmidt said Thursday he is pushing for a requirement that the next medical vendor achieve accreditation by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care within one year.
As far as Schmidt’s future, he said he anticipates serving as acting sheriff through the end of 2018. He said he still is considering if he will run for sheriff and expects to announce a decision within the next two to three weeks.
He said he wanted to bring transparency to the jail after public outcry following the series of custody deaths.
Other than the Thomas case, no criminal wrongdoing was found in four of the deaths and two remain under investigation, he said.
“I want the public to see this is a different day, it’s a different office, it’s a different sheriff, it’s a different outcome,” Schmidt said.