County Installs Suicide Prevention Signs in Parks

A new suicide prevention sign posted along Milwaukee’s lakefront. Photo taken Nov. 13, 2025 by Graham Kilmer.

Milwaukee County is placing suicide prevention signs in county parks as a reminder that help is available.

The signs read “No Judgment, Just Support” and advertise the 988 Suicide and Crisis lifeline, as well as the phone number for the county’s 24-hour crisis line. The county is installing 20 signs along the lakefront and another 20 signs in other parks. The signs were developed in response to a growing number of suicides and mental health crises occurring in county parks.

The sign lets visitors know they are “three numbers away from being able to get some help,” Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley told Urban Milwaukee during an unveiling Thursday.

The county’s Department of Health and Human Services worked on the campaign with Milwaukee County Parks, the Milwaukee County Sheriff‘s Office (MCSO) and the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW).

“We know that there are individuals who may be suffering through their own mental illness and going through their own challenges, and when they come to a park, they may be coming for some assistance, maybe that mental refuge that they need,” Crowley said. “But they may need someone to actually reach out and talk to them.”

The MCW used location data from suicides maintained by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner‘s Office to determine which parks to place signs in.

“There has been research that has shown that even putting five or 10 seconds between a person and their decision to end their life can make a difference,” said Sara Kohlbeck, director of the Division of Suicide Research and Healing at the MCW.

The MCSO has responded to a growing number of mental health and suicide calls in county parks and along the lakefront this year, said Sheriff Denita Ball.

“Suicide is a tragedy. It’s a permanent solution to a temporary problem, and the outcome is devastating for not only the family, the friends, but also the community,” Ball said.

Parks staff started installing the signs Thursday. “Parks are tremendous community assets, places for connection, recreation, reflection and healing. They are to be safe places, both physically and emotionally,” said Parks Director Guy Smith.

Last November, Alderman Jonathan Brostoff died by suicide in a county park in West Allis. Brostoff’s loss was deeply personal for Crowley, who was friends with Brostoff and had known him since he was in high school. They got involved in community organizing and politics around the same time.

“I think about Jonathan a lot,” Crowley told Urban Milwaukee. “Quite frankly, I think about him every day.”

Brostoff struggled with his mental health his whole life. As an elected official, he pushed for changes in public policy that would provide more resources for people in mental health crises and limit firearm access for those at risk of suicide.

“When I think about him and understand what he fought for, I know that this is something that he truly believed in: making sure that people understood that there was help out there.”