Supervisor Clancy: Milwaukee County Jail Uprising Highlights Need for Policy Change
Clancy Decries Conditions Leading to Need for Civil Disobedience
MILWAUKEE – Yesterday, 27 individuals incarcerated at Milwaukee County’s Criminal Justice Facility, under the care of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, were charged with obstructing an officer and disorderly conduct (see attached documentation for more details). Supervisor Clancy made the following statement:
“Despite the uprising having occurred on August 12th, the Sheriff’s Office has been opaque about the incident, which involved the peaceful occupation of a library and ended with the room being flooded with pepper spray and beatings. Although the complaint did not detail any injuries to the people in our care, there were listed injuries to deputies including one (1) bruise and several deputies who managed to pepper spray themselves.
This incident was entirely preventable. Civil disobedience is an understandable response to the horrific conditions in the jail which have been ignored or deliberately created by the Sheriff’s Office for years, from the banning of visitation, gouging families with high rates for calls and video calls, refusing to pay even pennies an hour to the folks whose labor provides meals and laundry, to regularly locking people into their cells for up to 23 hours a day. Each time the County Board proposes a remedy for any of these conditions, the Sheriff’s Office vehemently opposes it.
The lack of transparency to the media, to the public, and to the people tasked with oversight over the jail mirror the opaqueness with which the Sheriff’s Office conducts its business generally. The Community Reintegration Center, which is under the control of the County generally rather than the MCSO’s, faces similar challenges but manages to prioritize transparency and to largely avoid both uprisings and deaths in custody by advocating for and implementing better policy for better conditions rather than perpetually trying to expand their footprint and budget.”
State Representative Darrin Madison, who sits on the Committee on Corrections, added that “This situation is a reminder to all elected officials that we must examine and improve the horrific conditions of care for incarcerated people. If we want people in our care to live thriving, productive lives in our communities, we must ensure that they are treated with dignity while they are incarcerated. Hopefully, leaders at the county level are working towards this vision, but if not, we’re committed to ensuring we address this through statewide legislation.”
On August 25, 2023, community members rallied outside the Milwaukee County Jail to express their grievances and concerns related to the 6 deaths in the last 14 months.
The recent review of the jail by the Sheriff’s Office will be heard by the Committee on Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and General Services on September 11th at 1:30 pm in room 203-R.
Interested parties can also join virtually by registering at Milwaukee.gov/testify. The public is encouraged to participate and share their reactions.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
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