[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6658517,"mediaKeyId","4789438-ac9daca407cd25e88004a072e95de665","parentId",4789438,"title","External audit and corrective action plan prompt changes at Milwaukee County Jail amid continuing family concerns","audioSeconds",10199,"startMs",106000,"endMs",10305000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=4789438-ac9daca407cd25e88004a072e95de665&start=106&end=10305","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/4789438-ac9daca407cd25e88004a072e95de665/thumbnail_106000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6658517/Milwaukee-County/Wisconsin/External-audit-and-corrective-action-plan-prompt-changes-at-Milwaukee-County-Jail-amid-continuing-family-concerns","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6658517-f71bfc49ae47d53f608219fc8b4dec60/orig.mp4?Expires=1773197751&Signature=Ql~hEficfU4EmHxrMVEHAz4DHRvEMGKq3hYUkFjB8lI5SGdC10~~9y-Z32pa1kZmlN0T5cn8IUUTCFb1qrKMo9FfujocDkZGhJIJJzonZzmRd24wUZaNEg~8Vna9TL1Va2MAByRw2hlP1Jvq0nesOPRMBXr2OcWqoFdFlFFFPipnOmDbc0iq-JcWnO9MJNUL6f7O4-2vqeHiel4ZJ970OWEt7l9F7PN0MyAdeLNdxm8COw3VPlaRmYV6b~9OOWG4pPmFZAaad~RDO68UuWz5k2mUcSE16FB0gafFnVn5kY9WIntn6pFaEM7z0PnM~bqDUxc5Jw4qUdd7cdBlB1TjgA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Milwaukee County","date","2025-06-17T00:00:00Z","article","A final report from Creative Corrections and a corrective action plan presented to the Milwaukee County Board’s Judiciary, Law Enforcement and General Services Committee on June 17 detailed a series of operational changes at the Milwaukee County Jail intended to reduce in‑custody harm and improve suicide prevention.

The report, delivered by Creative Corrections’ Steve Spalding and introduced by Milwaukee County Director of Audits Jennifer Folliard, summarized work that began after a request for proposals in February 2024 and an external correctional management review that began in October 2024. The county board authorized a contract with Creative Corrections in mid‑2024 and the vendor delivered an initial written audit in December 2024 and a follow‑up corrective action plan, or CAP, that auditors and jail leadership described to the committee on June 17.

The CAP targeted more than 40 specific deficiencies across suicide prevention, medical and mental health care, security, training and supervision. Creative Corrections highlighted several completed changes, including the elimination of restraint benches for people on suicide watch, placing those individuals in designated observation cells within an hour of booking, added mental‑health–led suicide prevention training for staff, weekly interdisciplinary case reviews, updated post orders for housing staff, increased supervisory rounds and a launched internal, perpetual audit program. “This CAP report is not just a checklist, it’s a roadmap for reform,” Spalding told the committee.

Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball and jail leadership described the audit as a catalyst that helped restart stalled reforms. Sheriff Ball said the office “is pleased with the progress” and that cooperation with the vendor helped drive changes. Director Joshua Briggs and Captain Talia Evans outlined specific operational fixes: electronically stored post orders; new accountability procedures for restraint equipment and tools; added inmate counts (four times daily for certain populations, including a new third‑shift count); weekly audits of logs and use‑of‑force incidents; and two supervisors assigned to specialized housing units with additional training.

The report and jail staff also listed work still underway or needing county support: retrofitting suicide‑watch cells and removing restraint benches in booking areas; replacing cell doors and relocating light switches in a specialized mental‑health housing unit (projected costs cited in committee testimony included roughly $8,000 per door and about $67,000 to rewire switches for 19 cells); procuring upgraded protective gear (a quote cited by staff was about $76,000); implementing a key‑watcher system dependent on county facilities locksmith availability; and completing a tool‑accountability rollout that requires facilities maintenance to prepare individualized tool kits for the jail.

Jail and vendor presenters reported some measurable improvements in the short term. Creative Corrections and jail leadership said use‑of‑force incidents fell (the report cites a 46 percent reduction over the audit period) and that post orders, training and supervision changes are in place. Jail mental‑health staff said intake screening and clinician involvement in suicide‑watch decisions have increased, and that mental‑health signage and materials are now available in English and Spanish.

Despite those changes, more than a dozen members of the public — including the families of people who died while held at the jail, former inmates, community advocates and a state lawmaker — told the committee problems remain. Testimony described long waits for mental‑health beds at state facilities such as Mendota, delayed or denied care while in custody, sanitation and hygiene problems, limits on visitation and video‑only contact, and what several speakers called an ongoing culture of demeaning and punitive treatment inside the facility. “My son is still in there sick, declining,” one parent said about delays in securing a state hospital bed. Carrie Herdy, the mother of Sylvia Furian (who died in the jail on Dec. 16, 2022), said: “My daughter was only 20 years old.”

Advocacy groups urged stronger ongoing oversight. James Stein, deputy advocacy director at the ACLU of Wisconsin, said a policy‑and‑paper “clean bill of health” from an audit can be misleading if lived experiences inside the jail do not improve. Emily Sturck of Milwaukee Turners and other community speakers asked for a civilian oversight board with independent investigative power and budget transparency. State Representative Ryan Clancy, appearing online, said he plans to introduce state legislation he described as intended to compel transparency and to allow county boards to administer jails, citing repeated refusals by sheriff’s offices statewide to allow elected officials to see populated residential areas.

Committee members asked jail leadership for additional details about staffing and cost. Jail testimony reported 225 budgeted correctional officer positions, about 169 funded officers on payroll and roughly 145 officers currently available to work (some on leave or otherwise unavailable). Committee members also asked for cost estimates for the additional 52 correctional positions requested by the sheriff’s office and about timelines for the capital projects staff flagged; those per‑position cost figures were not provided at the meeting.

The committee took no formal vote on the audit or on the corrective action plan. Presenters treated the briefing as informational; committee members and county staff said work will continue. Several supervisors said the audit and subsequent CAP represent a beginning and flagged the need for sustained leadership, oversight and funding to embed the changes described by Creative Corrections and jail leadership.

The meeting record shows multiple requests from supervisors that the jail and county departments continue dialogue with community stakeholders and with oversight bodies such as the Community Justice Council, and that staff return with additional cost estimates and implementation timelines for the projects that depend on county facilities and capital funding.

Ending: The committee’s review of the Creative Corrections CAP emphasized short‑term operational changes — training, revised post orders and intake screening — while public commenters and advocates pressed for sustained oversight, faster access to mental‑health placements and accountability for in‑custody deaths. Jail leaders and the vendor described measurable early gains but acknowledged unfinished capital work, equipment needs and staffing shortfalls that county policymakers will have to resolve to sustain reforms.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Milwaukee County - Committee on Judiciary, Law Enforcement and General Services on 2025-06-17 9:00 AM - REVISION #1:Please note the addition of new Item 4, File No. 25-267. HYBRID MEETINGThis meeting will be held in Room 203-R, and will be live-streamed on the County Le - Jun 17, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","A final report from Creative Corrections and a corrective action plan presented to the Milwaukee County Board’s Judiciary, Law Enforcement and General Services Committee on June 17 detailed a series of operational changes at the Milwaukee County Jail intended to reduce in‑custody harm and improve suicide prevention.","taxTitle","Milwaukee County, Wisconsin","taxId",2736,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6658513,"Committee backs policy review on facial recognition; supervisors adopt resolution to develop county framework",2540,10290000,12830000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=4789438-ac9daca407cd25e88004a072e95de665&start=10290&end=12830","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/4789438-ac9daca407cd25e88004a072e95de665/thumbnail_10290000.jpg","/articles/6658513/Milwaukee-County/Wisconsin/Committee-backs-policy-review-on-facial-recognition-supervisors-adopt-resolution-to-develop-county-framework","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6658513-637395775fd0737c8172b08e042a85db/orig.mp4?Expires=1773197751&Signature=Zgz7PiP8kKbZcm7e0gt22BLAlnNmNcrQhTJM6q4XJNFsK0u5myd9nQ4B-kRfLlpb-TcDRx7NWbLDvq3JNkMaInXG1puCYV4-Ez~kEGYB0-~DU~Yc4xkjdEpkeOml6h-uMeTjFfkW4aT-7sn5ova1KRfVsh6DC8qmifGVKV6Y5Kb-7f6Mjn7VEr58jWcZ-EI6jzcU-MqCNOKf9EfaUnoH~vw1y2JUy6xu-Zt4ZFA2ELTmRfI7QCcRK0Ej-u6SnQoLhjUTARXUViM8xBf1uPQOhXCne~HRVbMpyAG-5CZmlebdKoOt7upceyath-Fc5WYYGD2eB3j2frWYwg57-jPPGw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Milwaukee County Board committee on Judiciary, Law Enforcement and General Services voted on June 17 to recommend adoption of a resolution directing development of a comprehensive policy framework governing facial recognition technology (FRT) and related data‑sharing practices.

The resolution, introduced by county supervisors and discussed during the committee meeting, would require county departments to develop safeguards so that any use of FRT does not suppress First Amendment‑protected activity, violate privacy, or otherwise unduly affect civil rights. The committee approved the item by a roll‑call vote, five ayes, zero noes.

Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball told the committee the sheriff’s office was reviewing a proposed data‑sharing agreement related to facial recognition and would work with the county’s Information Management Services Division (IMSD) and the Office of Corporation Counsel before implementing any technology. “An arrest would never be made and a case presented to the district attorney’s office for review based solely on facial recognition identification,” the sheriff said. She added that, if the sheriff’s office decided to deploy any technology, the department would present a written policy for review.

Supporters of the resolution told the committee they feared FRT’s civil‑liberties and bias risks. Testimony from civil‑liberties groups and community advocates cited research and recent national cases showing algorithmic error rates and wrongful arrests tied to FRT, and warned that once surveillance data exist they can be shared with federal or out‑of‑jurisdiction partners. Amanda Merkway of the ACLU of Wisconsin urged transparency and community input, and asked the county to adopt minimum standards including public disclosure of proposed systems, fiscal impact reviews and limits on data sharing.

Other public commenters described how surveillance can chill protest and political participation and cautioned that FRT tools have been used overseas and in the U.S. to target activists and marginalized groups. The Milwaukee Turners, Prison Action Milwaukee and individual residents spoke in favor of the resolution. One committee member cited a local example heard at a Fire & Police Commission meeting where an FRT match reportedly misidentified an individual of color.

Committee discussion focused on the technical and policy safeguards that would be required before deployment. Chief Deputy Brian Barco of the sheriff’s office said the department’s intent was not to install software that would continuously scan cameras or “actively scan” people entering public spaces; rather, he described a limited investigative use in which law‑enforcement investigators would use an image obtained in a particular investigation as one lead among others. Barco emphasized that any FRT match would be vetted and would not by itself be a basis for arrest or charging.

The committee approved the resolution on a motion by Supervisor Martinez. Roll‑call votes recorded Ayes from Supervisors Capriollo, Johnson Junior, Logsdon, Martinez and Chair Belinski; no members voted no. After the vote, sheriff’s office representatives reiterated their plan to consult IMSD and Corporation Counsel before implementing any technology and to bring policy language forward for review.

Ending: The committee’s vote sends the resolution forward for adoption by the full board; it also signals heightened scrutiny of any future county proposals involving facial recognition or related data sharing. The resolution asks county departments to prepare standards and public notice requirements before any procurement or deployment and requests that officials involve the public in developing those safeguards.","The Milwaukee County Judiciary, Law Enforcement and General Services Committee voted to recommend a resolution calling for a comprehensive policy framework on facial recognition technology; sponsors and public witnesses expressed concern about bias, civil liberties and data‑sharing risks.","actionData","errors"]

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External audit and corrective action plan prompt changes at Milwaukee County Jail amid continuing family concerns

Committee backs policy review on facial recognition; supervisors adopt resolution to develop county framework