MILWAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. - Milwaukee County's Community Reintegration Center (CRC) has suspended all tablet messaging features, effective immediately, until additional safeguards are in place to protect victims.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley issued the directive on Friday, Oct. 9.
Crowley is also calling on the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) to implement the same plan for the tablets within the Milwaukee County Jail, which is overseen by the Sheriff’s Office.
Tablet program
Big picture view:
Prior to today’s action, the Milwaukee County Executive’s Office says it investigated the matter alongside the MCSO, the CRC, Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, and every partner involved in tablet operations to develop a permanent plan to prevent this from happening again.
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What they're saying:
"I will not tolerate victim harassment or witness intimidation. That is why I am ordering the CRC and calling on the Sheriff’s Office to disable this feature until we are confident strong safeguards are in place to prevent misuse and protect victims," said County Executive Crowley. "Communication technology can support rehabilitation, but it absolutely cannot be at the expense of victims’ safety. Period."
As Milwaukee County Executive, David Crowley signed off on the tablet program back in 2022.
Recently, numerous cases of abuse have been put in the spotlight. That includes an accused homicide suspect allegedly trying to intimidate a witness.
County officials will continue ongoing meetings with the tablet vendor, IC Solutions, to establish stricter rules and safety measures that will once again allow CRC residents to use the tablets to stay in touch with loved ones without risk of misuse.
Milwaukee County Sheriff clarifies jail tablet policies for inmates
The Milwaukee County Sheriff is responding to what she calls "misinformation" about the county jail's tablet policies.
While messaging is disabled, residents can still connect with family and friends through phone calls, video visitation, and in-person visits.
Criticism from Tiffany Campaign
The other side:
This issue has been a hot-button topic on the campaign trail ever since it was put on blast by a Milwaukee County judge in August.
In September, Crowley's opponent in the gubernatorial race, Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany, called out Crowley for not doing anything.
"David Crowley knew there was a serious problem, but he did nothing to fix it," said Tom Tiffany. "No meaningful new safeguards. No changes to the program. Nothing to make sure another victim wouldn't be terrorized from inside the Milwaukee County jail. "At some point you have to ask, who is responsible? David Crowley has the authority to demand accountability."
In a statement sent to FOX6 on Friday, Oct. 9, the Tom Tiffany said the following:
"Why did it take an election for David Crowley to protect victims from their attackers? Since May, he has known about reports of inmates using the tablets he approved to threaten victims. Yet he continued to defend the program as ‘best practice,’ even as an accused triple murderer and an alleged domestic abuser used them to intimidate victims and witnesses from jail. David Crowley will only protect victims when it benefits him. As governor, it won’t take me five months to act."
The Source: The Office of the Milwaukee County Executive sent FOX6 a press release.