By Steven Schultze
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MILWAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. — Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. on Wednesday threatened to block implementation of a plan to put county work-release inmates on global positioning system monitors, warning of unanticipated costs and safety problems.
“If you are not going to do GPS right, I’m going to stand in the way of it,” Clarke said.
A plan pushed by County Executive Scott Walker calls for phasing out the downtown work-release center this spring and using GPS bracelets to track the 350 to 400 inmates who now are housed at the Community Correctional Center at 1004 N. 10th St. Walker is counting on $2.4 million in net savings from the move, primarily by abolishing 37 correctional officer jobs.
Walker also has suggested eventually razing the dated former hospital building used for the work-release center and selling the property to developers. Its location near the Pabst Brewery redevelopment would make it attractive for a commercial use, Walker has said.
The work-release center made news last fall when an inmate was accused in a criminal complaint of killing a man on the city’s west side while the inmate was supposedly sleeping at the center.
The new Milwaukee Community Justice Council, which includes key local policy makers on law enforcement and corrections, voted Wednesday to have a subcommittee review the GPS plan. Walker said he hopes that review can be done in two months so the work-release center phaseout can begin by midyear. The 27-member council met at the Washington Park Senior Center.
Walker said he hopes to resolve concerns about the GPS plan so there’s a community consensus for it. He might seek bids on a GPS system soon, to get the ball rolling in advance of full approval by the justice council or the County Board, Walker said.
Clarke said in an interview that serious unanswered questions about the GPS system remain. To be done properly, inmates considered for GPS monitoring should be carefully pre-screened, he said. All violent and drug offenders should be excluded, Clarke said.
A successful monitoring program also should have frequent drug testing, he said. And the program needs extra law enforcement help to round up inmates who set off alarms for straying from approved travel routes to school or jobs.
All those things cost money that hasn’t been found yet, Clarke said.
Many of the inmates now housed at the work-release center would likely not make good candidates for the GPS monitoring, he said. The county already has a policy of excluding inmates sentenced for drugs, assaults, burglary or illegal possession of a gun from a different type of electronic monitoring now in use.
Abruptly shutting down the work-release center could create crowding problems if many inmates were placed at the House of Correction, rather than released on GPS monitors. Clarke suggested adding beds at the House of Correction to accommodate them.
Clarke agreed with Walker that the Community Correctional Center should be closed, but criticized the work-release center as “fairy tale” for having too many inmates without a job or any realistic job prospects. Clarke oversees the county jail, but not the work-release center or the House of Correction in Franklin.
Ron Malone, superintendent of the center and the House of Correction, told the council that GPS monitoring would protect the public better. Under the current work-release system, “we don’t know where all the people are all the time,” he said.
Clarke said even with around-the-clock electronic monitoring, the inmates still could be dealing drugs or involved in other illegal activity without setting off an alarm. That’s partly why he hasn’t used it for jail inmates awaiting trial, Clarke said.
County Board Chairman Lee Holloway said inmate candidates for GPS should be given psychological screening exams as a safety check, but said additional money couldn’t be appropriated for that.
Copyright 2008 The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel