Milwaukee’s record homicide rate and spike in violent crime means the county jail is nearing capacity.Milwaukee County Jail commander Inspector Aaron Dobson gave WISN 12 an exclusive glimpse of the housing unit on a surveillance monitor.”On a normal day, there’s about 64 individuals in these housing units. It is busy,” Dobson said.COVID-19 protocols kept WISN 12 out of the secure area and faces are blurred in the video because not all have been charged.”This is where they live, and you know, it’s challenging when the population gets quite high,” Dobson said.Right now, more inmates than ever are awaiting trial for homicide, some for two years or more.”We have a lot of people in custody on very serious cases. We have 182 in custody right now on homicide charges, and that’s more than we’ve ever had,” Dobson said.There are 990 beds in the jail. The current population is 890.Men and women are housed separately, and it’s typical to run low on beds for men.”Quite often, we’re in a situation where we only have 10 or 20 beds available and the Milwaukee Police Department may have 30 people waiting to come down,” Dobson said. It’s a situation so severe that WISN 12 has learned MPD has had to keep suspects in district holding cells longer than usual, and more violent offenders are moved to House of Correction for overflow.”Why should people care that the jail might not have enough room for violent offenders?” WISN 12’s Hillary Mintz asked.”We do have room and have always made room. We have never shut down the jail. It’s just becoming a challenge,” Dobson said.With not a lot of extra space in the jail, to make things even more challenging, the jail commander said they’re also short staffed.The elephant in the room, an extreme criminal court backlog, is making matters worse.”With 182 suspects in custody and limited ability for courts to process cases, it’s going to take three years to get through those cases, so there’s some people who are going to be here for quite some time,” Dobson said.The chief judge told WISN 12 they’re working on solutions for the backlog, such as night court, which could start as early as next month.
Milwaukee’s record homicide rate and spike in violent crime means the county jail is nearing capacity.
Milwaukee County Jail commander Inspector Aaron Dobson gave WISN 12 an exclusive glimpse of the housing unit on a surveillance monitor.
“On a normal day, there’s about 64 individuals in these housing units. It is busy,” Dobson said.
COVID-19 protocols kept WISN 12 out of the secure area and faces are blurred in the video because not all have been charged.
“This is where they live, and you know, it’s challenging when the population gets quite high,” Dobson said.
Right now, more inmates than ever are awaiting trial for homicide, some for two years or more.
“We have a lot of people in custody on very serious cases. We have 182 in custody right now on homicide charges, and that’s more than we’ve ever had,” Dobson said.
There are 990 beds in the jail. The current population is 890.
Men and women are housed separately, and it’s typical to run low on beds for men.
“Quite often, we’re in a situation where we only have 10 or 20 beds available and the Milwaukee Police Department may have 30 people waiting to come down,” Dobson said.
It’s a situation so severe that WISN 12 has learned MPD has had to keep suspects in district holding cells longer than usual, and more violent offenders are moved to House of Correction for overflow.
“Why should people care that the jail might not have enough room for violent offenders?” WISN 12’s Hillary Mintz asked.
“We do have room and have always made room. We have never shut down the jail. It’s just becoming a challenge,” Dobson said.
With not a lot of extra space in the jail, to make things even more challenging, the jail commander said they’re also short staffed.
The elephant in the room, an extreme criminal court backlog, is making matters worse.
“With 182 suspects in custody and limited ability for courts to process cases, it’s going to take three years to get through those cases, so there’s some people who are going to be here for quite some time,” Dobson said.
The chief judge told WISN 12 they’re working on solutions for the backlog, such as night court, which could start as early as next month.
