Acting Milwaukee Sheriff Vows Jail Inmates Will Be Safe

The new sheriff of Milwaukee County says things are now going well at the county jail, where there have been several deaths in the last 20 months. But he’s promising another federal review of the jail

Richard Schmidt has taken over as acting sheriff following last Thursday’s resignation of Schmidt’s controversial former boss, David Clarke. Under Clarke, there were four deaths at the Milwaukee County Jail last year and one early last week.

But Schmidt said that six months ago, as Clarke’s second-in-command, he assigned a new jail administrator who is doing good work, and pledged that inmates, “need to be treated properly, appropriately and safely.”

At a wide-ranging news conference Tuesday, Schmidt also said his deputies won’t be stopping people and asking for their immigration papers. Clarke applied for a federal Department of Homeland Security program known as 287(g), that would let the sheriff’s office enforce immigration violations. Acting Sheriff Schmidt said as the federal government considers that request, he’s reminding deputies of local policy.

“We never ask individuals for papers. We never check on immigration status. That has never happened and, to my knowledge, none of our officers are doing it. If they are, I’d like to know about it,” Schmidt said.

However, Schmidt said when deputies make an arrest, federal immigration authorities have access to the sheriff’s office database.

Schmidt said he doesn’t want to make any quick decisions about the 287(g) program because he said he’s not sure if he’ll apply to be named interim sheriff by Gov. Scott Walker. Schmidt also declined to say whether he would run for a full term in 2018 or whether he’d enter the partisan contest as a Republican or Democrat.