I wish I was surprised, but knowing what I know of how the Milwaukee County Jail is run from the top down, it’s not shocking that another inmate has escaped from the County Jail. Jaron X. Jennings, in custody on a probation hold for an outstanding auto theft warrant, switched wristbands with an inmate in custody on a misdemeanor marijuana charge, enabling Jennings to bail out. It’s important to note that a probation/parole hold is a hold with no bail or bond, so the individual under a VOP (Violation of Probation/Parole) hold can’t be released by anyone except their Probation & Parole Agent.
Of course, when asked for a comment on the situation regarding the escape, Sheriff David Clarke blamed everyone but himself for the failure, saying,
“Wristband switching is one of the oldest tricks in the books, yet we have people working here that are still dumb enough to fall for it; however, they won’t be here after I finish my investigation.”
Now I know that as Sheriff, David Clarke can’t know everything that goes on in the Milwaukee County Jail on a day to day basis, but this escape is just another example of how ineffective and farcical the leadership of the Milwaukee County Jail/HOC/CCC really has become. This is just another in a long line of blunders and mistakes that have given these facilities and their staff the reputation of being an absolute joke, sometimes undeservedly so, sometimes not. Heck, at this point, I’m starting to believe I could do a better job of running the county’s criminal justice facilities than the current crop of leaders.
Being that I am a former employee of the Sheriff’s Department I know first hand what goes on in that jail. Starting with inmate sex, to inmates being allowed to borrow deputies ipods when they go to lunch, to inmates being allowed to watch DVD’s when officers go to lunch, to inmates being given hand lotion from bath & body. The amount of corruption ad fratinization that is happening in the county jail is ridiculous and David Clarke is oblivious to it. The way his own people talk him down is ridiculous! Sergeants sleeping on the job, in the middle of the booking room, no respect being given to the Jail Inspector when he enters a room it’s crazy but it’s all true and we wonder why our city is so screwed…..
FSE, you hit the nail on the head. Things at the jail – and to a larger extent the HOC and CCC – have been bad for years, and they’re only getting worse under the leadership of David Clarke and Ron Malone. Unfortunately, the problems aren’t going to get any better while David Clarke’s still the Sheriff, because his dictatorial, “blame the employees” style of leadership isn’t promoting the kind of change that’s necessary.