Guards at 6 Wisconsin prisons don't have body cameras despite order from Scott Walker, lawmakers

Molly Beck | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - State prison officials haven't yet put body cameras on correctional officers in six Wisconsin prisons, despite receiving an order last year to do so.

Gov. Scott Walker and lawmakers passed a state budget in September that included $591,000 in new funds for the Department of Corrections to purchase about 200 body cameras to give to correctional officers working with inmates housed in isolation at six maximum-security facilities around the state.

With the money came a directive to outfit the officers and report to the Legislature's powerful budget-writing committee by July 1 how many officers wore the cameras and how often staff and inmates reported being assaulted in solitary confinement housing units since officers began wearing the cameras.

But on Monday, DOC officials told the committee of lawmakers they couldn't provide such information because they haven't yet received the cameras, citing a lengthy process to decide what features the cameras should have and to reach an agreement with a vendor.

Corrections Secretary Cathy Jess wrote in her July 2 memo to the committee the effort is further delayed by "an industry shortage of raw materials," and expects four of the six prisons to receive cameras to have them by the end of 2018. The remaining two prisons will likely have them by the end of 2019, more than two years after the money to buy cameras was authorized by lawmakers.

DOC spokesman Tristan Cook said the department is moving as quickly as possible to get cameras to officers. As soon as DOC received funding to purchase the cameras, the department "immediately" began to search for vendors and placed an order for 200 cameras in April, he said.

"Nothing is more important to the department than the safety and security of our employees," Cook said. "We conducted a deliberate, rigorous, and comprehensive process which involved institution security staff to test and identify body-worn cameras that would meet the Department’s needs."

The request for more scrutiny of what happens inside some of the most dangerous units in Wisconsin prisons came after a 19% increase in the number of assaults and attempted assaults on staff in Wisconsin's adult prisons from 2013 to 2016.

According to a 2016 DOC audit, the most recent data available, more than 90% of those incidents occurred in maximum-security prisons, and more than two-thirds happened inside units with solitary confinement cells.

Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) blamed the delay on Walker, who proposed spending money on the new cameras in the current state budget.

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Shilling compared the delay to Walker's inaction between 2012 and 2015 on reports of unsafe conditions at the Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls, the state's youth prison, which is now under a federal investigation over alleged inmate abuse, among other potential crimes. Guards there began wearing body cameras in 2016, after federal investigators began their review.

"After ignoring the crisis at Lincoln Hills for years, Governor Walker continues to jeopardize the safety of correctional officers and inmates across our state,” Shilling said. “I don’t understand how this administration continues to bungle even the most basic tasks like purchasing safety equipment.”

Amy Hasenberg, a spokeswoman for Walker, said the governor "believes our law enforcement officers and corrections officers should have body cameras" but did not respond to Shilling's criticism.

A spokesman for budget committee co-chairwoman Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) said he hasn't talked to Darling, and an aide to committee co-chairman Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) did not respond to a request for comment.

Budget committee member LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) said the delay was "unacceptable."

"Our correctional staff deserve a safe work environment and our incarcerated individuals deserve to have their civil rights protected," Johnson said. "Body-worn cameras, something that could help avoid further scandals at DOC, should be a priority for this administration."