at the Waupun Correctional Wisconsin.
Institute, including the warden, have been arrested and charged
for abuse of a prisoner and misconduct in office. And once
again, there are calls to close the oldest prison in Wisconsin.
Hear. And now, reporter Zach Schultz has the story.
>> We are operating the oldest prison in the state of Wisconsin
at a dangerous and reckless manner.
>> Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt did not mince words at a
press conference Wednesday, where he released the details
from an investigation into the deaths of multiple inmates at
the Waupan Correctional Institute.
>> As the sheriff, I am angered at how these men were treated
and how they died. >> There have been four deaths
since last June, and while the sheriff expressed concern about
the treatment of all four inmates, only two deaths
resulted in felony charges. Two officers and a nurse are charged
with abuse of a resident of a penal facility for repeatedly
failing to check on an inmate who died of a stroke last
October, an inmate's death in February led to seven
employees charged for abuse of a resident and misconduct
in office, failure to perform a known duty in that
case, an inmate's water was turned on and off over the
course of multiple days, with no record staff let the
mentally ill inmate know when water was available.
Video evidence shows the guards also failed to delivr
meals and medication, and then falsified records showing they
had checked on the inmate. >> The cause of death probable
dehydration and failure to thrive due to malnutrition.
>> The death was ruled a homicide, but no one will be
charged for that. Instead, the sheriff says the death
was a result of a lack of staffing, training and
accountability. That's why charged with felony
investigators, Warden Hepp said, quote, this is the inevitable
outcome of a long term staffing deficit in this type of
environment. This is what you're going to get.
>> We are failure properly failing to properly staff these
has over 50% vacancy of staff. facilities. Waupan Correctional
Inmates have been on a type of >> Waupan is so understaffed.
lockdown called a modified movement plan for more than a
year. The FBI and the state Department of Corrections both
have open investigations into the deaths at Waupan and
multiple civil lawsuits have been filed. Corrections makes up
a large portion of the state budget, so it's always been
political, and it didn't take long for lawmakers to point
fingers. Republicans blamed the leadership of Governor Tony
Evers and promised investigations. Some Democrats
called for Waupan and Green Bay Correctional, the state's second
oldest prison, to be closed, while Evers put out a statement
promising to release the results of the state internal
investigation immediately. >> Nothing gets fixed because
they blame each other and there's plenty of blame to go
around. Waupan. He says Wisconsin's
prisons have been ignored for too long, and after act ten
removed union protections, staffing and morale crashed.
>> The last few governors, I don't think, have done much for
corrections. You can go back, Scott Walker never came to
Waupan and never visited a prison. Tony Evers has done that
, but I don't think he's taken the bull by the horns and fixed
any of these problems. solution is obvious.
>> My recommendations to the state of Wisconsin. Are you
seriously consider renovating the housing units or closing and
replacing Waupan Correctional and Green Bay Correctional?
>> Bishop said he will oppose any effort to close down Waupan
Correctional as the state's oldest prison. It's part of the
fabric of the community. Located just two blocks off Main Street
and surrounded on all sides by homes and churches.
>> The problem isn't the building. The problem is it was
understaffed and there's to be fixed. There's a lot of
blame to go around, and I think there's a lot of blame to go