Sheriff David Clarke really is doing a fine job of making himself even more unpopular amongst the African American community, in reaction to the fact that people have been dying at his jail.

Since April, three inmates and a baby have died at a jail run by Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke.

He takes no responsibility though and says the blame lies on the healthcare provider and the inmates themselves!

The Huffington Post reported:

An independent investigator concluded last month that health care staffing shortages, delays in access to care and insufficient oversight of personnel at the lockup may have contributed to these deaths.

The scrutiny has become a major headache for Clarke, a bombastic self-promoter who was once thought to be a contender to run President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security. On Wednesday, Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking for a federal probe into the jail, and last week a Milwaukee County supervisor called on Clarke to resign, accusing him of failing to take seriously the duty of managing the Milwaukee County Jail.

The county’s chief medical examiner has taken the criticism further, telling the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Clarke had “threatened” and “verbally pummeled” him in October, after he released information about two deaths at the facility.

In an interview with Wisconsin Watchdog published this week, however, Clarke pushed back against his critics, suggesting the inmates had brought death upon themselves. From the Watchdog report.

Clarke said what the Journal Sentinel’s “hit job” missed is the fact that jail populations are filled with sick people who have made a lot of bad decisions that have compromised their health.

“Two inmates suffered from … cardiac disease, which became critical when coupled with the effects of hardcore drug usage prior to their incarceration, with their extensive drug histories independently noted in their death investigations,” he said.
Clarke reportedly went on to claim there was “no pattern or connection” in the jailhouse deaths. But it’s unusual to see so many inmates die in such a short period. Based on an analysis of The Huffington Post’s jail death database, other jails that have four deaths in a year are several times the size of Clarke’s downtown jail site, which has a capacity of 960. Even if no additional inmates die at Clarke’s jail this year, the facility’s death rate will be roughly three times the national average, according to 2013 figures.

And

“If there is a shortcoming here, people have to direct these questions at the medical staff,” Clarke told Watchdog. “That [private] contract is run out of the House of Correction, and they report to the county executive.”

If Clarke is managing this jail then he HAS to take responsibility! Read more in The Huff Post here.