hi I'm Sergeant Sharonda grant with the Milwaukee Police Department I'm the public information officer and I also oversee the office of public relations when Alfonzo Morales became Milwaukee's police chief in February of 2018 one of his goal is for a law enforcement organization was to rebuild community trust recognizing that transparency facilitates increased trust between law enforcement officers and the community we serve chief morale is created what he is titled community briefings to provide information to the public regarding critical incidents that involve members of our agency community briefings are intended to provide fumé our community with relevant video footage audio recordings photographs and other evidence regarding the incident based upon our understanding of the investigation at the time our goal is to release these briefings unless such information would jeopardize the integrity of the investigation our community briefings are not created to embarrass any of the individuals or officers involved and for privacy purposes we have concealed the identity of the citizens captured in these videos when watching this community briefing please keep in mind that the investigation may be active and ongoing nonetheless the Milwaukee Police Department wants to brief our community regarding the incident the images and information you are about to see may be disturbing when a police officer uses force to arrest a subject or defend against an attack it can be graphic and difficult to watch in addition you may hear strong language used by those in this video viewer discretion is advised hello I'm Tom Casper captain of the Homicide Division of the Milwaukee Police Department in this community briefing I'm going to give you an overview of an incident the attempted suicide by a prisoner at the district 7 police station located at 36 26 West Fondulac Avenue on Thursday November 7th 2019 Milwaukee police officers conducted a traffic stop at 2908 North 41st Street the vehicle a gray Dodge Charger was stopped for disregarding a stop sign there was only one occupant in the vehicle a 20 year old Milwaukee officers detected the smell of burnt marijuana coming from inside the vehicle an observed suspected contraband in plain view when the driver was placed in custody a small amount of white powder was recovered from his person the powder tested positive for opiates and fentanyl officers also recovered a clear baggie containing a white chunky substance from the vehicle the white chunky substance tested positive as cocaine the man was then conveyed to the District seven police station upon arrival the man went through the booking process this process consists of several steps a search of the prisoner and the placing of personal property on a prisoner inventory data entry of personal information into a computer the taking of a booking photo and fingerprints and the completion of a medical screening report this report has 13 questions on it that the booking officer will ask each prisoner three of the questions are have you ever attempted suicide or tried to harm yourself in any way are you feeling suicidal or homicidal at this time and do you have any physical injuries at this time the man in custody answered no to all of the 13 questions if a prisoner answers yes to one or more of the medical intake screening questions the information is further documented on the report and the answers are brought to the attention of the shift commander in some cases the shift commander will call for the crisis assessment response team to respond to the station the response team is a collaborative effort between the Milwaukee Police Department and Milwaukee Behavioral Health Division the team will do an assessment to determine if a person is in crisis and if that person should be taken to the mental health complex for an evaluation after the booking process the man was placed in one of these sixteen male holding cells at the district 7 police station the man was removed a short time later and taken to an interrogation room which is adjacent to the booking area the interview of the man by an officer lasted just over 32 minutes the questions in the interview were regarding the drugs and paraphernalia found during the traffic stop during the interview the man said across the table from an officer and his answers were responsive to the questions at no time during the interview did the man give any indication that he wanted to hurt himself after the interview the man was returned to the same holding cell the booking officer performed multiple checks on the man and during the last check the man was found unresponsive in his cell the man had used a shirt to create a ligature and was not breathing officers immediately began resuscitation efforts which were taken over by members of the Milwaukee Fire Department the man was transported to a local hospital where he remains in grave condition the following four photos depict the District seven police station the booking room and the male cell block the male in question has an arrest record with the Milwaukee Police Department at the time of this incident the male was out on bail for four separate criminal cases two were for operating after revocation one for possession of cocaine and the last was for fleeing an officer second degree recklessly endangering safety possession of cocaine and carrying a concealed weapon this incident is being investigated by the Milwaukee area investigative team and is being led by the Waukesha Police Department once the investigation is completed the results will be presented to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office for review the Milwaukee Police Department's Internal Affairs Division is also reviewing this incident in that review is ongoing