the same for the Milwaukee County Jail. The CRC, formerly known as the House of Corrections, is under the county executive's authority through an appointed superintendent. The jail is under the authority of the independently elected sheriff.

Big picture view:

Numerous cases of inmate tablet misuse have been put in the spotlight recently. In September, Crowley's opponent in the gubernatorial race, Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, called out Crowley for not taking action.

One of the cases of alleged misuse involved Damian Luis Cosme-Torres. Prosecutors charged him with intimidating the victim in a strangulation and battery case against him. The charging document said he sent messages urging the victim to drop the charges, and prosecutors said he tried calling the victim with 2,439 call attempts from April 4 through Sept. 13.

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Report unwanted messages

What you can do:

Anyone who believes an inmate contacted them against their wishes can report it to the sheriff's office and request that the inmate be blocked from using the feature. A form can be filled out online. Message recipients can also delete the app to stop receiving messages at any time, for any reason. Messages remain preserved even if the app is deleted.

Official statements

What they're saying:

FOX6 News will provide statements on the decision below in the order they were received.

Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball:

 Victims and witnesses must be able to take part in the justice system without fear. These tablets were put in place to help occupants stay connected to family, legal resources and support systems that can influence a reduction in recidivism. When even a small number of people misuse that access to threaten others and further break the law, we have a responsibility to act. Pausing messaging gives us the time to review our controls and reduce misuse and abuse of this technology.