Isaac Solis knows all too well how taking a pill bought off the street can lead to tragedy.
His son Isaac Solis Jr., known as “Bubba,” died in 2019 after taking what he thought was the prescription drug Percocet.
Instead, it was a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that can kill in trace amounts.
Isaac Solis’ son Bubba died in 2019 after taking a fake Percocet laced with fentanyl. (Courtesy of Isaac Solis)
Since then, he’s been on a mission to help prevent others from losing loved ones through his “One Pill Kills” awareness campaign.
His message is being amplified in time for Fentanyl Awareness Day, observed nationally on April 29, through three billboards that feature his son. The billboards direct residents to the 1pillkills.org website and social media pages and include the message: Together We Will Save Lives.
“It’s about spreading awareness obviously that even one pill can kill you, one line can kill you,” Solis said. “If one family sees it and reaches out to their loved one and one life is saved, that’s our goal.”
Two of the billboards can be seen off of Interstate 94 in Milwaukee near West Becher and South Fourth streets, and the other is a north/south display on South 27th Street and West Morgan Avenue. The billboard near West Becher will be up for eight weeks and the one on West Morgan for four.
Solis’s campaign has utilized several billboards over the years to increase community awareness on fentanyl.
The message on the first billboard, he said, was very aggressive.
“Our grief was a bit more raw at that time,” Solis said.
Another billboard featured photos of individuals who lost their lives to fentanyl.
“Eight families put their angels up there,” he said.
Drop in overdose deaths
Fentanyl has fueled the opioid epidemic nationally and a rise in overdose deaths.
The drug had devastating impacts on Milwaukee County, which experienced multiple years of record high drug overdose deaths in the 2010s and 2020s. Those totals peaked at 674 in 2022 and 667 in 2023, according to data from the Milwaukee County Overdose Dashboard. Most of the deaths were caused by fentanyl alone or in combination with other substances.
Since then, the number of fatal overdoses has fallen. Last year 387 died, with 236 of those cases involving fentanyl.
County Executive David Crowley credits increased funding for opioid prevention and collaboration for the decrease.
“Thanks to the investment of opioid settlement dollars, increased access to free harm reduction supplies, and efforts to eliminate the stigma surrounding substance use disorder, fewer people are dying of overdose, which means more opportunities for treatment, recovery and a path forward,” Crowley said in a statement.
A OnePillKills billboard is on display next to I-94 near the intersection of South 4th and West Becher streets in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Fentanyl still a major problem
While Solis said the drop in fatal overdoses is great, it’s also concerning.
“The troublesome part is we don’t know what amount of people are addicted to fentanyl and using it daily,” he said. “There’s a lot of work to do.The closer we get to zero deaths, the better.”
He said fentanyl products continue to evolve and get more potent, and it can be in powder or liquid form, and even in vapes.
“It can be hidden in something but you can have no idea what,” Solis said. “There’s always a threat of it being in any type of drug.”
Working together
Like Crowley, Solis credits collaboration for the progress made in addressing the opioid epidemic. He partners regularly with Team HAVOC, a grassroots South Side group.
Rafael Mercado, founder of Team HAVOC, said Solis’ story and “One Pill Kills” message are having an impact.
“He does a lot to bring awareness by way of billboards, social media and pop-ups,” Mercado said. “He has lost a son to this, so he knows firsthand the pain and suffering a family goes through and the ripple effect of addiction on a family.”
Solis also partners with Samad’s House, a Milwaukee-based sober living home and behavioral health clinic dedicated to supporting women. He said he’s working with Tahira Malik, founder and chief operating officer of Samad’s House, to help organize a Walk for Lives event on July 11. Walk for Lives is a nationwide movement to raise awareness about those who died from fentanyl.
Solis said he wishes he could do even more but knows that ending the fentanyl crisis won’t happen quickly.
“The problem didn’t happen overnight,” he said. “It’s not gonna be any one group, not any one solution. Together we will save lives.”
Isaac Solis Jr., who died in 2019, had a passion for working on cars. (Courtesy of Isaac Solis)
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
Initial damage assessment reports indicate that this month’s flood damage is smaller in scale to last year’s storms and will not meet the requirements to request federal assistance, according to county and city officials.
Milwaukee County is coordinating with municipal emergency managers to evaluate damage using resident reports to 2-1-1 and communication with local and regional partners, according to Emily Tau, public affairs director with the Milwaukee County Office of the County Executive.
“While the impacts to affected households are significant and taken seriously, at this time, the impacts from this flooding in Milwaukee County do not meet the thresholds required to initiate a FEMA Preliminary Damage Assessment and potential Presidential Disaster Declaration,” Tau said.
The FEMA Disaster Recovery Area at McNair Elementary School provided assistance to residents affected by the August floods. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Ryan Zollicoffer, director of the City of Milwaukee Office of Emergency Management, said joint teams from the Department of Neighborhood Services and the Milwaukee Fire Department are continuing on-site evaluations of the most impacted residential areas.
Based on preliminary reports, both Zollicoffer and Tau said the magnitude of damage to date appears substantially lower than after August’s flooding, when historic rainfall exceeded 10 inches in parts of Milwaukee. Rainfall totals from April 13 to April 15 topped 5 inches in the city.
The city and county will then work with the state to determine whether any additional recovery resources or support mechanisms are warranted, he said.
Some elected leaders have expressed interest in exploring options to request aid.
Governor’s effort
On Wednesday, Gov. Tony Evers announced that he directed Wisconsin Emergency Management to submit a request for FEMA to assist the state in conducting a formal federal preliminary damage assessment from recent extreme storms and flooding throughout the state.
Wisconsin Emergency Management is the division of the state’s Department of Military Affairs that coordinates disaster and emergency responses.
Evers signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency on April 15 and authorized the Wisconsin National Guard to assist in relief and recovery efforts from flooding, hail, strong winds and tornadoes that hit communities across Wisconsin in April.
In an April 17 letter, Evers requested Wisconsin’s two U.S. senators and eight U.S. representatives help urge the Trump administration to reconsider the denials of the state’s requests for assistance from August’s storms and approve outstanding requests.
President Donald Trump approved individual assistance to Wisconsin homeowners and residents after the August flooding. However, the administration denied requests for assistance to repair public infrastructure and for the hazard mitigation grant program.
Wisconsin appealed both decisions to FEMA but was once again denied public assistance and is still waiting on a response for the hazard mitigation grant.
“These denials and delays have left Wisconsin more vulnerable to this next wave of storms and flooding,” Evers wrote.
Wisconsin does not have its own standing assistance program to help property owners make repairs from flooding or storms, according to Wisconsin Emergency Management, the division of the state’s Department of Military Affairs that coordinates disaster and emergency responses.
Next steps
Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson-Bovell authored a resolution to be introduced at the outset of the new board term in May that requests the county Office of Emergency Management conduct a comprehensive assessment of the damage from April’s storms, according to Erin Caffrey, communications specialist with the Milwaukee County Clerk’s Office.
The countywide review of damage would be used to inform recovery efforts and strengthen future applications for state and federal aid, she said. It would also support the development of a coordinated flood preparedness, response and communications plan that would create a flooding information alert system and help supervisors effectively engage with residents, Caffrey said.
“This resolution is about bringing our partners together, assessing the damage, improving communication with residents and making sure we are better prepared before the next storm hits,” Nicholson-Bovell said in a statement. “Our communities deserve a coordinated response and the long-term investments needed to protect homes, neighborhoods and businesses.”
Ald. Andrea Pratt introduced a communication file to the Milwaukee Common Council to discuss city intersections and areas that are hot spots for flooding, which was on the agenda for a Public Works Committee meeting on Wednesday morning at City Hall.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson, County Executive David Crowley and Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Executive Director Kevin Shafer formed a Flood Mitigation Task Force to evaluate mitigation efforts to reduce impacts from future storms and solicit feedback. It is expected to meet soon.
Other resources
Anyone can report storm damage or request to be connected to volunteer cleanup resources by calling 2-1-1 or submitting a report online through the 211 Wisconsin website.
The Wisconsin Conference of the United Methodist Church, in partnership with UMCOR and Team Rubicon USA, is organizing 100 volunteers to assist families with cleanup in Milwaukee County in the coming weeks and months, Tau said. The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army are also active in support efforts.
Organizations interested in coordinating with partners through the Southeast Wisconsin Community Organizations Active in Disasters can visit sewicoad.org or contact coadsewi@gmail.com.
Residents who lost food purchased with FoodShare can apply for replacement benefits through the Wisconsin Department of Health Services until the extended deadline of May 4..
Call or text the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1-800-985-5990 for free, 24/7, confidential, multilingual emotional support.
The Department of Neighborhood Services’ Compliance Loan Program helps owner-occupied properties address building code violations with a no-interest, deferred payment loan. Residents can apply if flood damage is under the purview of the program and they meet the requirements.
Jeremy McGovern, marketing and communications officer for the Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services, said the department would not be opposed to waiving permit fees related to flood damage repairs like it did for the August floods, but doing so would require Common Council authorization.
He also said the city’s Neighborhood Improvement Project inspectors and plan examiners can be resources in helping navigate timelines and repairs.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
Credibility is central to the criminal justice system.
Who is telling the truth? Who do jurors and judges believe?
A year ago, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, TMJ4 News and Wisconsin Watch published the Milwaukee County district attorney’s list of law enforcement officers with integrity violations, allegations of dishonesty or bias, and past criminal charges.
It was the first time the full list had been made public.
Prosecutors must share information about witness credibility, including that of police officers, with defense attorneys. Then the attorneys decide if they want to try to raise those credibility concerns in court.
Often called the “Brady/Giglio list” because of landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases, the list is meant to help ensure people get a fair trial and prevent wrongful convictions.
Since the list was published last year, local defense attorneys say they’ve noticed prosecutors giving more frequent Brady notifications. But they argue that Milwaukee County’s criteria of what gets an officer on the list remains too narrow – excluding officers who should qualify – and that there is still too much inconsistency among county prosecutors about when and how they share Brady material.
District Attorney Kent Lovern said his office has always fulfilled its legal and ethical obligations, but he acknowledged making changes to improve the list’s accuracy. The most significant was appointing two executive staff members to help maintain the list.
Some examples: an officer wrongly described as involved in a custody death, another listed for a criminal case that had been expunged, and others listed with the wrong agency. A handful of officers were deceased.
A new list, released in October 2025, did not have those kinds of problems.
“We put more eyes on the list that were beyond my two eyes,” Lovern said, adding: “We think that’s enhanced, at least, the information, making it as current as possible.”
In the last year, the District Attorney’s Office added 13 officers and removed two. Most of those officers were added because of internal, not criminal, investigations, and about half remain employed with their agency, according to public records.
For Caitlin Firer, a defense attorney, the public list has served as a backstop.
“If I’m watching a body camera and it’s striking me as something’s not right, I will run that officer’s name on the Brady list,” she told TMJ4 News, later adding: “It’s a resource now where we see those names, and we know they’re on the Brady list.”
Last year, the city’s largest police union, the Milwaukee Police Association, criticized the district attorney’s decision to release the list and news organizations’ decision to publish it. Others in policing praised the transparency.
“We’re given so much more credibility and respect when we take the stand as opposed to the average citizen,” said David Thomas, a Maryland-based policing consultant and expert.
The Brady list, he said, “goes to the very question of integrity.”
District attorney’s office using same strict criteria to add officers to the list
What has not changed is the strict criteria used to get an officer on the list.
Officers are added only if they have a pending criminal charge, a past conviction or an internal investigation “that brings into question the officer’s integrity.”
Experts told the Journal Sentinel last year the policy appeared improperly narrow and omitted other potential Brady material, including when a judge finds an officer not credible.
Lovern stood by that practice. His office still does not track those judicial decisions, commonly known as adverse credibility rulings.
“Credibility determinations, which are frequently made by courts, don’t constitute judgments of untruthfulness,” he said in a recent interview.
When prosecutors are weighing whether to call an officer to testify, it makes sense to distinguish between overt dishonesty and credibility rulings, said Rachel Moran, a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, in an interview last month.
But an officer who was found not credible in court still belongs on the Brady list, she said.
“An officer who has misstated information in his police report, that’s exculpatory regardless of whether the officer intended to do it,” Moran said.
With long internal investigations, it can be years before an officer lands on the list
If an officer is referred to prosecutors for a potential criminal charge, he or she is placed on the Brady list immediately.
But when it comes to internal investigations, police departments often notify prosecutors at the end of the process, if an officer is found to have broken any department rules.
That can leave a gap.
Milwaukee police officer Eian West was added to the list in 2025, two years after he and three other officers came under investigation for their response to two domestic violence calls days apart that involved the same couple.
The officers were accused of failing to make mandatory arrests or file prompt reports, despite the woman saying the man had threatened her with a gun and tried to set her on fire, according to department records.
West and another officer went to the second call, on April 11, 2023, after two witnesses reported a man beating a woman in a front yard. The officers called her an ambulance.
Later that day, the woman woke up in the hospital and called Police District 4, prompting a sergeant to send two different officers to reinterview the woman and file a report.
Two days after that, the woman had a miscarriage.
Internal affairs asked West why he waited until his next shift, on April 12, after the other officers had been dispatched, to write his report. West’s report also listed the woman as the suspect and did not document the fact that she lived with the man, which is one of the elements of domestic violence, according to a summary from internal affairs.
West maintained he “was not trying to cover up that he was sent to a battery (domestic violence) and did not file it,” police records show.
Still, the officer agreed that he had violated the core value of integrity because he was not completely honest and accurate about all relevant facts in the case, the records say.
The domestic violence calls took place in April 2023. Internal affairs interviewed West that July. But the internal investigation did not end until 2025, and only after that was West added to the Brady list.
During those two years, prosecutors did not know his integrity was under question in an investigation that ultimately resulted in a 20-day suspension.
Since prosecutors did not know, they could not disclose it to defense attorneys.
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman acknowledged it sometimes takes years to complete internal investigations, depending on the complexity.
“We are not trying to delay for delay’s sake,” Norman said in an interview. “It is unfortunate that we have a number of investigations on our plate.”
More urgent internal investigations, such as police shootings, can take priority, and the department must respect the officers’ due process and collective bargaining rights, the chief said.
Angel Johnson, a regional attorney manager with the State Public Defenders Office in Milwaukee, said that the office’s clients also have rights.
“If there’s an officer that has credibility issues and they’re going to testify in a proceeding against my client, (my clients) have the same right to due process,” she said.
Why some officers were removed from the Brady list
The Brady list is fluid.
As officers come on, others come off.
Kenton Burtch and Elric Erving, both of the Milwaukee Police Department, were removed in the last year.
Erving was investigated for disorderly conduct in 2019. No criminal charges were filed, and his name came off the list, Lovern said.
Burtch was accused of improperly filing his time card and claiming an estimated $1,700 he was not owed. He was demoted from sergeant and suspended for six days.
He appealed to the city’s Fire and Police Commission, which found the situation was a mistake related to the officer’s remote work arrangement and confusion over how to handle it. The commission overturned his discipline, finding “no indication or evidence of intentional misconduct,” and restored his rank.
Because of that, Lovern said, his name came off the list.
In the past, Lovern has removed officers who complete deferred prosecution agreements or who win appeals to get their jobs back.
Some defense attorneys have argued that officers should only rarely, if ever, come off the Brady list.
“Once you’re placed on the Brady list, if you continue to testify in court, you should not be removed,” Johnson said.
As of September 2025, the list had 217 entries involving 190 individual officers. The district attorney’s office released the list in October in response to a public records request. Reporters filed records requests to gather more information about new individuals on the list. Some of those requests remain pending.
In the months since, the list continues to change. For example, the district attorney’s office added a Milwaukee officer recently charged with accessing sensitive license plate data for personal reasons, despite tagging the purpose of his searches as “investigation.”
It was not the first time the officer, Josue Ayala, had been accused of dishonesty on the job, with one defense attorney even telling a federal prosecutor that Ayala exaggerated so much that it seemed to be a “compulsion,” the Journal Sentinel previously reported. Ayala has since resigned.
Defense attorneys continue to rely on media reports, decisions from the city’s Fire and Police Commission and civil lawsuit judgments to identify officers with questionable credibility – and that’s a problem, Johnson said.
“It should be happening from the DA’s office, but we are still finding ourselves doing that legwork and it’s not our obligation or ethical duty to do so,” she said.
This story is part of Duty to Disclose, an investigation by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, TMJ4 News and Wisconsin Watch. The Fund for Investigative Journalism provided financial support for this project.
A federal lawsuit filed Feb. 23 by the legal nonprofit group Protect Democracy alleges the Department of Homeland Security used facial recognition technology unlawfully to track legal observers and label them domestic terrorists.
In Milwaukee County, law enforcement representatives are addressing facial recognition technology-related fears from residents. They’re concerned about a potential collaboration with a company called Biometrica, which provides access to facial recognition search results.
In August, Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball signed an “agreement of intent” to enter into a contract with Biometrica, said James Burnett, director of public affairs and community engagement and acting chief of staff at the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office.
“But the contract is still considered to be in draft form – not fully signed, executed or valid – and has to proceed, like any other proposed contract, through the county’s statutory signing process,” Burnett said.
There currently are no services or technology being provided by Biometrica, and Biometrica does not have access to any sheriff’s office data, Burnett said.
County Supervisor Sky Capriolo, member of the county’s Judiciary, Law Enforcement and General Services Committee, said she and residents have serious concerns.
“It warrants more consideration, education and discussion,” Capriolo said. “I certainly am not ready to green-light a contract.”
Capriolo said she’s waiting to hear whether the contract will go to her committee again.
Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman took a different step and banned the use of facial technology by his department in early February.
On Feb. 24, Norman announced the suspension of MPD officer Josue Ayala for the improper use of a different tracking tool, the Flock camera system, to track a dating partner and a former partner.
“I am extremely disappointed to learn about the incident and expect all members, sworn and civilian, to demonstrate the highest ethical standards in the performance of their duties,” said Norman in a statement.
Ayala was charged by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office with one count of attempted misconduct in public office. Norman said he immediately directed MPD to create additional auditing mechanisms.
Concerns remain high
Social justice and civil rights advocates have expressed grave concerns about the use of the technology by both agencies, citing evidence of inaccuracies, racial bias and privacy violations.
Facial recognition technology uses artificial intelligence to identify someone by comparing a photo of an unknown face to some database of images of known faces, said Katie Kinsey at the Feb. 5 Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission meeting during a presentation by the NYU Policing Project.
The image databases can include mug shot collections, driver’s license records or images found on the internet, Kinsey said.
Facial recognition technology and local law enforcement
In spring, MPD acknowledged it used outside agencies’ licenses for facial recognition search results for two to three years without a written department policy.
The department also announced it was considering an agreement with Biometrica – an agreement that would have provided access to facial recognition technology to the department in exchange for approximately 2.5 million Milwaukee County Jail booking photos.
This proposal prompted months of public pushback before the announcement by Norman in February that the department would no longer pursue the technology.
ACLU preaches vigilance
The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin welcomed Norman’s announcement but also expressed concerns about MPD’s past decision making.
It is “extremely concerning that MPD secretly used FRT (facial recognition technology) searches for years without any standard operating procedure – or any written guidelines – in place,” an ACLU spokesperson said in an email to NNS.
The organization is urging Milwaukee residents to remain vigilant.
“Countless Milwaukee residents and community leaders have engaged in thoughtful community education, spent hours upon hours in public meetings and contacted their local elected officials to voice their unequivocal opposition to the use of (facial recognition technology), and they will still be watching,” the spokesperson said.
The MPD spokesperson told NNS the department could revisit the issue in the future when a policy is in place that aligns with both public safety benefit and public concerns.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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