Juvenile crimes were in steady decline in Madison and Dane County for many years until 2017. Since then, we have seen spikes in crimes like property theft and overall youth detention rates. Why this uptick—and what are we doing about it? To give some context for these facts and figures and to discuss possible solutions, […]
MPD Policy & Procedure Check-In
In 2017, the OIR Group (an organization that does independent police oversight and review) researched the Madison Police Department’s policies, practices, procedures, and culture. The resulting report offers 146 recommendations, all of which have been reviewed by the Madison Police Department Policy & Procedure Review Ad Hoc Committee with community input over the past couple […]
Do Madison schools need their own police officers?
That’s the question our reporting interns Peyton Barber and Mario Canacasco set out to investigate. For the past two decades, there have been MPD police officers stationed in each of the major Madison high schools, paid for by the school district. But recently, this deal has come under scrutiny by community members who say that […]
No Police At Pride?
This Sunday is Madison’s annual OutReach Pride Parade, but what should be a celebratory event has recently come under some controversy over whether Madison Police should be allowed to formally participate in the event. After last year’s parade, some members of the LGBTQ+ community and communities of color objected to the number of armed, uniformed […]
Reviewing the Local Police Force – MPD and the OIR Report
Over the past year, the OIR Group (an organization that does independent police oversight and review) researched the Madison Police Department’s policies, practices, procedures, and culture. The resulting report offers 146 recommendations, all of which are being reviewed by the Madison Police Department Policy & Procedure Review Ad Hoc Committee with community input. On today’s […]
Madison PD Officers: Are There Too Many? Too Few? Best Approach?
At a news conference in April, after a particularly busy night of gunfire reports, Madison Police Chief Mike Koval told reporters that Madison needs to have a “come to Jesus moment” about the amount and nature of gun violence in the city. Koval argued that the Madison Police Department has too few patrol officers and […]
