News
City says no to 18-officer plan
Looking for a print version?
Simply use your browser’s ‘Print’ command and a printer-friendly document will be generated automatically.
Also by Emily Bradley:
- Panel takes on homelessness (April 4, 2008)
- Sweet future in renewable fuel sources? (December 7, 2007)
- City says no to 18-officer plan (November 16, 2007)
Sharing tools:
E-mail this article:
The Madison City Council
voted down a proposal Thursday night to add 18 officers to the Madison Police
Department instead of the 30 requested by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz by a 13-7
margin.
Chief of Police Noble Wray
began discussion of the proposed amendment, stressing the need for approval of
the full 30 officers accounted for in the budget.
Thirty officers, Wray said,
would raise the current ratio of 1.8 officers per 1000 residents to 1.9, citing
Madison's recent growth as a marker of the need for this increase. Mayor Dave Cieslewicz
also affirmed support for the need for 30 officers, imploring council members to
reject the reduction amendment.
Several alders, however,
voiced concern that Wray's numbers were not based on Madison's specific needs
and instead reflected national averages. Ald. Brian Solomon, Dist. 10, wondered
how the police chief would "balance that ratio with a city with such a crime
record as Madison," adding he felt Madison was very safe and the increase was
unnecessary.
Ald. Brenda Konkel, Dist. 2,
said she was unwilling to vote to add more than 18 officers, citing the pending
2009 police staffing report and added "we need to have that study in front of
us to make that decision."
Other alders echoed her sentiments,
suggesting the vague statistics Wray used to determine the need for additional
officers did not provide sufficient information to justify his demand.
However, many alders
supported Cieslewicz and Wray, citing pressure from constituents to increase
the number of officers to 30.
Ald. Judy Compton, Dist. 16,
said her responsibility was "to ensure we offer the basic services to our
residents," and, without adequate staffing, the police force would be left
without the tools to combat crime in Madison.
Ald. Joe Clausius, Dist. 17,
urged others to reject the proposal and said "we need more bodies on the
street. … to keep our city safe," noting residents in his district said they
would be "more than willing to pay a slight, or even a modest, increase in
taxes" to ensure their safety.
Central to the debate was
discussion of the balanced budget and whether the addition of 30 officers would
drain funding for other propositions, especially social service programs.
Solomon said any increases above the proposed 18 would be ignoring crime
prevention in favor of increased arrests.
However, Ald. Lauren Cnare,
Dist. 3, argued "prevention can start with police too — police visibility is a
prevention measure."
Cieslewicz provided final
statements before votes were taken, and he urged alders to reject the
proposition for only 18 additional officers. He said the proposed budget was
not balanced and his budget "was not just about police officers."
"Supporting this amendment,
you're not really supporting anything that hasn't already been addressed in
this budget," Cieslewicz added. "The budget you could vote on right now is a
balanced budget with this issue of public safety."
6 Comments | Leave a comment
Leave a comment
Herald Blogs
The Beat Goes On
Muckrakers
President’s Visit Marked a Speech to One of the Last Groups Not Critical of Him
Extra Points
Top Classified Ads (view all)
HOUSES FOR Fall 2010. All houses are on W Dayton or N Bassett. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 bedrooms. All have parking. madisoncampusrentals.com
Thanks, Eli, for voting against this nonsense! 18 new cops would be fine - nobody who is rational thinks we need 30.
is there confusion? the 30 cops passed i thought?
Oh, come on! What did Thuy say?
Basically, here is what’s up. The mayor, et al, wanted 30 officers. There were some who said, let’s do 18, save millions of dollars, and WAIT for a police staffing study to come out in a few months to determine if we need more officers. It was cost effective and good policy.
Good work to Alders such as Konkel and Judge for standing up for sensible policy.
There are SOOO many police in Madison already!! We certainly don’t need more, especially considering there isn’t really a crime problem.
there is a crime problem you idiot