Madison’s Police Civilian Oversight Board meets July 23 on the rewrite of its own ordinances, its first meeting on the matter since the Council's April 21 referral. Key Points On April 21, the Common Council voted 16 to 4 to send Legistar 92386, proposed changes to Madison’s police oversight ordinances, back to the Police Civilian Oversight Board (PCOB), with the matter due back at the Council on August 4. The PCOB and its subcommittees met five times between April 21 and Jul

Both changes are set to pass the Common Council on its consent agenda Tuesday, backed by staff reports that do not fill a page. In twelve of fifteen residential districts, the proposed height text contains no nonresidential limit. A four-story mixed-use building at 3722 Speedway Road, just under 47 feet tall, beside a one-story bungalow on Waverly Place. With a conditional use permit, Legistar 93404 would allow buildings three feet taller than this one in every Madison reside

Trust in police is built and lost in the everyday encounters that matter. Is Bread & Badges one of them? Key Points The Madison Police Department launched Bread & Badges on May 10, a Midtown District pilot during National Police Week that pairs officers with volunteer hosts for meals in residents’ homes. The premise in the launch release, stated by Officer A. Lewis, is that trust is built in everyday conversations rather than in moments of crisis. Decades of police trust rese

Key Points On April 21, the Common Council will vote on proposed changes to Madison’s police oversight ordinance that would subject the Office of the Independent Police Monitor to mayoral control and restrict its access to MPD records and independent legal advice. Taken together, the proposed changes would make the Independent Monitor subservient to the Mayor and the Police Department, the very agency the OIM is charged with overseeing. That is the opposite of what the Counci