Chief Not So Chatty

Afraid of a public forum?

It’s once again time for his round of discussions with the districts, where normal residents get to “chat” with him. But I’ve seen nothing advertising the “chats” except to cancel them.

From: “Gloede, Carl”
Date: May 1, 2015 at 4:06:08 PM CDT
To: “Rummel, Marsha” , “Verveer, Michael” , “Zellers, Ledell” , “Wood, Zach”
Subject: Chat with the Chief on May 4th

The Chat with the Chief on May 4th has been cancelled. We will be trying to reschedule in early June.

My apologies for the late notice and any inconvenience.

If you could post to your list serves to alert the associations as well.

Thank you.
Carl Gloede
Captain of Police: Central District
City of Madison Police Department

He did meet with the neighborhood association . . . invite only, controlled situation.

On Wednesday representatives from MNA, GWABA, and Alder Rummel met with police Chief Koval and his lieutenant. We talked about the District Attorney’s pending decision in the Tony Robinson case and potential impacts to our neighborhood.

The meeting started with Chief Koval discussing a variety of perspectives and scenarios related to the timing of the announcement. Scenarios from an announcement during the Mifflin Street Block Party when police resources are already stretched to during the school day when school officials can share the DA’s announcement and possibly facilitate discussions were talked through.

Messages on social media to meet at the shooting site the evening of the announcement and the DA’s decision to let the community know 48 hours in advance of the announcement were also discussed. Concerns related to how the advance notice might allow time for others from outside of Madison to get here and possibly work to incite crowds were brought up.

We asked what, as a neighborhood, we can do. The Police Chief recommended that two messages are important to get out: one “make sure you know where your kids are” and to call 911 at the first sign of problems. The Chief said his unit will be told to give people space to voice their issues.

For businesses, one idea we had was to hand out candles in support of a candle vigil that MNA might recommend to the community. Or have signs saying something like “Tony Lived Here” – or something to emote that we want to express dissent in a constructive way without violence.

Sincerely,
Lynn Lee
MNA president