On Tuesday the Police and Fire Commission is meeting and only has one item on the agenda. It has some information about how they will be gathering input.
The item has 4 attachments and says:
“Discussion of tentative timeline, scheduling, draft position announcement, and methods for community and stakeholder input.”
It’s good to actually see something with attachments. Do you think this will get us to a good chief hire?
DRAFT COMMUNITY SURVEY
The survey is short and sweet, just 5 questions:
1. What are the 3 most important qualities or skills you would like to see in the next police chief for the Madison Police Department?
o Honesty
o Transparency
o Commitment to community policing
o Cultural competency
o Experience leading a police department
o Experience leading an organization
o Compassion
o Trustworthy
o Ability to articulate vision
o Track record of implementing cultural change
o Collaborative
o Promotes racial, gender, thought diversity in their department o Strongleader
o Committed to training
o Committed to professional development of staff
o Engaged in national conversations around policing
o Other:________________________
2. Check the areas that you suggest as priorities to improve police services. (select all that apply)
o Cultural change within the department o De-escalation training
o Cultural competency training
o Use of Force policy
o Demilitarize the police department
o Holding police officers accountable
o Transparency on controversial police conduct o Relationships with marginalized communities o Fix disparate policing
o Data collection on police activity
o More foot and bike patrols
o Other:__________________
3. What would you like to see the next chief accomplish in the next 2-3 years? o Build community trust
o Reduce crime
o Change department culture
o Demilitarize the department
o Diversify the department
o Create a data-driven agency
o Demonstrate that officers will be held accountable
o Release body-camera footage of police use of force incidents within 72 hours o Other:____________________________________
5. Which of the following crime/enforcement issues would you like to see the next police chief prioritize? (Select all that apply)
o violent crime
o corporate crime
o wage theft– this is when employers steal from employees
o hate crimes
o COVID-19 related (not obeying the Public Health Order) enforcement o property crime
o drug enforcement
o loitering, littering, jaywalking, shoplifting
o Traffic enforcement
o Immigration enforcement
o Other:_________________________
5. What else do you want us to know as we search for the next police chief for Madison?
DRAFT SURVEY FOR MEMBERS OF THE MADISON POLICE DEPARTMENT
This survey only has 4 questions.
What do you think the Madison Police Department does really well?
If you had a magic wand, what are 3 things you would change about the department?
What are the key challenges the new chief will face?
Describe the kind of leader who should be the next police chief:
DRAFT MADISON POLICE CHIEF POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT
CHIEF OF POLICE – Madison, Wisconsin – POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT
http://www.cityofmadison.com/ and http://www.cityofmadison.com/police/
The Board of Police and Fire Commissioners (PFC) for the City of Madison, Wisconsin, is seeking a community-focused, collaborative, and innovative professional to lead the Madison Police Department.
The PFC is conducting this search in the context of a national upheaval in the policing profession sparked by the death of George Floyd. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic is imposing unprecedented challenges on police in Madison and nationwide. The PFC recognizes that it has never been more important to find a forward-looking leader who can build and sustain public trust in the Police Department in all of Madison’s communities.
Home to 260,000 residents, Madison is the state capital and home of the University of Wisconsin. Madison has a long-standing tradition of transparent and progressive government, a strong economy and high quality of life. Madison ranks #12 on U.S. News’ Best Places to Live ranking: “Against a backdrop of high-tech businesses and acclaimed academic institutions, Madison, Wisconsin, exudes the casual, down-to-earth feel you’d expect in the capital of America’s Dairyland.”
The city and our police department face the challenge that police are confronting throughout the United States, such as calls to change the way resources are allocated and the role of the police to equitably provide community safety, COVID-19, and limitations in police budgets. We acknowledge that the always difficult job of policing in a democracy has become even more complicated.
The Madison Police Department is an educated, diverse, community-oriented team of 483 uniformed and 116 professional men and women dedicated to delivering quality police services which intensely protect the rights of all citizens under the rule of law. The annual budget is about $84 million. The Board of Police and Fire Commissioners expects the Department to respond with even more innovation and creativity to contemporary challenges. The Board enthusiastically supports the Department’s intensified efforts to bring its principles and management style to new challenges.
This is a unique opportunity for a strong, creative, and compassionate leader to guide the Madison Police Department through this transformational time of diverse and changing community expectations, political protests in the city and on the campus, and controversy regarding the use of physical force.
The chief of police is selected under state law by a board of five citizens appointed to staggered 5-year terms by the mayor of the city, providing effective tenure to the chief, who can be removed only for cause, not political whim.
The Police Chief, who reports to the Mayor, must possess:
- An unwavering commitment to transparency and accountability;
- A contemporary leader with deep roots in community policing.
- An openness to new information and different perspectives, and a willingness to consider
new solutions to persistent public safety problems. - A professional and personal track record that demonstrates an ethos of community engagement and collaborative problem-solving.
- A proven commitment to staff development and progressive department-wide training that is consistent with and responsive to the needs of the community.
- Experience and demonstrated success building strong relationships of trust, mutual understanding, and accountability with other city officials, within the community, among rank and file officers, and with local and regional public safety partners.
- Demonstrated commitment to and experience with engaging with African American, Hispanic, youth, and immigrant communities.
- A demonstrated aptitude for seeking creative, partnership-driven approaches that improve community health and safety.
- A relentless commitment to the training and development of staff, particularly for those on the front lines with an emphasis on implicit bias training, de-escalation and the delivery of safe and effective service.
- Impressive experience serving at higher ranks with the demonstrated ability to lead and
inspire a multigenerational workforce. - A history of developing and maximizing the talent in their department and be dedicated to developing future generations of leaders at all ranks.
- Strong interpersonal skills, and a demonstrated commitment to being visible, available, and approachable within the department and in the community.
- An excellent ability and commitment to communicate with both internal and external stakeholders, in person, in group settings, and using social media.
- Exceptional organizational and management skills, including the ability to maintain a strong leadership team, and develop the next generation of leaders.
- Cultural awareness and sensitivity including an understanding of structural racism, and the history of policing in America.
- A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusiveness throughout the organization.
- Extensive experience in budget management and labor relations.
- An understanding of and commitment to the recommendations contained in the Final
Report of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
This position requires a 4-year college degree and three years of responsible and varied managerial experience in local law enforcement. Salary range is $130,255-$175,844. Additional specialized leadership education, such as the Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP) or the FBI National Academy, is desirable. The successful candidate must be able to obtain certification as a police officer from the State of Wisconsin. The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) is assisting the city in the selection process.
Qualified candidates should apply by September 14, 2020 with cover letter, résumé, and a list of five references in confidence to: MadisonPC@policeforum.org.
Madison is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. Women and minority candidates are encouraged to apply.
If you have any questions regarding this opportunity, or a recommendation of a colleague, please contact Rebecca Neuburger, PERF, at rcneuburger@gmail.com or (202)997-6287.
EQUITABLE HIRING TOOL
This is the tool that the RESJI (Racial Equity and Social Justice Initiative) has for them to use. It looks like the tool they use for all city positions, nothing special to the police department.
DRAFT LANGUAGE FOR LOCAL VOICES NETWORK WEBSITE
Here is the language for their website. (unedited)
Thank you for your interest in helping us select the next madison police chief
Please join us for a small facilitated group conversation to discuss the role that police can or should play in our community. These conversations will be recorded and used as a way to collect public input into what we should be looking for in a new Police Chief. These recordings will be transcribed, indexed and shared with journalists, public officials, and the public via the lvn.org webpage. These small group conversations are supplemental to the more traditional large town-hall listening sessions.
sign up here
What to expect from a LVN Conversation
Virtual Conversations will include a small group of 4 – 8 participants and one volunteer host. If we have less than four people register, we may reschedule the event.
Because of the small group size, we request that participants who need to cancel do so at least 48 hours in advance, or as soon as you know you will be unable to participate.
Please join on time. It is important that all participants are present for the beginning part of the conversation.
Unfortunately, if the conversation begins before you arrive, we’ll need to reschedule you to attend an upcoming conversation.
Please plan to join by video if at all possible.
If you are new to Zoom, you are welcome to join us 5 minutes before the call. We will have staff on the call to provide one-on-one tech support and get you comfortable with the platform before the conversation begins. You can also visit www.lvn.org/zoom.
TIMELINE
This is the timeline that was presented at the July 13th meeting:
July 13
- Settle on general timeline
- Settle on community input plan
July 22
- PERF to present draft position announcement for PFC review
- Active recruiting begins informally
- Community input gathering continues
August 10
- Final approval of position announcement
- Post position announcement, active recruiting continues
August 17
8. PERF to update PFC on continued recruiting efforts
September 14
9. Application deadline
10. Community input gathering deadline
11. PFC updates PERF on community input, and PERF begins candidate vetting based on the community input.
September 22
12. PERF update on candidate vetting process
October 12
13. PERF to present candidate pool to PFC and make recommendations
October 19 (not sure if there is a meeting scheduled for this day)
14. PFC to make decision on which candidates to schedule for a first round interview
Week of October 26
15. First round interviews via video call, with time for PFC and PERF to debrief, and ideally select finalists
16. PERF initiates records checks on finalists (to be completed before public disclosure of finalist names, and final interviews)
Week of November 9
17. Finalist interviews (video or in-person, tbd) with
a. PFC
b. And possibly a Community Advisory Panel (selected by PFC)
Week of November 16
18. PFC selects candidate and initiates a background investigation (2 weeks)
Early December
19. After conclusion of background investigation, PFC announces selection.
The minutes indicate that:
The commissioners agreed to use the proposed timeline as a flexible working draft to guide the process. They expressed both the need to be flexible in potentially expanding the time allowed for public input and also the strong desire to conclude the hiring process by the end of 2020. Adjustments will need to be made to ensure that all commissioners can be involved in all interviews, including adjusting the meetings near the end of October and beginning of November.
PERF will present an amended timeline at the July 22 meeting. The commissioners will consider adding meetings as needed to meet goals.
There was no additional timeline attached to the July 22 agenda and the minutes are not yet available.
