Why were TWO uniformed Madison police officers at a neighborhood meeting last night about an 8 unit development with 14 bedrooms?
Seriously, what a waste of resources. Is this part of the “you are being watched” initiative? Is this why we need 40 new cops in the next 4 years?
I didn’t ask them directly, cuz, tensions are a little high right now and I figured I might either get them in trouble by telling people their answers or set them off if they were some of the officers mad about the study and supporting Koval’s lunatic rantings and ravings. I did ask them how they were doing – they said “sweaty” – so one theory was they were there for the air conditioning. One of the neighbors did ask and they were told “we were asked to be here.” Ok, by whom? I asked Alder Ledell Zellers, wasn’t her. Asked Developer Michael Matty. Wasn’t him. Wasn’t the neighborhood. So, I asked Captain Gloede . . . (cough, cough, ahem . . . who would be a much better police chief . . . cough, cough.) Who promptly, and politely, responded.
Brenda,
As you are aware, our officers do much more than just respond to calls for service. The two officers in question are part of my central community policing team. The purpose for my sending them to the meeting is to engage with our community in non-confrontational situations and build relationships. For far too long, MPD has not had a participatory roll in the new developments in our community. These new developments often bring challenges during the construction phase with traffic and noise. Additionally, my hope is that if there are questions raised during the meeting related to safety or environmental design practices, that they would be able to answer these promptly.
My officers find it valuable to spend time with community members and be part of community discussions.
I know from personal experience, my time working with community members has been rewarding and has allowed me to better understand the community needs when the crisis situations arise.
Carl Gloede
Captain of Police: Central District
City of Madison Police Department
211 S. Carroll St.
Madison, WI 53703
Ok, in this case, I trust they were not there for nefarious purposes. Tho, it scares me to think that Captain Jay Lengfeld (affordable housing causes crime – tiny house villages belong in industrial areas, etc etc etc) would be doing the same. He and his officers will almost always end up on the side of, affordable housing is bad for the neighborhood. It can’t be close to schools! Heaven forbid!
If this would have been a 100+ apartment unit building, I would understand. This seems like overkill. I guess they had nothing better to do. We need 40 more!!!! (or we don’t, depending upon which side of his mouth Koval is talking out of.)
