Council meets tonight, see you (virtually) there? The horrific display of police violence towards protesters has to stop. Police have to admit the role they played in the chaos and agree their violence must stop too. The council should demand a full investigation.
BACKGROUND
Tone Madison (also here) and Isthmus have great articles on the violence. I highly recommend you read all three articles. Especially watch police launching teargas a the reporter in the first linked Tone Madison article. I’ve watched tons of video from these protests, and the police backing protesters up the hill and shooting rubber bullets at them as described in the Isthmus article was just horrifying to watch and well described in the Isthmus article.
ALDERS ASK QUESTIONS
Dear Chief Wahl:
What we witnessed on the news last night was a gross and unnecessary display of force that deepens community divide and mistrust of the city and other bodies of government. Instead of kneeling with protesters, MPD led a militarized police effort that escalated the situation with pepper spray, gassing, injuries, and harmful trauma to youth and others in the downtown area last night.
Please provide us with the following information:
- Incident reports from last night;
- Information on the equipment/uniform MPD officers were wearing, the weapons they had on hand, and the weapons used, including manufacturer, and any MPD policies for training and deployment of these weapons, including any training or policies related to deployment during COVID-19;
- The number of people taken into custody, numbers of people released, their ages, and their race, and the grounds for their arrest;
- The number of people injured, a description of each injury, the source of injury, and what medical treatment was provided to them; and,
- Policies and SOPs regarding policing protests and civil disobedience.
We look forward to your prompt response. People are hurt and angry and we need answers about what happened last night.
Sincerely,
Marsha Rummel, Alder District 6
Donna Moreland, Alder District 7
Max Prestigiacomo, Alder District 8
Arvina Martin, Alder District 11
Tag Evers, Alder District 13
Grant Foster, Alder District 15
Rebecca Kemble, Alder District 18
INJURIES
I’m particularly interested in the injuries the police caused and what they did to aid those who were injured. I’m particularly worried about the people who are homeless who stay on State St. I have heard reports of one person being trampled as people ran to escape the tear gas that led to at least one person being taken to the hospital for their injuries.
WHAT POLICIES ARE THE POLICE FOLLOWING?
This is the problem with the police policies. I tried looking them up on-line and these are the ones I found that I believe they were supposed to be following:
- Demonstrations and Assemblies
- De-Escalation
- Mutual Aid Requests and Enforcement Action Out of Jurisdiction
Quickly scanning through these policies, I believe they were not all followed and that we need someone to investigate these incidents. Having the police auditor hired by now would have been great, but I have no idea where we are at in that process as the Public Safety Review Comittee has not met for the last 3 months because the Mayor and Council Presidents (Bidar and Carter) haven’t allowed us to.
WHAT’S NEXT?
1. The council meets tonight. There is an addendum to the agenda that includes multiple issues related to this:
These items will be voted on tonight and can have public comment
- Approving the Mayor’s declaration that a state of emergency exists for the City
of Madison pursuant to Wis. Stats. § 323.11 and Madison General Ordinances
Section 3.19. (This allows the CURFEW) - Denouncing the murders of African Americans across the United States of America without consequence.
These items will be introduced tonight, no public comment. (Council members could suspend the rules and allow public comment if they were brave.)
- Creating the MPD Ad Hoc Recommendation Oversight Committee.
- [BY TITLE ONLY] Amending Section 3.54 of the Madison General Ordinances
to allow for the creation of the classification of Police Auditor in CG21. - [BY TITLE ONLY] Creating a 1.0 FTE position of Police Auditor in the Mayor’s
Office Operating Budget.
2. Public Safety Review Committee is going to be meeting next week. At least that his what the staff person for our committee has told me. I have heard no official word from city leadership. I fully intend to have these issues on the VERY LONG agenda. I’m currently seeking feedback via facebook and from committee members about what that agenda should look like.
