Madison mayor proposes new steps to address police, race and mental health following June incident

Amy Reid by Amy Reid

The mayor of Madison on Tuesday proposed new steps for city and police involvement in cases regarding race and mental health, in direct response to a highly criticized incident between Madison police and a 17-year-old African-American in early June.

In a blog post Tuesday, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway outlined the steps and said she has been meeting with community leaders to figure out what best practices should be for the city and police when incidents such as these come up.

“I want to acknowledge the pain experienced by members of our community who viewed the video of the incident in early June and who feel that this young man was denied the protections that law is supposed to provide.”

She said she is “painfully aware” of a process that protects the rights of officers but lacks transparency and accountability. She said this incident allows the city to inspect its oversight, including with appointments to the Police and Fire Commission.

In her meeting with community leaders, she wrote the group identified efforts that increase transparency, promote both long- and short-term change, inform a holistic and multifaceted training for emergency response, focus on trauma-informed care and institutional racism and facilitate mutually respectful community engagement.

Rhodes-Conway proposed four changes to current practices: involving a black mental health practitioner in Madison Police Department training, reducing MPD involvement in response to mental health crises, partnering with local education institutions to grow a black practitioner pool for future community employment and appointing Jacquelyn Boggess, the executive director of the Center for Family Policy and Practice, to the Police and Fire Commission.

Today @MayorOfMadison released proposed efforts to address race, mental health &policing (in response to an incident w/a 17yo that sparked an excessive force inves.). Chief Koval largely seemed fine w/ the suggestions, but took issue with this in response to an ongoing incident. pic.twitter.com/9OAsVni8YM

— Amy Reid (@amyreidreports) August 6, 2019

In response to the mayor’s statement, Madison Police Chief Mike Koval said in a statement the department has been and will continue to be receptive to undertaking systems improvements that promote transparency, accountability and trust with the people it serves. Koval said he and the department will continue to provide the resources, access and data needed to refine the system.

Koval said he does take issue with using a current investigation, such as this incident, as a need for urgent change at the department. He said his department started an investigation into the June incident before the video became public.

“We are conducting a thorough investigation and have engaged an outside agency expert to review the incident,” he said. “As chief, I feel it is critical to have a fair process, and I cannot be viewed as making any judgments or rendering an opinion before all investigatory and review steps are complete.”

Brandi Grayson, a community activist who started the nonprofit Urban Triage, said she appreciates what the mayor is trying to do, but wishes she took it further.

“One, I would like to see her address racism, and systemic racism, how it plays out with our police department and other institutions,” Grayson said. “Two, I would like for her to take a hard stance against racism, and three I think I would like her to use her power and her privilige to make the police department do what they need to do.”

In her post Rhodes-Conway said she is exploring other steps as well and welcomes community feedback on her plan.

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