Blaska will talk smack with Our Ms. Vicky McKenna on these issues
5 to 6 p.m. today (Thursday 10-18-18) at 1310 on your AM dial.
THIS JUST IN: After police chase into rural Dane County, 6 juveniles arrested this morning in two vehicles stolen in Madison.
UPDATE: There is evidence the teens burglarized at least one home in village of Oregon during their crime spree.
Quoting the warden in Cool Hand Luke, what we have here is failure to communicate.
Madison’s chief of police sounds the siren over “juveniles engaged in serious, illegal behavior(s). Weapons offenses, stealing cars and operating them recklessly, brazen burglaries, robberies, and sexual assaults … have generated fear and apprehension in our community.”
Chief Mike Koval indicts the juvenile “justice” system for “not responding to the issues at hand and we see a plethora of reasons why it is failing.”
Quite frankly, at this point in time, I am NOT preoccupied in looking at what “caused” these youths to transgress the law, I am more inclined to ask what the consequences will be for the behavior (assuming due process and an adjudication of delinquency)?
And what does the mayor of Madison propose? MORE hand-holding. More mental health care, more case workers, more family support, and more “other services.” In other words, more of the same. Administrators of Dane County’s human services programs use the word “duplicative.”
Because these kids are laughing at the system, removing their GPS ankle monitors, and taunting: “This is only the beginning. We’re just getting started.”
Look, the Blaska Policy Werkes gets that the worst of these kids are damaged by absent fathers and overwhelmed mothers barely past their own teen years. Physically and verbally abused themselves, they’ve been traumatized by rampant substance abuse and ever-present criminal activity. Further, they’ve been handed the crutch of “cry racism” rather than we’ll help you shape up.
What we can do:
Attend and speak up at Ald. Paul Skidmore is addressing public safety 6 p.m. Monday November 5 at Blackhawk Church, 9620 Brader Way (off Mineral Point Road). Police Chief Mike Koval will be there, as will the MPD West district command staff, and Sheriff Dave Mahoney. Let’s see if District Attorney Ismael Ozanne and invited juvenile Ccourt judges Everett Mitchell and Shelly Gaylord attend. Or the mayor!
Attend and speak up at the 6 p.m. Monday, October 29 Madison school board meeting, 545 W. Dayton Street. (Get there early to register.)
Run for city council or school board. Start circulating nomination papers December 1 and file on or before January 2. Need only 20 signatures of aldermanic district residents but go for the maximum 40 in case some are bad; 100 signatures citywide for school board. The election is Tuesday April 2. (Complete details here.)
‘What about accountability?’
But it helps no one — not tomorrow’s victims, their school class mates, or the kids themselves — to releasing the same perps back out to the streets into the same environment, GPS bracelets or not. The ministrations of restorative justice, mental health, family counseling, etc. are, at best — if they work at all — long term. Again, Chief Koval:
… At a recent meeting of practitioners, I listened to many earnest discussions with well-intentioned subject matter experts expounding upon the need for more relationship building with at-risk youth, timely interventions, fortifying existing programs while instituting even more topical and comprehensive initiatives that can get to the root causes of why a juvenile makes bad/reckless choices.
… I unequivocally support these good faith attempts … But the one thing I haven’t heard enough discussion about are the needs of the victims of crimes caused by juveniles? What about accountability?
A 59-year-old woman leaving her late shift at work is jumped, thumped and robbed in the parking lot of a restaurant on Odana Road by 13- and 15-year-old KIDS! Kicked in the face while cowering on the ground. Her car stolen, crashed and wrecked. She is traumatized for life.
(Liberals, socialists, and progressives: where is your sympathy for the victim NOW?) Again, Chief Koval:
“Who is speaking up on her behalf? While I endorse community-based restorative justice initiatives, I draw the line at serious, felony behaviors.”
We’ve seen this movie before
Mayor Paul Soglin’s last-minute “more services” gambit sounds as desperate as an alcoholic in Mormon Utah. Didn’t include it in the city budget he just submitted. What is up with Alds. Phair’s and Cheeks’ much ballyhooed Focused Interruption boondoggle, heavy on peer counseling and not much else. Price tag: $400,000.
Let’s not forget: this mayor and those alders spent $376,000 to investigate the police for signs of latent racism. And found none.
Lest we forget: the Madison school board is advised to keep the cops in our four troubled public high schools but handcuff them with still more restrictions. (“Troublemakers will sit in review of police.”)
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Whether Soglin runs for re-election or not, the Blaska Policy Werkes encourages Ald. Paul Skidmore to GO FOR IT!
