Congratulations, Madison! On the 2nd day of August, a little more than halfway through the year, we have managed to tie the record number of homicides in a single calendar year (10) with five months left to go!

Number 10 being the fatal, point-blank hit job shortly after midnight Wednesday (8-2-17) at a convenience store off the Beltline and Todd Drive. The homicides headlline Madison’s story of a bullets-flying spring and summer.

One small consolation. Have you noticed? Brenda Konkel, Freedom Inc., Brandi Grayson, Sharon Irwin, and Alders Rummel, Bidar-Sielaff, Baldeh and their cop-bashing colleagues are laying low, saying little. When they do squeak, it is to mouth platitudes about the increasing gun violence in town.

Ald. Amanda Hall, for instance, tried lamely to pivot from Blame the Police to Keep Us Safe. She is “steamed!”

Today we turn over the keys to the Stately Manor today to Madison Police Chief Mike Koval, the man of the hour in the absence of Mayor Soglin, who heard somewhere at one of the out-if-state conferences he likes to go to of yet another government program that will “build community.”

In his blog, Chief Koval suggests that the city’s mood has changed.

I am greatly encouraged by the collective outpouring of sentiments and actions that reflect our disdain for those who are attempting to lay siege to our community by their selfish, impulsive, reckless, and ruthless acts of senseless gun violence (yesterday’s homicide and serious injuries in the lot of the 7-Eleven off Todd Drive was yet another horrific chapter).  Calls to action are reaching a crescendo and are coming from every direction of greater Madison. This is something to behold in the midst of such despair and desperation. As a community, we are coming to a better understanding that this gun violence can no longer be discounted or minimized. …

I have listened to parts of talk shows, attended neighborhood meetings, prayed at vigils, participated in Stop the Violence-themed gatherings and picnics, heard the outrage from our community leaders and clergy, met with elected officials, and everyone is on the same page. Enough is enough!

Chief Koval also spoke with the Divine Miss Vicki McKenna Wednesday:

[The convenience store shooting] was deplorable, so pre-meditated and so deliberate it gives one pause. I’ve seen awful lot in 34 years as a cop and never seems to amaze in so cavalier a fashion to snuff the life out of another human being.

Some of our people are getting fried. … I need more cops to be boots on the ground and I also need more people to be detectives. … I think reasonable people can agree that when you go hours on end to respond only to priority calls because we have no one else to respond.

Vicki McKenna queried: “At some point, you work someone to the bone, they go from high stress to high stress, that’s going to increase likeliness they make a mistake.”

Chief Koval:

That’s true. … I worry, from an officer wellness standpoint, what this does to their psyche and … how do they continue to suit up  day in and day out? … You can only throw a cop so much overtime before they get tapped out.

Koval told Vicki that to add more “capacity” (i.e.: police officers), he must apply for federal grants. The interview spans 13:43 minutes.

Is the chief right? Is enough finally enough? Ask your alder (find them here) what they’re doing to help the police! Contact them all here!

And do Support Madison’s Police here.

Sign their on-line petition.