Will Mayor Satya veto?

The cop haters might have been able to defeat the small-scale, one-year trial of police body-worn cameras had not Ald. Tag Evers (Progressive Dane) defected. His yes vote allowed the modest measure, authorizing only $83,000 in expenditure, to pass by an 11 to 9 vote. Call us very suspicious.

Now we’ll see if the mayor signs off on this experiment. Or if enough poison pills have been inserted into the trial in the North police district only to sink it. Thank you neighborhood activist Bonnie Roe for asking Mayor Satya point blank when she will weigh in on this critical issue. Bonnie contends that only three of the 79 cities more populous than Madison do NOT equip their police with body cameras and that El Paso TX, Anchorage AK, and Portland OR are now implementing them.

Body cams convicted Derek Chauvin of murdering George Floyd. The local BLM affiliates are opposed because cameras would have cleared the police officer in the self-defense killing of Anthony Robinson Jr. in 2015. Typical among the Woke social justice warriors testifying against police cameras during Tuesday/Wednesday’s marathon Common Council meeting is one Oona McKenzie-Green: 

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“We don’t need more footage of police violence; we need to shift money out of policing and into community services. … It is the entire system of policing that is harmful. Cameras will not address that. … They are not effective in addressing the racial disparities in policing.” 

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Voting against body camerasonly enhance the re-election next Spring of Alds. Brian Benford on Willy Street and Juliana Bennet on campus. But what about Ald. Nikki Conklin, who replaced Paul Skidmore on the northwest side? How about Yannette Figueroa-Cole, now misrepresenting Midvale and Orchard Ridge? In addition to other no voters Jael Curie, Grant Foster, Keith Furman (the new Council president!), Patrick Heck, and Arvina Martin.

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Are we paying Shadayra Kilfoy-Flores too much?

The lady is part of Amelia Royko Maurer’s anti-cop Community Response Team. She brought a complaint to the Police & Fire Commission that then chief of police Mike Koval appropriately labeled a meeting disrupter’s behavior as crazy. For such shenanigans, the City of Madison rewarded SK-F with voting membership on the nefarious Police Civilian Oversight Board. 

Due to Blaska’s lawsuit, the city is amending its ordinance that unconstitutionally requires racial quotas for appointment to the this government agency. As its vice chairman, “Shady” as her friends call her, has subpoena power to pass judgment on police. When it was her turn to testify against police body cameras late Tuesday night, Shadayra Kilroy Flores started off by announcing that city taxpayers are not paying her enough.  

“I’m pissed. … Now, I will be serving another six hours in meetings this week  — FREE! Volunteering! — while most of these alders are being paid $20,000 a year, I’m getting paid $1,200.” 

SK-F said she was angry that Police Chief Barnes is meeting with citizens … “Chief Barnes has now had six neighborhood meetings, we continue to waste resources.” After years of studies and debate, “We’re going to shove this through, over-criminalizing our neighbors.”

You really got to hear the lady to wonder what kind of kangaroo court the City of Madison has created with the Police Civilian Oversight Board which, since first meeting on 11-30-20, has managed only to get its pronouns straight and to offer the six-figure salary to a candidate for full-time monitor to a man accused of sexual harassment.

Blaska’s Bottom Line: The helluvit is, according to the measure passed Wednesday, Ms. Kilfoy-Flores gets to pass judgment on the results of the pilot program. It’s the last paragraph.