just don’t mix!
We call it “the Emerald City.” Some call it “Madistan;” more call it the “People’s Republic of Madison.” We march to a different drummer — sideways. But wouldn’t you think that a city as “progressive” as Madison, where Defund the Police is still a vote getter, would want to burden every police officer’s uniform with an Imax 700 millimeter body-worn camera to make sure they play nice with our growing population of miscreants?
The technology that helped convict Derek Chauvin up in Minneapolis? But no-ooo-ooo this is Madison, and video footage might exonerate more police than it convicts, fear the cop haters. Which is why we are the only jurisdiction in Dane County, the most populous city in the Midwest, to shun police body-worn cameras.
Madison alders will vote this evening whether to dip their toe for a three-month trial in only one of the city’s six police districts, that being the north side, for a modest $136,000.
A study committee recommended their use — back in January 2021! Funding for the pilot project was approved — 10 months ago. But city ditherers attached 177 conditions, forcing city attorneys to apply tweezers and microscopes to tease out the unintended consequences. Woe betide if, after the pilot project, an uptick in arrests is detected! The cameras could be scuttled.
Prosecutors support the cameras, so do public defenders. Police Chief Shon Barnes votes Aye. So does the Urban League, 100 Black Men, the NAACP of Dane County, Operation Fresh Start, and the ACLU of Wisconsin — to varying degrees. Even Circuit Court Judge Everett Mitchell!
It’s sponsored by Alders Charles Myadze, Isadore Knox Jr., Barbara Harrington-McKinney, and Amani Latimer Burris. All identify as black. But Progressive Dane is agin’ it. So is Freedom Inc., which led the effort to defund school resource police officers.
“We also know that police frequently lie, obfuscate, and leave things out when communicating with the press and the public. Unless the storage and disclosure of body-cam footage is wholly outside the control of police and prosecutors, the prospect of transparency is further diminished.”
— the editor of Tone Madison
Where Mayor Satya Rhodes Conway lines up on this important issue is as mysterious as the virgin birth. Tell the alders YOU support agenda item #60!
REGISTER to speak on Agenda #60 and select “Support.”
Blaska’s Bottom Line: We predict passage, on a close vote.
9 responses to “Progressives and police”
You’re usually so out-front, I am surprised you don’t say out loud what the known facts make inescapable to consider. That is the real reason that Freedom Inc opposes body cameras for the police is that they want to be able to claim police brutality anytime someone with black skin is shot by an officer, regardless of whether the facts in that particular case show the shooting was justified and compelled. The fact that the footage will not, in every case, be unambiguous and dispositive does not in any way lessen this inference, because in many cases the footage will add significant facts to evaluate untoward outcomes. The fact that half the Council lets itself be tied in knots over Freedom Inc’s bald faced manipulation is less than inspiring.
you nailed it
Any bets that the 3 month trial goes down in defeat? I can’t wait to hear all the reasons for the police and (maybe) the DA’s office are using cameras to arrest and convict people.
https://madison.com/news/local/government-politics/police-body-cameras-coming-to-madison-long-debated-pilot-program-gets-yes-from-city-council/article_0962bde4-30d6-11ee-948a-5bfdfd55ec29.html#tracking-source=home-top-story
[…] This post originally appeared at https://davidblaska.com/2023/08/01/progressives-and-police/ […]
Important point: body cameras can never show the lived experience of those being shot.
Ones “lived experience” should never be used or accepted as an excuse for criminal behavior.
“We call it ‘the Emerald City.’ Some call it ‘Madistan;’ more call it the ‘People’s Republic of Madison.’ We march to a different drummer — sideways.”
The Gotch, whose Bruthah From Another Muthah, and regrettably AWOL, GOOD DOG HAPPY MAN called it The Tofu Curtain, prefers The 77 Square Miles Surrounded By A Sea Of Reality.
“But no-ooo-ooo this is Madison, and VIDEO FOOTAGE MIGHT EXONERATE MORE POLICE THAN IT CONVICTS, FEAR THE COP HATERS” (bolds/caps/italics mine)
Bravo Indigo November Golf Oscar!
The Gotch
It’s been a very good, adult discussion so far at the council meeting.