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Total Madison arrests fall while racial disparities rise over the last decade Story by Miller Jozwiak
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n aggregation of the Madison Police Department’s annual reports from 2005-’14 shows the total number of arrests has dropped across every racial demographic, with a deepening disparity between black and white arrests. Total arrests dropped from 19,730 in 2005 to 9,726 in 2014, roughly a 50 percent drop. White, black and Asian arrests dropped, while Native American arrests stayed constant. Despite this drop, disparities have worsened. Although Asian and Native American arrests have both remained under 1.5 percent of total arrests, the white percentage has dropped while the black one has risen. White arrests as a percentage of total arrests went from 54 percent in 2005 to 48 in 2014, as opposed to black arrests, which rose from 23 percent to 33 percent. This could be attributed to changes in Madison’s racial demographics, for which data is not available. Dane County, however, saw a less than 1 percent change in the population of both demographics since 2010. Madison makes up nearly 50 percent of
MILLER JOZWIAK/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Although arrests across all racial demographics have decreased since 2005, the disparity between white and black arrests, as a percentage of total arrests, has deepened. Dane County’s population. Assistant Chief of Police Randy Gaber said there are many factors behind the data, but one he specifically mentioned is a 2010 policy change in reporting just arrests rather than all charges, which can vary. He also pointed to an increase of 30 MPD officers in 2009 to give all officers more “unobligated time.” During officers’ obligated time, they must be doing tasks like paperwork and attending briefings.
“In that unobligated time what we want our officers to do is be proactive,” Gaber said. “To be very engaged with community policing, with problem solving, to get in touch with the community to find out what’s important [and] do things that are preventative.” Madison’s total population grew from 223,440 to 245,691 during 2005-’14, a 10 percent rise. MPD Police Chief Mike Koval said in a 2015 blog post that as Madison approaches a
population of 250,000, more police will be needed. According to Koval, Madison needs to have 2.5 officers per 1,000 residents, as opposed to the current 1.83 ratio. According to Gaber, increases in officers allow for better policing and fewer arrests because they can be more proactive with a stronger presence in the community. He said MPD tries to instill a philosophy in its officers that they must be proactive and engage with the community to build trust.
Gaber pointed out that it’s hard to measure the effects of some department programs because they are preventing crimes that are never recorded. That proactive style of policing requires more officers, but Gaber noted it would be impossible to bring the number of commissioned officers to Koval’s proposed number in one year. MPD is, however, planning on meeting with city officials to increase the number of sworn-in officers. According to UW-Madison sophomore Tyriek Mack, not enough is being done to address racial disparities. Mack is also a leader of BlackOut, a group trying to figure out how to reduce racial disparities in UW System schools while working with university officials. “I think the Madison Police Department has to start putting more action behind the efforts regarding unconscious bias,” Mack said. “The actions that they’ve taken hasn’t necessarily [been] reflected in the policing. So I think that they need to put more effort into ensuring that what they say they’re doing is actually being accomplished.” UW-Madison sociology professor Pamela Oliver, who has been analyzing racial disparities
arrests page 3
Citizens hold two protests, vigil on one-year anniversary of Madison police officer killing teenager Tony Robinson By Ellie Borstad THE DAILY CARDINAL
Demonstrators marched throughout Madison over the weekend to commemorate the first anniversary of Tony Robinson’s killing and continue to fight for racial equality in the criminal justice system. Protesters young and old carried colorful signs and banners that read “Justice for Tony” and “Black Lives Matter” as they marched along State Street Friday, from Library Mall to the Overture Center for the Arts. Sunday, demonstrators gathered at the Social Justice Center and marched toward the Capitol. Robinson’s family also held a candlelight vigil Sunday evening outside the house where he died. Madison Police Department Officer Matt Kenny shot and killed 19-year-old Robinson March 6 of
last year after a physical altercation. Robinson was unarmed. Between repeated chants of “community control over police” and “this is what democracy looks like,” protesters stopped at major intersections to have moments of silence in memory of Robinson, often halting traffic. Madison West High School student Ciara Hart helped lead the chants. “What I would say we’re trying to achieve is just to get people to understand that we’re not done yet and that we haven’t forgotten what happened,” Hart said. For UW-Madison student Eric Upchurch, co-founder of the Young Gifted & Black Coalition, the events went beyond remembering Robinson’s life. He asked what protesters will do to prevent future police killings.
“Don’t you care about your life? And then what about my life? And then what about the life of the person standing next to you? Because it could be them too,” Upchurch said to the crowd Friday. “But what are we going to do about it?” Members of YGB and the BlackOut movement participated in the marches, as did members of Robinson’s family. Andrea Irwin, Robinson’s mother, thanked protesters for their support and urged them to continue to speak out against racial injustices. “If you sit there and say nothing, you are just as much guilty as those who are killing the babies in the streets. You have to use your voice to stand up. They have to make this stop,” Irwin said during the Sunday march. “It’s happened, and it will happen again.”
LEAH VOSKUIL/THE DAILY CARDINAL
Protesters marched from Williamson Street to the Capitol Sunday afternoon before holding a vigil the same night.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”