Leslie Peterson
Madison Police cars at the scene of the March 6 Tony Robinson shooting. On Wednesday, the department announced that officer Matt Kenny has been cleared of any wrong-doing in the shooting and will soon return to work.
Madison Police officer Matt Kenny is cleared of any wrongdoing in the March 6 shooting death of 19-year-old Tony Robinson after an administrative review, the Madison Police Department announced Wednesday.
The internal investigation, conducted by MPD’s professional standards unit, found that Kenny adhered to the department’s deadly force policy.
Kenny, who has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting, is now cleared of any administrative sanctions; Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne cleared Kenny of any criminal charges last month after reviewing the results of an independent probe from the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation.
“Matt has been subjected to scrutiny in two forms,” Madison Police Chief Mike Koval said of the investigations. “He has withstood that scrutiny and is entitled to pursue his passion. His passion is to be a police officer serving the Madison Police Department.”
Koval, who oversaw the internal investigation along with his three assistant chiefs, laid out what he described as the “Matt Kenny transitional plan,” detailing the next steps in the department’s reinstatement protocol following an officer-involved shooting.
Koval gave no concrete timeline on Kenny’s return, saying it may be a matter of weeks or months before Kenny returns to duty. But when he does return, Kenny will not be on patrol.
“To provide some measure of space for our community to continue to heal, to be reconciled, to come to terms with what is now the new normal moving forward, I am going to be assigning officer Kenny to some logistics matters,” Koval said in an afternoon news conference.
Before he returns, Kenny will meet with the department’s designated trauma specialist – a psychiatrist trained in counseling officers involved in a shooting. Also required are meetings with the department’s command and training staff, where Kenny will complete training simulations before he is allowed to return to full duty.
Kenny will work primarily in MPD’s training division, where he will assist with first aid training, expanding the department’s Narcan administration program as well as helping out with the department’s mounted patrol.
Koval said his decision to keep Kenny off the streets for a little while longer is in the best interest of both Kenny and the community because of the “notoriety” the Robinson shooting created. The chief acknowledged that there may be backlash against his decision to reinstate Kenny.
Numerous community members, including a number of Madison’s black clergy, have called for Kenny to resign.
“As the chief, I’m also going to have to balance those concerns with [Kenny’s] rightful entitlement to due process and the fact that he’s done nothing wrong in the eyes of the law,” Koval said. “To that extent, I cannot be swayed or have those folks dictate what I think is the appropriate thing to do.”
Complete documents detailing the internal investigation were not immediately available on Wednesday, but MPD spokesman Joel DeSpain said they would be released after Kenny had a chance to go through them himself.
Jim Palmer, who is executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association as well as Kenny’s lawyer, released a statement praising the investigation’s findings while acknowledging the Robinson family’s loss.
“We are pleased that both the internal investigation and the criminal investigation concluded that officer Kenny’s actions were appropriate, lawful, and in accordance with the rules governing his conduct,” Palmer said in the statement. “Nonetheless, those facts do not diminish our recognition of the loss that the Robinson family has suffered, and we again extend to them our deepest condolences.”
Robinson’s family spokesman Jerome Flowers said the family plans to release a statement on the MPD investigation results. The family protested Ozanne’s decision last month, and Robinson’s mother, Andrea Irwin, has said she plans to file a civil case.
The family’s attorney, Jon Loevy, has said he has evidence that Kenny was instructed to wait for backup before entering the Williamson Street house where he fatally shot Robinson. Koval said the department’s internal investigation found no such evidence.
“I don’t know where that came from, quite frankly,” Koval said, adding that Kenny had to make a “quick, albeit comprehensive, decision” to enter the apartment because Kenny believed Robinson was assaulting another person.
Robinson was alone in the apartment.
