Carolyn Fath Ashby
Madison Police Department car
It turns out that the first Madison police officer to be shot in the line of duty in 20 years was shot by another officer. Why did it take nine days to learn that?
Early on Oct. 10 a Madison cop was shot on State Street while trying to arrest a man wanted on multiple felony counts. The man resisted arrest and pulled a gun on the police. At least one shot was fired and an officer was hit, though thankfully his wounds were not life-threatening.
For a week and a half the Madison Police Department just let that story hang out there. The clear implication was that the perpetrator was Katoine Richardson, the subject of the arrest. But late last week Richardson's lawyer said at a preliminary hearing that Richardson had not fired a shot and, in fact, the criminal complaint against his client made no such charge.
Finally, on Monday and nine days after the incident, the MPD admitted another officer accidentally shot his colleague. Why the delay? Why not just report the facts as soon as they were confirmed — which probably would have been later in the day on Oct. 10?
This isn't the only recent incident where the department has inexplicably held back information that the public has the right to know. On Sept. 16 a police supervisor was recorded by a passerby apparently having sex in his squad car. Again, the department held back the name of the officer for weeks and for no good reason. After many requests by reporters, the Wisconsin State Journal was finally able to confirm that the officer involved was Lt. Reginald Patterson. But that happened almost a month after the alleged incident occurred and the information only came from unidentified sources in the department. No formal announcement came from the department itself.
Keeping information from the public that it has a right to know — after all, taxpayers are paying these guys — is both wrong and stupid. It's wrong for obvious reasons, but it's stupid because it unnecessarily undermines the department's credibility and level of trust in the community.
It's only speculation on my part, but I have to believe that if long-time public information officer Joel DeSpain were still on the job the department would have been more forthcoming. DeSpain, who was a respected television journalist before joining the department, retired earlier this year.
Now, to be clear, Richardson is no victim here. He's got a lengthy criminal record, he was resisting arrest, and he is charged with injuries to other officers involved in taking him into custody. But that's part of my point. We should be focusing on the danger to cops, but the department's tightness with information has us focusing on them. Did I mention that this was stupid?
But here’s the thing: trying to control information is usually futile if not damaging. I know whereof I speak. For eight years as mayor I tried to be transparent, but I also tried to control the narrative of events as they played out. I can't recall that working. Not once. In fact, when I was ham-handed enough to make what I was trying to do obvious, the press seemed to go out of its way to report just the opposite of what I wanted. They were so uncooperative.
The police department is a public agency with a taxpayer-supported budget. They don't get to sit on information that isn't protected by narrow legal constraints. And protesters don't have a right to shut down recording or reporting that takes place on a public street.
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder police departments are under heavy scrutiny. I’ve made it clear that I believe Madison’s department is exemplary and doesn’t deserve to be lumped in with other less enlightened departments.
But the MPD does not help that case when it doesn’t come clean about its own troubles.
And the problem goes beyond just the department’s reputation. Democracy itself is undergoing a stress test these days. It can't function without a free press and a free press can't do its job when public officials drag their feet in releasing the public's information.
Dave Cieslewicz is a writer who served as mayor of Madison from 2003 to 2011. He also blogs at Yellow Stripes & Dead Armadillos.
