MADISON, Wis. — On Monday, Madison’s new police chief Dr. Shon Barnes will be sworn in. That means Interim Police Chief Vic Wahl will go back to his role as Assistant Chief.
In September of 2019, Chief Mike Koval announced his retirement. Wahl was expected to step into the role until the Police and Fire Commission could find a replacement. He thought that would take about 6-9 months. But then 2020 happened.
“Feels like a decade even though it’s only been 16 months,” said Wahl.
It’s not just the duration of the job that has him feeling that way. Last year was full of challenges, especially for police departments.
“All I’ve tried to do is keep us moving in the right direction, keep us doing the right thing and staying true to who we are as an organization,” said Wahl.
At the peak of social unrest last summer, following the killing of George Floyd, Wahl said there were more than 180 straight days of protests in Madison. In an already understaffed department, many officers had to be pulled from other assignments to secure those marches each day.
Many protesters called for police departments to be abolished and defunded, shining a light on police brutality and racial injustices in the criminal justice system.
“Being out there during that verbal anger, verbal hostility, physical risk from people throwing things at them, from fires. And then all in the midst of a pandemic, so what we asked our cops to do and the way they performed was really remarkable,” said Wahl.
When thinking of the protests, many in the community might remember the nights of looting and violence downtown, but Wahl said that’s not the story of last year in his mind.
“People focus on those few bad days where things really went off the rails a bit and when we were forced to intervene. And (they) lose track of all the many days when we were successfully able to facilitate people’s first amendment expression rights and allow people to do their thing, even with some civil disobedience,” said Wahl.
He said the level of trust between communities and police departments are cyclical. Although 2020 was a low point, Wahl is hopeful MPD will be able to take baby steps toward building back that relationship this year.
He knows there is no easy answer to how to address racial disparities and inequalities, but he believes the department is doing its part to address injustice.
“That starts with who we hire, how we train them, how we operate, what our policies are, what our training is. Everything we do is set up in a way to not create or exacerbate disparities in the criminal justice system,” said Wahl.
Still, he said there is a more to be done and the criminal justice system is just a piece of the issue. The community must also address racial disparities in healthcare, education, poverty and other areas.
He believes having officers occupied at protests is part of the reason why the city saw a jump in gun violence last year.
“The work that we had typically been doing to prevent and follow up on some of those things, we were limited because of that daily pull on our staffing and on our resources,” said Wahl.
MPD recovered more than 1,000 shell casings in 2020, the highest ever recorded. There were 11 deaths by gunfire, tying with 2017 for the most gun deaths in a year.
Wahl said the case that will stick with him for years is the shooting death of 11-year-old Anisa Scott.
“I’m glad we were able to arrest and bring them to justice, but that pales in comparison to her loss and to the loss that her family feels and how symbolic that is to the gun violence we’ve seen and just how senseless it is,” said Wahl.
Wahl said the most difficult challenge for MPD, even harder than dealing with the pandemic or protests, was the sudden death of Detective Nicholas Ryan in January of 2020.
Wahl will help Dr. Barnes during his transition. He’s excited to see the fresh perspective Barnes will bring to Madison.
COPYRIGHT 2021 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
"though" - Google News
January 30, 2021 at 06:52AM
https://ift.tt/3iZwit7
'Feels like a decade even though it's only been 16 months': Interim Madison Police Chief reflects on unprecedented time leading department - Channel3000.com - WISC-TV3
"though" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2FnFft4
https://ift.tt/3dmAmQf
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "'Feels like a decade even though it's only been 16 months': Interim Madison Police Chief reflects on unprecedented time leading department - Channel3000.com - WISC-TV3"
Post a Comment