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- Outgoing Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney received approval from one county committee and will now seek approval from the full Dane County Board before clearing $149,828 in debts held by current and past jail inmates. He said “As I conclude 41 years of law enforcement in what has been historically the worst economic situation caused by COVID, I’d like to leave our families who are impacted by the criminal justice system and by the impacts of COVID the ability to wipe their past debt clear.”
- And a State Journal investigation found that “Of 70 people bailed out of jail since last May by six social-justice activists, 25 have been charged with 108 felonies and 49 misdemeanors or municipal code violations alleged to have occurred after they were freed, a far higher re-arrest rate than typically seen among people released on bail nationally.”
- Mifflin Street party goers smashed the windshield of one vehicle and threw a post through the car window of another vehicle last weekend and some critics complained that the Madison Police response was a double standard when compared to the department’s response last summer when riots broke out during protests on State Street. Victim Lea Wheeler told the Wisconsin State Journal, “I want to know how (police) didn’t notice people standing on my car, and potentially do something to stop them from standing on my car. I don’t know why they weren’t doing their job.” Madison Police issued citations to multiple party goers involved in each vehicle incident.
- The Department of Transportation set aside $69,000 to fund extra speed enforcement on the Beltline during the flex lane construction this year. A Dane County committee unanimously approved accepting the money which will allow sheriff’s deputies to offer patrol coverage five days a week for three hours a day through December between Whitney Way and Interstate 39-90. If successful the DOT may consider keeping the increased patrols.
- Dane County police in Belleville, Fitchburg, Maple Bluff, Marshall, Middleton, Monona, Oregon, Stoughton, Sun Prairie, Town of Madison, UWPD, Waunakee and other departments have already implemented body-worn cameras (some more than 6 years ago). And DeForest and Cross Plains Police Departments are the most recent agencies in the process of adopting them. But as WKOW reports, in Madison the debate continues.
- A single mother of an 11-month old baby was shot in the face in a mid-day attempted homicide incident on Gilbert Road on April 13th. She shared her story with News 3 Now and is asking for the community’s help.
- The City of Madison’s Vision Zero initiative strives to “improve pedestrian and bike safety for all users throughout the city and improve the identified high injury intersections, all in an effort to prevent avoidable fatal crashes.” You may have already noticed the lower speed limits on some city streets. You can learn how Vision Zero impacts you by listening to the latest podcast episode from “Madison’s Everyday Engineering.”
- And complaints to the Better Business Bureau regarding puppy scams more than quadrupled during the pandemic. This week the Wisconsin BBB’s Lisa Schiller spoke to TMJ4 News about the latest puppy scam in which victims drive “across the country to claim their pet, only to find they’ve been duped.”