Greetings:
As part of the South District Strategic Plan, two Madison Police Department squad cars will have a "steady blue" (actually blue and red) light on while patrolling neighborhoods in the South District. This experiment is based on other communities that have this program. The intent is to reassure residents that police are present in their neighborhoods and to warn those with criminal intent that we are in the area . . . and will continue to be in the area. There will not be a set schedule for when we display our blue and red lights, but we wanted to alert the community that we are proceeding with this endeavor. Typically, when you see a squad car with our red/blue lights on, you also hear a siren and there could be an emergency. With this program, we are simply illustrating our presence in our neighborhoods at nighttime. Officers will perform "Steady Blue" as time permits and calls for service allow. At the end of the summer we will have data collected to evaluate this program.
Mike Hanson, Captain - South Police District