West  District News Articles:

July 2004:

The West District newsletter will be distributed electronically to district employees, area alder persons, neighborhood association leaders, Fitchburg PD, Middleton PD, Shorewood Hills PD, and command staff of the Madison Police Department. The purpose of the newsletter is to provide information about incident reports, criminal activities, and special events occurring in the district with members of our community.

The West District is one of five police districts within the City of Madison. The boundaries of the district extend from Franklin Ave., Glenway, and Seminole Hwy. west to the city limits. You may view the boundaries of the West District by visiting our website, www.madisonpolice.com/west.html . Easy guideline: If you are represented on the common council by: Alderpersons Thomas, Bellman, MacCubbin, Brandon, Holtzman or Skidmore, you definitely live in the area served by the West Police District. A significant portion of Ald. Golden’s district is also apart of our district.

The area covered by the West District includes at least 60 parks, including Garner, Owen, Hoyt, Marshall and Elver. Also located in the West District are 10 public elementary schools, 6 public middle schools, and Memorial High School. West Towne, Prairie Town Center, West Gate, Hilldale, and numerous smaller retail centers. The number of commercial, residential and retail sites seem to increase on a weekly basis.

The West Police District has now grown to over 25.2 square miles, or over 1/3 of the total size of the City. It is geographically the largest of the 5 police districts. The population in the district has increased to 77,000, which makes the district equivalent (by FBI 2002 crime report) to the sixth largest city in the State of Wisconsin.

Two new neighborhood officers have started their assignment in the Allied Dr. neighborhood. They are, Off. Jeff McPike, an eight year veteran, and Off. Dave Wixom, who started with MPD in 1999. We have also added Off. Curtis Fields, also an eight veteran, to the Hammersley Rd., Bettys Lane area. Off. Tim Harder, an MPD officer since 1996, continues his efforts in the Wexford neighborhood.

Wexford Neighborhood: by Off. Tim Harder

There were 51 calls for service in my neighborhood during the month of May. Thirteen of the calls were related to domestic / noise related issues. One of these calls was weapons related incident where juvenile had pointed a real looking facsimile handgun at an adult. Mother was eventually arrested for DC when she confronted the victim’s mother about the incident.

A lot of my time during the month was spent on the following initiatives. Background checks on prospective tenants, introducing JBM security to my neighborhood, continuation of my department water bottle project, assisting with the Allied Drive Pig Roast, active member of the East District building committee, and assisting training as a firearms instructor.

Allied Dr. Neighborhood: By Jeff McPike & Dave Wixom

The beginning of Memorial Day weekend started out how the rest of June ended. Over Memorial Day weekend we had numerous fights and disturbances in the Allied area. One of the fights involved a baseball bat. Two individuals were arrested from that incident. Since that weekend we have seen an increase in foot traffic and more people just loitering in the area. A lot of these people are new to the area and are not known to the officers working in the area.

On June 5th we had our 4th annual Pig Roast Picnic. We estimated a turn out of 400-500 people. We greatly appreciate the businesses and volunteers, who donated money, prizes, food, and time! We also appreciate the cooperative working relationship with the Boys and Girls Club.

On June 30th we had two representatives from the MAD Dads program out of Minneapolis, Mn. visit the West District and our neighborhood for three days. The visitors, Mr. V.J. Smith and Mr. John Turnipseed run a very successful program in Minneapolis. They are very interested in starting a MAD DADS chapter here in the Allied Dr. neighborhood. We will continue to work with them reference them starting a chapter here.

Hammersley / Bettys Lane: by Off. Curtis Fields

Recently we have experienced problems with 15 yr old teenage females getting into physical confrontations over some very minor issues. Unfortunately, this behavior has extended to the Mall, in the neighborhood, or at their homes and using mace, rocks, bottles, and bats as weapons. I have been trying to work with the parents in holding these kids more accountable for their inappropriate behavior. I have had some success, yet, not as much as I would expect. After all, in order to have a lasting positive impact on our community we all have to take more responsibility for our actions and the actions of our children.

Now I’m going to share a little of myself with you so that you can better understand why responsibility is so important to me. I grew up in South Chicago on 85th and Manistee. My mother never finished high school and I lost my dad when I was six. I am the oldest of four children, we never had money growing up, it was always tight. My mom did do one thing always, she made us know that we were responsible for our actions and on more then one occasion after I got into a fight she would march me down to the other guys house and make me apologize and talk things out. Not always the easy thing to do but definitely the right thing to do. Over time I got into less fights and came to see how stupid I was acting. Long story short my two sisters own their own businesses and my younger brother is a police officer. My mom was able to get us all through college and out of the neighborhood and into lives of our own. I never remember a time when being poor, the color of my skin, or how horrible my life was (it wasn’t) became an excuse for my actions or justified my hurting other people, selling drugs, joining a gang. That is just stupid reasoning and should never be tolerated. There is a point when you have to take charge of your life and understand that your actions have consequences. If you have a miserable life it will remain miserable until you change it and make it better. I wonder if parents taught their kids to be responsible we would have to deal with so many juvenile calls for service. Instead we get "My child would never do that!" and then even after we prove "Your child did do that." More often then not we never hear an apology or a thank you. The kid is never made to know how irresponsible and wrong they were in doing whatever it was they did, they are never punished for doing the wrong thing and making the poor choice. I wonder what message that sends.

Patrol Operations: by Lt. Tony Peterson

During the month of June Weed and Seed OT personnel worked eleven (11) separate days that totaled approximately one hundred sixty five (165) "straight time" hours of additional police staffing dedicated to this area.

Efforts included the 4th annual Allied Pig Roast which drew an estimated seven hundred (700) participants, enforcement projects, high visibility patrol and traffic law enforcement. A total of sixteen (16) persons were arrested with twenty-seven (27) charges. Officers made numerous resident contacts and seized drugs and one (1) 9mm look-a-like air pistol.

South-West CPT continues to deliver for us. Over the course of the last four months the team has made arrests that totaled out to two hundred twenty-one (221) felony, misdemeanor, ordinance and warrants served charges and three hundred eleven (311) traffic arrests. The team has seized significant amounts of marijuana and crack, as well as three (3) firearms; three (3) edged weapons, one (1) stun gun, numchucks and brass knuckles.

Police Officer Andrya Coutts took the extra effort to deal with a problem person/address on Sheboygan Ave. An individual there was responsible for generating numerous police calls in June due to behavior that was disturbing, harassing and bullying his neighbors, some of whom were elderly women. The majority of the calls related to issues where officers could do little more than document the problem, which frustrated them due to the nature of the complaints and ages of the complainant/victims.

The suspect, a sixty-eight (68) year old male, involved himself in a relationship with an eighty-eight year old female neighbor that provided him with access to her checkbook. He wrote a number of checks to himself, forging her signature.

Andrya, who was familiar with the on-going issues, investigated this complaint. Rather than simply take the information and move on to her next call, she gave the extra effort necessary to expedite the investigation. This included making contact with the District Attorney’s Office, assisting in the drafting of an arrest warrant for "Issuing A Forged Instrument." Andrya finished the job by passing the information on to officers who subsequently made the arrest. There has not been another call to this address since.

Andyra’s "bulldog" efforts with this case made a significant difference for the victim’s and the community that was recognized by her supervisors and peers.

Police Officer John Amos responded to an address on Warwick Way regarding a late night noise complaint and neighbor trouble issue. "One half" of the problem was complaining that the other "half " was doing car repair work and creating a disturbance.

As had happened at least eleven (11) times previously since February, when officers arrived there was no sign of anyone working on vehicles or otherwise creating a disturbance. The alleged suspects denied having done anything that created an unreasonable noise. John then left. A little more than an hour later, there was another complaint related to individuals working on vehicles at the same address. This time John and Police Officer Steve Heimsness responded, but parked a distance away and walked in on foot. As they were doing so, John could hear the sound of a power tool coming from the suspect’s address. John contacted the suspect who was cited for "Person Making Unreasonable Noise."

Though the problem between these two neighbors has not ended, John and Steve’s efforts and the manner in which they responded to the second complaint, allowed them to catch the suspect in the act and resulted in a significant decline in calls to this problem.

Police Officer Scott Favour observed a suspicious vehicle about 3:00 a.m. one morning. Scott ran the license plate and found that the registration was suspended due to unpaid parking citations. Scott also recognized the name of the registered owner as being someone associated with drug activity and involvement with weapons.

Scott stopped the vehicle and contacted the driver. Police Officer Galen Wiering arrived to assist. While issuing the driver a traffic citation, they observed what appeared to be the butt of a semi-automatic handgun protruding from a tan purse lying on the rear foot well area. The weapon was a Ruger MK2 .22 cal. semi-auto and confiscated by the officers. The driver was charged with "Carrying A Concealed Weapon."

Scott and Galen’s instinct and keen eyesight resulted in taking another weapon off the street and we all know how significant that is. Good job!

On 06/03/04 the Chief received a letter complimenting Officer Phil Petersen on the manner in which he investigated a traffic accident and his "courteous, helpful treatment."

On 06/03/04 Officer Russell Henderson complimented Officers Brad Armstrong and Tara Boldebuck on how they quickly located and apprehended a suspect responsible for an attempted battery at Memorial High School.

On 06/04/04 Sgt. Lauri Schwartz completed a performance recognition for "2nd Shift Officers" involved in the foot pursuit and apprehension a suspect wanted on numerous charges.

On 06/15/04 a citizen called the Chief’s Office and complimented Officer Chris Kobinsky on the "fabulous" job he did in handling a situation.

On 06/23/04 Sgt. Linda Kosovac completed a performance recognition for Sgt. John Rife and Sgt. John Radovan for their excellent job in cooperation with dispatch and the leadership they displayed during the west side tornado.

The Chief’s Office received a letter from the parents of a UW student thanking Officers Ken Mulry and Becky Overland expressing appreciation for their checking on the welfare daughter.

Detectives: By Lt. Jay Lengfeld

During the month of June the West Police District had 44 residential burglaries, 6 non-residential burglaries, 44 theft from autos, 94 thefts, 23 stolen autos, 5 sexual assaults, 3 child abuses, 6 armed robberies, 33 batteries, 10 aggravated batteries, 35 batteries, 12 weapon offenses, 3 stalking cases, 59 frauds, 6 forgeries, and 47 missing juveniles (runaways). As you can see, property crimes are still occurring at a high level for the second month. We have had some success in solving a number of the burglaries and theft from autos, which resulted in arrests. The best way to reduce these numbers is by prevention.

We have seen an increase in the number of residential burglaries where the suspect has entered through the patio door. The doors have been unlocked or the screen door was locked, but the suspect cut through the screen. In a number of these cases, the residents have been home when the burglaries have occurred. It is important that you lock your doors and remember a screen door provides no security. The best way to stop a theft from auto is to remove all valuables from the vehicle or place them in the trunk out of sight. We have also noticed an increase in thefts from open garages, please remember to shut and secure your garages.

What should you do, if you are a victim of a property crime?

1. Report it to the police.

2. Check second hand stores and Internet sites like E-Bay for your stolen items.

3. If you locate your property, report it to the police.

Why should I have to look for my stolen property; isn’t that what the police should do?

We had 44 burglaries and 44 thefts from autos this month alone. It is impossible for the detectives to remember every item stolen this month and last month and they do not have the time to check all the Internet sites for all the items. They do review the pawn slips that come in on a monthly basis. We need to work together to reduce these crimes.

Have a great summer.

Our Madison Police Department web page can be found at http://www.madisonpolice.com . A lot of interesting information is available on this site including current media releases, which can be accessed by clicking on the "press releases" tab. By clicking on this tab, not only can you access current media release information (which is updated by our Officer In Charge regularly during their shift), you will also be able to access previous media releases.

For those of you who have problems receiving phone calls day and night from telemarketers, below is the web page to sign up for the State's "No Call" list... please feel free to forward to friends and family. https://nocall.wisconsin.gov/web/registration.asp

The information above is intended to provide you with information about what is happening in the West Police District. It's not all-inclusive and it does not list the specific addresses of crime nor does it provide a complete account of the police activities and arrests. I hope this information helps you to develop personal strategies and habits that will help keep you, your families and your property safe.

Please notify the police immediately to report suspicious activity in your neighborhood. The Madison Police Department welcomes your call and the opportunity to work with you to keep Madison safe.

Thank you,

Captain John Davenport