Aug. 10 update from Chief Patterson

I continue to check in with the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) daily.

On Monday, DCI publicly identified the officer involved during last month's incident on Madison's near east side.

Officer Kiel Baitinger-Peterson was hired in 2015 and served Madison as a patrol officer until 2022.  He then served the Darbo-Worthington neighborhood as a Neighborhood Police Officer for a year.  From 2023 – February 2026, he served as a member of the Gang and Neighborhood Crime Abatement Team which is a part of the Investigative Services Section.  In February of this year, he became part of the Central District Community Police Team.

Officer Baitinger-Peterson is a certified instructor and teaches several topics internally.  Officer Baitinger-Peterson has no sustained use of force allegations in his career and has not been involved in the use of deadly force in the past.  

The investigation into this incident remains open and active. I will continue to do daily check-ins with DCI and will pass along any information I am able to share with our community. DCI may also provide updates directly.

The past weeks have been incredibly challenging for our community.  We want more than ever to engage with and listen to our community more, but we realize that time and intentional planning are needed.  We are committed to creating spaces and opportunities for conversations with our community in the future and look forward to those days ahead.