2023-2028 Strategic Plan
Through community input, our department develops a 5-year plan to help us envision future challenges and guide the direction of public safety.
Strategic Plan - Updates
Quarterly Implementation Update (updated Q1, 2026)
MPD's strategic plan has four pillars:
1) Madison-Centric Policing
2) Public Communication
3) Youth Engagement
4) Workplace Culture
Implementation of all components of the strategic plan will be staggered. Therefore, quarterly updates will provide progress toward achieving priority action items on which the work groups are currently focusing. As more progress is achieved, future updates may include additional action items.
MPD's full strategic plan is found above this section.
Note: MPD's strategic plan was developed by Matrix Consulting Group through external grant funding.
Status of Priority Action Items
Ongoing items - Madison Centric Policing
| Objective Description | Functional Owner | Status | Completion Date | % Complete |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build strong, trusting community relationships: create a monthly reporting process to share policing priorities, strategies, and results with Alders and City leaders. Reports should include information on calls for service, significant incidents and statistics on proactive community activities aimed at building trust with the community. | Director of Police Data, Reform and Innovation, Public Records Custodian | Ongoing | November 1 | 75% |
| Improve operational awareness and capabilities: work with the Madison Professional Police Officers Association to explore evidence based staffing practices that allow for greater proactive policing, crime reduction, and community engagement. | Training Captain | Ongoing | March 31 | 100% |
Ongoing items - Youth Engagement
| Objective Description | Functional Owner | Status | Completion Date | % Complete |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engage in relationship-building with youth of color: develop and establish a safe forum for discussions between youth of color and police. A skilled moderator should host these sessions with a clear understanding of policing and the need to create healthy, trusting relationships between police and youth of color. These forums should be strictly voluntary for the youth to attend. | Community Outreach Captain, Community Outreach Lieutenant | Ongoing | December 1 | 100% |
| Engage in relationship-building with youth of color: conduct baseline surveys and focus group sessions to get feedback from youth of color on their perceptions of policing in Madison. | Community Outreach Captain, Community Outreach Lieutenant | Ongoing | March 31 | 100% |
| Engage in relationship-building with youth of color: conduct follow up surveys and focus group sessions on determining the efficacy of measures and adjusting to meet intended outcomes. The process should continue through the life of the strategic plan and be adjusted based on youth feedback and recommendations from the work group. | Community Outreach Captain, Community Outreach Lieutenant | Ongoing | March 31 | 100% |
| Create spaces for dialogue between police and young people. Use MPD's influence to advocate for youth on various social justice matters that bring them into conflict with the law, such as homelessness, substance use disorder, mental health and a host of other social determinants of health and crime. | Community Outreach Captain, Community Outreach Lieutenant | Ongoing | December 1 | 100% |
| Create spaces for dialogue between police and young people: continue to engage the Chief's Youth Advisory Board in monthly meetings where the youth can share thoughts and ideas on policing priorities and concerns in Madison. Hold annual assessments of activities and outcomes from meetings to ensure they continue to meet the evolving needs of youth and police. | Community Outreach Captain | Ongoing | November 1 | 100% |
| Create spaces for dialogue between police and young people: use MPD's influence to advocate for youth on various social justice matters that bring them into conflict with the law, such as homelessness, substance use disorder, mental health and a host of other social determinants of health and crime. | Community Outreach Lieutenant, Restorative Justice Officer | Ongoing | March 31 | 100% |
| Continued commitment to restorative justice measures: MPD will continue the collaboration with Dane County Human Services and our other youth restorative justice partners to offer restorative justice to all 12-16-year-olds involved in a municipal ordinance violation. | Community Outreach Officer, Records Services Clerk (Juvenile Court Liaison) | Ongoing | December 1 | 100% |
Ongoing items - Workplace Culture
| Objective Description | Functional Owner | Status | Completion Date | % Complete |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Healthy workplace: examine staffing challenges by exploring alternative shift and staffing models. | Assistant Chief of Field Operations | Ongoing | May 1 | 100% |
| Accountability: begin to enhance teamwork and trust in all areas of the department by setting SMART goals related to communication, leadership, followership, collegiality, and role-proficiency. | Training Lieutenant | Ongoing | May 1 | 100% |
| Improve Morale: MPD will continue annual staffing analysis and enhance the following actions; Review/analyze specialty units to achieve and maintain proper resource allocation. Review adding additional sergeants to improve supervisor span of control. | Executive Captain | Ongoing | March 31 | 100% |
| Improve Morale: Explore 10-hour shifts for better work/life balance. Increase public and private support of employees from command staff by focusing on promoting examples of good work that is done on a daily basis. Explore civilianization to increase patrol deployment. | Executive Captain, Assistant Chief of Field Operations | Ongoing | March 31 | 100% |
| Improve internal communication: Ensure management engages in meaningful communication about the “whys" of decision-making. | Assistant Chief of Field Operations | Ongoing | May 1 | 100% |
| Improve employee retention: Begin to examine ways to increase opportunities to vary work for patrol officers - trainings, community events, admin time for report writing, follow-up, and other measures to create work/life balance. | East District Captain, West District Sergeant | Ongoing | November 1 | 100% |
| Improve employee retention. Review class specifications and work to create layers for each civilian position so that there are advancement opportunities in positions. | Records Manager, Executive Office Administrative Assistant | Ongoing | March 31 | 100% |
Completed Items - Madison-Centric Policing
| Objective Description | Functional Owner | Completion Date |
|---|---|---|
| Build strong, trusting community relationships: utilize MPD's social media presence to share daily successes and challenges of policing in Madison and providing regular updates on strategic priorities. | Officer in Charge (3rd detail), Public Information Officer | May 1 |
| Build strong, trusting community relationships: begin a feasibility study and revitalize MPD's Bike Program in promoting relationship building and greater community engagement across Madison, with a strong emphasis on downtown safety | MPD Bike Program Lead Sgt. | March 31 |
| Build strong, trusting community relationships: assess restructuring the Community Policing Teams model to help build and instill Community Policing principles within MPD and the community. | Assistant Chief of Field Operations, Executive Operations Captain | May 1 |
| Improve operational awareness and capabilities: assign a team to explore proactive steps MPD can take to improve recruitment and retention of police employees such as wage, shift schedules, EAP program enhancements and associated workplace benefits. | Central District Detective Lieutenant, Police Human Resources Coordinator | November 1 |
| Evidence-based policing: begin exploring ways to improve records management system by enhancing self-reporting, record keeping and creating a Virtual Response Unit | Records Manager | March 31 |
| Evidence-based policing: develop and deliver education and refresher courses on Procedural Justice Principals to all MPD employees; Begin a systematic review of MPD Policies to ensure they adhere to Procedural Justice Principals. | Training Captain | March 31 |
| Evidence-based policing: examine the use of technology in all areas of MPD in delivering effective and efficient information to community members. Leverage planned upgrades of City IT software to create improved user access to information. | Records Manager | March 31 |
| Evidence-based policing: MPD will submit a plan for implementing the Police Training Officer program to replace it's current Field Training Officer Program to ensure Madison-Centric Policing focused on community needs is embedded in the next generation of police officers. | Midtown Patrol Lieutenant (Oversees FTO Program) | March 31 |
| Evidence-based policing: continue to pursue implementation of body worn cameras. | East District Captain | April 1 |
Completed Items - Youth Engagement
| Objective Description | Functional Owner | Completion Date |
|---|---|---|
| Continue commitment to Summer Youth Academies: MPD will continue to facilitate Summer Youth Academies, where students are afforded the opportunity to get to know the officers and their backgrounds and develop a healthy perspective on the role of policing in their communities. | Community Outreach Lieutenant | September 1 |
Completed Items - Public Communication
| Objective Description | Functional Owner | Completion Date |
|---|---|---|
| Develop an overarching communication strategy: work with key stakeholders to identify objectives of a communication plan. Identify barriers to plan implementation. Identify key communication avenues. Articulate expectations for open and transparent communication at all levels and communicate department wide. Develop and deliver education on when information should be shared and clarify privacy protocol regarding information from other agencies. | Assistant Chief of Support and Community Outreach, Public Information Officer | May 1 |
| Deliver communication training at all levels: develop and begin to deliver direction and training to members at all levels to ensure MPD's daily interactions and communication with the public build and maintain strong trusting relationships. | Assistant Chief of Support and Community Outreach, Public Information Officer | May 1 |
| Enhance MPD's website: Complete restructuring of MPD's website to improve the user experience, their ability to find information, access to resources and external partners, and access for limited English proficiency (LEP) users. | Director of Police Data, Reform and Innovation | May 1 |
| Improve translation services: Work to ensure compliance with the City's Language Access Plan and allow access to quality interpretation and translation services. | Police Human Resources Coordinator, Detective | November 1 |
| Develop and deliver public education on MPD's management of public protests as outlined in the Quattrone Report: Develop educational material related to managing protests, hold seminars/webinars, and make materials accessible on MPD's website. When warranted, use the sentinel event review model to analyze MPDs response to impactful events in our community, giving particular attention to communities or groups disproportionately impacted by the event. Work with communities to identify key leaders who will help improve communications between MPD and the communities during protests. | Special Events Team (SET) Captain, Executive Lieutenant | November 1 |
Completed Items - Workplace Culture
| Objective Description | Functional Owner | Completion Date |
|---|---|---|
| Healthy workplace: examine and begin implementation of call diversion for patrol officers. The following actions should be explored: use of restricted duty officers to take non-priority calls via phone or email; re-evaluate the use of "station officers" to handle calls at the station; encourage non-patrol units to take calls directly related to their areas of responsibility. | Executive Captain | March 31 |
| Additional action item: create a new vision statement for the Madison Police Department that encapsulates the underling core values, culture, and future vision. | MPD Collective | March 31 |
Archived Updates
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July-September 2024
January-March 2024
October-December 2023