Your new Central District Neighborhood Resource Officer
[My name is Officer Matt Baker and I was assigned as the Central District Neighborhood Resource Officer (NRO) in June of 2016. I have been with the Madison Police Department approximately five and a half years, but have over ten years of law enforcement experience in Dane County. Within the department I am a Field Training Officer (FTO), a member of the Special Events Team (SET), a Vehicle Contacts instructor, a background investigator, and also a member of the MPD recruiting team. Prior to this assignment, I have spent the bulk of my time with MPD working as a patrol officer in the Central District. My office is housed in the City County Building at 211 S. Carroll Street, inside the Madison Police Central District. I share an office with the Central District Mental Health Officer. I work a rotating six days on and three days off schedule (pink). My work hours are tentatively scheduled as 12:00pm-8:00pm; however I often adjust those hours to meet the varying needs of the district. My office phone number is (608)266-4061.
My role is to embrace the progressive policing strategies with emphasis on community engagement and problem solving. Identifying areas within the district which are in need of assistance, working with stakeholders to address the problems in creative ways, and proactively collaborating with community members as well as MPD counterparts are just some of my duties. I am also there to be a resource to those areas of the Central District which do not have direct access to a dedicated Neighborhood Officer, such as the Langdon Street Officer and State Street Officer. I also serve as a liaison to the many recently constructed high-occupancy, high-rise apartment buildings which are becoming more prevalent on the isthmus.
In my position, I can be more proactive and available to residents since I am not call driven. At times, I do assist patrol officers when there are very high volumes of calls or if the call for service pertains to a matter I have been previously focusing on. I also partner frequently with the Central District Community Policing Team and also with the other district Neighborhood Policing Officers on certain projects or other pertinent district operations. I also work many of the downtown events (both planned and spontaneous).
As a Neighborhood Resource Officer I look forward to investing the needed time into this community, working on efforts to reduce overall calls for service, offering support to citizens in neighborhoods after serious or critical events, working to address safety and reoccurring quality of life issues, and becoming an established point of contact for residents. I look forward to the many opportunities this position presents and am honored to be serving in this role.