Posted on 08/04/2006 12:57:22 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
The Madison Police Department and the Dane County Tavern League are getting parts of their wish lists answered in the city's response to a rise in robberies.
In a joint press conference held Thursday by Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Police Chief Noble Wray, the recent rise in crime was blamed on too many bars, too many drunks and too few cops.
The plan, which is coming together with the budget this fall, answers Wray's persistent call for more officers and freezes the number of bars downtown, which is something the Tavern League has been endorsing for years.
Barb Mercer, president of the Tavern League, said in an interview Thursday that the city had always been reluctant to stop issuing new liquor licenses.
She acknowledged that such a freeze downtown would be an economic boon to those who currently hold licenses, both because it would limit competition among bar owners and would make the licenses more valuable if they are permitted to be sold.
Cieslewicz, who canceled a trip to Minneapolis to research indoor marketplaces, announced the measures with a tough-on-crime stance.
"The message to the perpetrators of these crimes is clear: If you continue, we will catch you. We will prosecute you. And we will put you in prison for a very long time," the mayor said.
Asked later if he really wanted a hypothetically teenaged boy to serve a maximum sentence in prison after being recruited by his friends to rough up a college student, as has been the pattern of several of the robberies, Cieslewicz said the crimes caused "very serious injuries."
In addition to the wounds to the victims, Cieslewicz said the injuries extended to "the reputation of our community and the willingness of people to come downtown and enjoy perhaps the most vibrant downtown in Wisconsin.
"They are committing a serious crime," he said. "This kind of thing just isn't going to be tolerated by our community."
Cieslewicz has asked other departments to submit budgets that cut costs by 3 percent, but he pledged that the Police Department would get increased funding for new officers.
No overserving crackdown: While the city's strategy to increase the number of cops and decrease or maintain the current number of bars is pretty clear, it's less clear whether there will be any reduction in the number of inebriated patrons who pour out of bars during closing time.
So far, cracking down on bars that overserve their patrons is not a component of the proposal.
Alcohol Policy Coordinator Joel Plant called such enforcement difficult and questioned whether the city had the ability to carry it out.
Mercer deflected the question of whether the ordinance that makes it illegal for bars to serve drinks to someone who is already intoxicated should be enforced.
"Are they being overserved in bars or at house parties?" she asked rhetorically, saying that she couldn't comment on the issue. "I don't know all the details."
So far, that law does not appear to be enforced. A records keeper for the Madison Municipal Court could not find any cases this year in which the ordinance was cited.
According to the latest and most extensive analysis by the Police Department, central Madison has had 25 strong-arm robberies this year.
About half of them involved college-age white males being roughed up on their way home from a night of heavy drinking. In these 12 to 14 cases, the victims said they were robbed by a group of black males who appeared to be under 20 years old.
Overall, the number of robberies between January and June stands at 55, more than double the rate of the same period last year. Nationally, robberies also appear to be on the rise as other categories of crime mostly continue to fall.
Ald. Mike Verveer, who is also a county prosecutor, called the mayor's threats to the perpetrators "amusing theatrics."
He said that the police are doing everything they can to stop the crimes, and there was a sharp drop in robberies after officers interviewed their suspects. Arrests, though, have not been possible because there isn't enough admissible evidence, Verveer said.
And while Verveer agreed with adding officers to the police force, particularly in the downtown district he represents, he said that expecting this action to produce an immediate drop in crime doesn't recognize reality. That is, even if new officers are added in this fall's budget, it would be years until they are hired, trained and on the street.
While much of the focus has been on the increase in robberies in central Madison, other parts of the city actually saw greater increases in this category of crime.
According to the statistics released Thursday, the east side has actually had the largest percentage increase in robberies when the first half of this year is compared to the same period in 2005.
In that comparison, east side robberies rose from 10 in 2005 to 33 this year. Downtown, the numbers went from 27 to 55. Robberies on the north side also jumped, from 15 to 42, while remaining relatively even on the south (25 to 32) and west (40 to 43) sides.
Really, Mayor Dave? It's amusing to me that your first thought is to BLAME BUSINESSES (bars) for an increase in crime! Guess you're the only one who doesn't see that it's gangs of roving THUGS that are causing the rise in crime. Yeesh!
Thanks for the reminder, Mayor Dave, as to why I opened my business in VERONA and not in MADISTAN. *Rolleyes*
It does appear that the "tougher stance" against crime appears to be placing a cap on the number of victims.
Now if white guys were out robbing Black students, Jessie would buy a house in Madison...
Second, the idiotic question of Asked later if he really wanted a hypothetically teenaged boy to serve a maximum sentence in prison after being recruited by his friends to rough up a college student, as has been the pattern of several of the robberies, Cieslewicz said the crimes caused "very serious injuries." shows just how far they are from actually dealing with the problem. Mug the reporter a few times, then see if the position changes.
"Mug the reporter a few times, then see if the position changes."
Change "reporter" to "Mayor" and I'm right there with ya! Actually, Mayor Dave makes our old Hippy-Mayor, Paul Soglin, (if you remember Paul from the Psychadelic 60's & 70's) look like a moderate!
Why don't a few of these college students start carrying GUNS? Problem solved!
Milwaukee talk radio was all over this one, criticizing the local law enforcement of not wanting to profile the bad guys. Hurts their feelings or their self-image or something...
I wanted to call them and say the real, true Madistan liberals didn't need a description! They already just knew who it was!
LOL! If you've been in downtown Milwaukee at night lately, you know that the bar is set pretty low...
It's quite sad, actually. I can't believe what socialism is doing to our beautiful state! I grew up in Milwaukee, and I thank my Dad often for getting us out of that hell-hole in 1970...and moving us to the Madison area, LOL!
And now the interior of Madistan is crumbling and going in the same direction as Milwaukee. And the socialists just don't get it! The cancer is creeping into any city we have over 200K. We need a big dose of chemo coming in the form of election reform, armed citizens and booting out the libs. This type of stuff doesn't happen in conservative areas of our state.
The problem isn't too few cops - the problem is too many criminals.
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