Police study backfires on City Council -- Nancy Wild

Apparently, the $400,000 the Madison City Council authorized to study the police department to justify the continued harassment of Police Chief Mike Koval has backfired.

In a quick overlook of the preliminary report, it seems the Police Department has extended itself into the community with a huge number of resources including programs such as “Coffee with a Cop.” This program attracts many residents for face-to-face, question and answer sessions.

Contrary to what the City Council apparently expected, this report seems to solidify past assessments of what is being done in this department, which has succeeded in bringing the department to a standing as one of the top in the nation. No surprise there.

Crime is down in Madison, surely not as much as the Police Department would like, but it will get better with the continued use of special sections devoted to violent crime, burglaries, theft, battery, heroin and other drug addiction. They could have done an even better job if this $400,000 would have been used to help add 15 more officers to the force this year instead of forcing the grueling process to trying to add officers to balance the approximately 60 who will retire shortly.

I retired from the Police Department as my second retirement, so I still feel a strong bond with this department and am proud to see what its dedication to the citizens of Madison is doing.

Nancy Wild, Columbus