Invest In Community, Not Cops

Seriously, looks like the cops are gearing up to ask for 10 more cops for the next several years . . . at a cost of an additional $5M a year. What if we invested that money in community services instead? What a SIGNIFICANT change that would be in our community!

Rally to Mark One Year Anniversary
of Kenny Non-Indictment

Join YGB, Freedom Inc, No New Jail and Groundwork for a rally and press conference for this Friday, May 13 to mark the one-year anniversary of the non-indictment of Madison Police Officer Matt Kenny in the killing of Tony Robinson. People will gather at Cathedral Park (404 E. Main St.) at 3:00 p.m. The press conference will begin at 3:30 p.m.

“One year ago today, we were told that the seven fatal shots Matt Kenny fired into Tony’s body were a ‘lawful use of deadly force.’ Not only was Kenny not prosecuted, he is now training officers in the Madison Police Department,” (MPD) said T Banks, organizer with Freedom, Inc.

MPD is asking the city to fund the hiring of 40 additional police officers over the next four years, despite activists’ repeated calls for community control of the police in the year since Robinson’s murder. Doing so would cost our city an estimated $6 million annually.

“We demand that the up to $5 million dollars that could be spent on adding 40 new police officers be directed to actually preventing the problems that lead to police contact and lifting up the Black community. We demand that OUR city funds be directed towards mental wellness services and Black-led economic development initiatives. No more cops, no more guns, no more reactive solutions,” said Banks.

Robinson’s friends and family will be present at the rally. Together, they will be demanding that Madison “Invest in Communities, Not Cops.”

If you can’t make it to this action, there will be more opportunities coming up. Keep the evening of May 17th open for an action related to the jail and the police at a Common Council Meeting and a County Board Committee meeting.

Another similar announcement with additional details.

This Friday, many of Madison’s freedom fighters, including Freedom Inc., Groundwork, the No Dane County Jail Working Group, YGB, and the Madison community, will be coming together for a rally to protest the one year anniversary of the non-indictment of Madison Police Officer Matt Kenny.
Kenny abused his authority as a police officer last year when he heartlessly murdered Tony Robinson, a boy who was in need of help, not execution. It is clear that the Madison Police have too much of a negative presence in the lives of our Black community members.

So that’s why it’s alarming that the MPD is about to spend $5 million per year in taxpayer money to hire 40 new police officers. This is not needed in Madison – cities with a similar population and crime rate to Madison function properly with 60 less officers than the MPD currently has, but yet we’re still adding more.

Instead of increasing the amount of community-controlling police presence, we should be spending the $5 million on real community concerns, such as investing in Black mental health and providing economic empowerment programs to impoverished and marginalized Black neighborhoods. ‘Build the people, not the jails!”

If you think that the Madison government and police department should listen to the needs of their own people, make sure to join the rally, this Friday at 3pm, at Cathedral Park.

Sorry to miss this one, I’ll be getting on a plane about this time . . .