Madison Police Officers put in some great work. . . all before 8 a.m. About six Officers responded to a crash of a stolen vehicle off of John Nolen Drive this morning. Although great work was performed, as these Officers do this quite routinely; let's look further at actually how sad this case really is. The facts of this case are startling in the sense that a 13 year-old was driving a car. A 13-year old was driving on the Beltline during rush hour. A 13 year-old crashed the car and fled on foot. Eventually, citizens gave us tips as to the 13 year-old shedding clothes while running from police and his location. The Officers were able to set up a perimeter on a building to where the youth entered. What led to the arrest of the youth?? The 13 year-old entered a cement stairwell where it reaked of fresh marijuana. The Officers knew the suspect was nearby due to the fresh odor and eventually found the 13 year-old hiding under a stairwell. As a community, we should be extremely concerned over a 13 year-old driving a stolen car, during rush hour, while high on mj.
Help is on the way, kind of. . . Recently the Madison Police Department received a grant award from the Federal Government for $125,000 to implement a "Wrap Around" approach to help our community. Remember about a year ago on this Blotter we described a similar incident: youth driving stolen cars/committing crimes? We solicited your advice and about 100 emails came in with a variety of ideas. In the end, the Madison Police Department partnered with RISE of WI who will carry forward the "Wrap Around" grant idea. Our goal, to help our community long-term, is to provide resources directly into the homes of our most familiar teenagers committing violence in our community. We want to "Stop the Cycle" by providing resources directly to the younger siblings so they do not follow the criminal path. What are those resources? We want to tutor so youth are at read/math grade level, provide trauma care directly, help stable housing, employment and health care. Essentially we want to provide resources to environments so the youth have a better path forward, so they have hope. Your child was probably not who I was describing as the 13 year-old in the first paragraph because there is hope, resources and opportunities in your home. The $125,000 grant will help us determine if the "Wrap Around" approach is a success to help break the cycle of crime found in our community. It is a start, albeit a small start, but when we are successful I am confident Madison will want to grow this to the next level.
Captain Mike Hanson - South Police District