Professional?

[dutchdog]

A little help…I’ve repeatedly seen the Madison PD described as a “professional” department. Given that I’m considering applying with the department and have no LE experience I’m interested in what characteristics distinguish a professional department from a less professional department. Are there disadvantages to working for a professional department (other than the whole politically correct thing)? Also, what’s the word on the quality of their academy training?

thanks

[jeeper]

Having worked with Madison PD on a daily basis for nearly 7 years now, I cna say they are really a great department. Their academy is by far the best in the state, and reportedly one of the best in the nation. Granted, its 7 months long, but it'll be a good one.

As far as "professional", Madison typically gets upwards of 3000 applications for a 12 spot academy. They can be very very selective in who they hire. Don't expect to get hired right out of college. They're average hire is someone in their late 20's to early 30's with a degree, military experience, and some sort of professional job experience or police experience. They do hire some pretty impressive people, but they also hire some people that have no business in police work but look impressive on paper. They end up with some officers who are ultra-pc with a masters degree and highly intelligent, but have zero people skills and little common sense. That is only a small portion of the department however.

Understand that this area is extremely political and VERY liberal before you consider moving here. Those factors will effect policing. I can sometimes hate working in this area due to the political "make everyone feel good about themselves bull*****" and the fact that (more so than other places) every single thing you do is highly critiqued and criticized by EVERYONE.

If you think you can get hired, go for it. Its truly a great department in a really great city, just get ready to distance yourself from the politics and grow very thick skin. Pay and benefits are awesome, training is awesome, uniforms and equipment is great, its a good place to be. If you need info about the hiring process, talk to Kirch. He recently turned a job down from them.

[(S)Sgt Elmer]

I often say "Madison is so many square miles surrounded by reality" - but they do have a good rep in the state. I don't know that I could put up with some of the shenanigans down there.

[dutchdog]

thanks for the info. I am attracted to professionalism, ie, doing your job well, but the thought of protecting myself and others while trying to appease a hyper-sensitive public...I don't like the sound of that. Am I correct in assuming that the mpd's "progessive" label reflects their effort to integrate the liberal opinions of Madison rather than rolling-with-it (acknowleding it and then responding in a more experienced based manner). Bottom line: do think officer safety is compromised?

[jeeper]

thanks for the info. I am attracted to professionalism, ie, doing your job well, but the thought of protecting myself and others while trying to appease a hyper-sensitive public...I don't like the sound of that. Am I correct in assuming that the mpd's "progessive" label reflects their effort to integrate the liberal opinions of Madison rather than rolling-with-it (acknowleding it and then responding in a more experienced based manner). Bottom line: do think officer safety is compromised?

Compared to other departments of similiar size, I would definately say that MPD has less "tools" and safety risks on the street. Possibly, significantly less. They would not sacrifice officer safety or integrity in the name of PC. They have, howver, a habit of not releasing entire suspect descriptions in some of our recent very violent robberies. They don't want the public to figure out that the suspects in 99% of these robberies have been groups of black males for fear of ostracizing black males in the city. I really feel that that particular incident with descriptions has made it more difficult to figure out who the perpetratos have been in these cases. But, whatever...pretty much any larger city has to make decisions like that sooner or later.

[dutchdog]

[QUOTE=jeeper]Compared to other departments of similiar size, I would definately say that MPD has less "tools" and safety risks on the street. Possibly, significantly less.

Please explain...

[jeeper]

tool(noun)=retard, dip*****, retired on duty, head up *****, clueless. Basically anyone who got the job but for whatever reason doesn't have the skill/common sense/ability/dedication/etc. to do their job. Compared to other agencies in this area, MPD has a significantly smaller group of people like that.

[Badgerland]

Although not a huge deal, I have 2 major problems with MAPD.

1.) The lack of K9s on the street. I work 3rd shift, and almost every night I will hear an officer or supervisor ask, "Do we have a K9 working?" The answer is almost always, "No, but the Town (of Madison) does. Would you like us to request them?" What's the sense of having K9s if you aren't going to put them on the busy shifts?

2.) Lack of Spanish speaking officers. Madison has a decent Latino population. Of the 32-35 MAPD officers working 3rd shift, maybe 2 or 3 are Spanish speakers.

Not a big deal, just an observation.

[dutchdog]

thanks again

[mfroseth]

Gotta love the Town of Madison! :)

[heims57]

Our K9 program recently expanded (last couple of years) to 3 patrol dogs. With a 6/3 schedule and 1 dog per shift, that leaves us short but we're adding more dogs as we can.

The reason we're behind is that for years our previous administrations didn't want dogs because they felt it would be associated with the image of police dogs turned loose on civil rights demonstrators.

It took alot of work by some inside adminstration and rank and file to get a K9 program going. In the end, a private foundation (Capital K9s) had to be started to pay for most of the costs for each dog because the City says they don't have the money for it.

There are many in City Hall who are less than supportive of LE here. Welcome to Madison.