Madison Council to Consider Police Oversight Changes After Fatal Shooting

The Madison Common Council is scheduled to take final action Tuesday, Aug. 4, on a substitute ordinance that would revise reporting, administrative and records-access rules for the city’s police oversight system.

The vote on Legistar File 92386 comes less than two weeks after the July 22 fatal police shooting of Corey Durell Ruiz at Williamson and South Baldwin streets. The shooting has intensified local attention on police accountability, but the proposed ordinance is a separate legislative action and would not determine or alter the Wisconsin Department of Justice investigation.

What is before the council

The council meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The city’s legislative record lists File 92386, Version 2, as a substitute ordinance on the Aug. 4 agenda for final action. The record reviewed for this article does not show an enactment date or final action.

Alderpersons could approve the substitute ordinance, reject it or amend it before a final vote. Until that vote occurs, the measure remains a proposal.

What the substitute ordinance would change

According to the legislative record, the substitute ordinance would:

• Require quarterly public reports from the Office of the Independent Monitor, including information about complaints, cases, outcomes and the status of recommendations.
• Add reporting subjects for the Police Civilian Oversight Board’s annual report, including board activities, training, community engagement and recommendations related to oversight and police policy.
• Clarify that the monitor remains independent in carrying out investigations, findings and recommendations while operating within the city’s administrative structure for matters such as staffing, contracting, budgeting, technology and procurement.
• Address when the monitor may use independent legal counsel and when the city attorney’s office would handle administrative legal matters.
• Require the monitor, Madison Police Department and city attorney to execute a memorandum of understanding governing the mechanics of access to police records, data and related information as permitted by law.

The records-access provision would require a written agreement. Its practical effect would depend on the agreement’s terms, applicable law and implementation after any council adoption.

How the measure reached the agenda

The legislation was referred to the Police Civilian Oversight Board on March 24. After additional consideration, the Common Council voted 16-4 shortly after midnight on April 22 to re-refer the measure to the board for input and recommendations, according to Madison365’s account of the meeting. The city’s legislative record lists the April 21 re-referral action as passed.

The referral history reflects disagreements over reporting requirements, administrative authority, access to police records and legal counsel. It also means the version before the council could still change through amendments.

What is known about the July 22 shooting

The Madison Police Department’s preliminary incident report says officers were dispatched to the Marquette neighborhood after a report of a person stealing bicycles and checking vehicle doors. Police said officers later encountered Ruiz near Williamson and South Baldwin streets, where a struggle followed after he either fell or was pulled from a bicycle. The department said that, during the struggle, Ruiz pulled a fixed-blade knife and injured one officer; police also said a less-lethal device was unsuccessful and that the injured officer fired his weapon.

Those details are preliminary and come from the department’s account. The department said Ruiz was pronounced dead at a hospital, all officers involved were placed on administrative leave, and the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation opened an independent investigation. The department described the case as active and ongoing.

Why body-camera footage is not available

The Associated Press reported that Madison does not require police officers to wear body cameras. That means officer body-camera footage is not available from the July 22 shooting under the city’s current policy, although AP reported that bystander video exists and is being reviewed.

The lack of officer footage has become part of the broader accountability debate. It does not establish what happened during the shooting and does not change the separate DOJ investigation.

What Madison residents should watch

The immediate question is whether the council approves, rejects or changes File 92386 during its Aug. 4 meeting. If adopted, residents would need to track the timing and content of the monitor’s quarterly reports, the oversight board’s annual reporting and the eventual records-access memorandum to understand the ordinance’s practical effect.

The shooting investigation remains ongoing regardless of the council’s action.

Sources

• City of Madison Legislation Details, File 92386
• Madison Police Department incident report on the July 22 shooting
• Associated Press report on the lack of body-camera footage

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