MOSES’s New Justice and Policing Task Force
By Doug Maynard
As many MOSES members know, a new task force — the Justice and Policing Task Force (JPTF) — has been brewing for many months. It was envisioned as a more focused replacement for the previous Public Safety Task Force. The MOSES Leadership Board approved the new task force this past July; we now have eight active members, and we welcome others who are interested. See below for the dates and place of our next meetings.
Once we were given the green light, the new task force had urgent business to attend to. One of our stated aims is to pay attention to and support Madison’s Police Civilian Oversight Board and the associated Office of the Independent Monitor. As we immediately learned, there was turmoil and controversy surrounding both the Oversight Board and the Independent Monitor. In fact, the funding of both entities was threatened in the lead-up to budget deliberations.
In response, our task force crafted a letter for MOSES President Saundra Brown to send to the Mayor, in support of including both the Oversight Board and the Independent Monitor in the 2026 Executive Operating Budget. The first step was to obtain what turned out to be unanimous approval from the MOSES Leadership Board for an Urgent Issue Proposal in support of the Oversight Board and the Independent Monitor. That unanimous approval was mentioned prominently in the letter that our President sent; the letter also included statements about how and why MOSES supports continued funding for these entities.
When the Mayor’s budget was published on Oct. 7, we were glad to learn that it included full funding for the Office of the Independent Monitor. The budget for that office was even slightly increased over last year’s. After the Mayor’s Executive Budget was published, a slightly revised version of Saundra Brown’s letter was sent to Madison alders on Oct. 9. In addition, a call to action went out to all MOSES members, urging them to contact their alders before the Finance Committee hearing on Oct. 13 to support this funding.
Final budget deliberations by the full Common Council will take place in mid-November. Members of our task force will submit public testimony to both the Finance Committee and the Common Council.
In connection with all these matters, the Justice and Policing Task Force has invited the Chair of the Civilian Oversight Board, Maia Pearson, to meet with us to discuss the challenges the Board is currently facing, and whether or how our task force and MOSES can help. That meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 6, 3:30 p.m. at the UW South Madison Partnership office.
The next regular meeting of the Justice and Policing Task Force is set for Monday, Nov. 24, at 3:30 p.m. at the same location. We have other matters to consider, including discussion about our new Police Chief and how to engage and support him. Please think about joining us!