MOSES In Action
Rachel Kincade
MOSES has officially supported police oversight including the OIPM and the PCOB since September 28, 2025. (Link to official statement) Since then, we have testified in favor of full funding and against any attempts to weaken police oversight.
Police oversight in Madison is concentrated in two bodies: 1) the Office of the Independent Police Monitor (OIPM) which investigates cases of potential police misconduct, reviews the Madison Police Standard Operating Procedures, looks at statistical data on police practices, and issues reports. 2) The Police Community Oversight Board (PCOB) which hires and supervises the Independent Police Monitor.
An alder, who is no longer with the council, presented amendments that would take away the Independence of the OIPM and make it a city entity. The Council had reduced their already scant budget, reducing the time of the data analyst (while the police department hired two more data analysist), and without a case manager. MOSES members organized. Members of our Justice Reform Initiative (JSRI) and the Justice and Policing Task Force (JPTF) came together to work on this issue.
We all met and under William Park-Sutherland’s leadership and created a full history of the PCOB and the OIPM all the way to what is happening now. We provided members with calls to action. It was very informative and the presentation went smoothly with Mary Anglim and Eric Howland doing the background – how and why it was formed. They showed the many years it took to get this ordinance in place.
Eric also covered the budget and how it has steadily been cut. Jeanie Vershay and I talked about where things were at now and provided a call to action. In December 2025 the PCOB hired a new Independent Police Monitor (IPM), Aeiramique (Meeka) Glass. She is an experienced police monitor and has brought new life to Madison police oversight. Recent publications from the OIPM, starting with two statistical studies in their annual report and now two high profile investigative reports on police cases have challenged Madison’s views of its police department and also brought criticism of police oversight.
Aeiramique Glass is doing her job in a powerful way. I was on the PCOB for the first four years. In my opinion, she is doing exactly what the original ordinance calls for and is extremely effective. William brought it home by talking about the ordinance changes and the need to support the PCOB and OIPM. He acknowledged that Madison has the best ordinance in the nation, because it holds the super power of subpoena. Kathy Luker shared a way to get congregations involved, another great call to action. Other calls to action include calling your alder and expressing the need for the original ordinance and a call to the mayor asking for full funding for at least 1% of the Madison police departments budget to bring the data analyst to full time, hire a case manager and more money for independent council.
A call to action came out for attending and speaking at a PCOB full board meeting on short notice. Our President made a statement of MOSES’ support; Eric spoke passionately about the power the police have and the need for a fully funded OIPM. I asked them to just hire IM Glass as the permanent IM. Barbie supported the ordinance. Jeanie summed it all up by talking about the death of Richard Lee Johnson in police custody and stated this was a call to action.
I’ll leave you with another MOSES Call to Action: MOSES is preparing to testify at the Madison Common Council meeting on August 4th. At that meeting several amendments to the statutes that govern police oversight will be considered. Several amendments have already been proposed to weaken police oversight. Where we stand: Keep the interim IM as permanent, fully fund the OIPM, and keep the original ordinance.
This is how MOSES takes Action.