Ramon Batista, a former police chief from Arizona, rose to the top as a favored candidate for the permanent Madison police chief position among members of the public who spoke at Wednesdayâs Police and Fire Commission meeting.
But those who spoke also decried the process for selecting a new Madison Police Department leader as difficult to navigate, excluding the community members the new police chief will be serving.
The process did not include a way for community members to directly engage with the four police chief candidates, which also include Shon Barnes, Christopher Davis and Larry Scirotto. Earlier Wednesday, the PFC released pre-recorded interviews with each of the candidates answering questions that were informed using community input gathered earlier in the process.