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Madison PFC selects Shon Barnes as new police chief
Dr. Shon Barnes, of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability in Chicago, will be Madison’s next top cop.
On Friday, Madison’s Police and Fire Commission voted 3-2 to extend a conditional offer to Barnes, after he beat out a crowded field of more than 40 potential candidates and four finalists to secure the position.
In a brief Q&A video posted by the Police and Fire Commission earlier this month, then-candidate Barnes outlined his work history and approach to policing.
He formerly served as Deputy Chief of Police in Salisbury, North Carolina and as a Captain with the Greensboro Police Department where he began his career as a patrol officer in 2000.
Members of the public voiced outrage over the lack of transparency in the election process of the Madison Police Department’s police chief in a virtual Police and Fire Commission meeting Wednesday.
The Commission held the meeting the same day the PFC released interview recordings with the four police chief candidates Shon Barnes, Ramon Batista Jr., Christopher Davis and Larry Scirotto.
Speakers voiced concern over the police chief selection process continuing without enough time for the public to develop opinions. Multiple speakers made claims during the public comment that the PFC created barriers to prevent community participation in the process and accused the PFC of ignoring public input with tactics such as short notices of meeting schedules.
Ahead of final decision, Madison community weighs in on new police chief
Last night, the Madison Police and Fire Commission considered public input for the city’s new chief of police.
Ramon Batista emerged as the crowd favorite at the meeting, where at least half of the participants voiced their support for the former Police Chief of the Mesa, Arizona Department.
According to reporting from the Arizona Republic, Batista abruptly resigned from his former position last November. His departure came just a few months after the Mesa Police Association and the Mesa Fraternal Order of Police two police unions issued him a vote of no confidence.