The Steering Committee of Progressive Dane mourns the loss of Corey Ruiz, who was shot and killed by a Madison police officer on July 22. We express our condolences to Corey Ruiz’s friends and family and recognize that there are far too many people in Madison whose past traumas with law enforcement are resurfaced by this.
We echo the demands for accountability from all segments of the Madison and Wisconsin community, and we want to particularly emphasize the concrete demands set by Freedom, Inc.: 1) the arrest of the murderous cop, 2) defund the police, 3) strengthen the Police Civilian Oversight Board, and 4) community control of the police. We also call upon Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and the Madison Common Council to ensure an independent review of this incident by the Office of the Independent Monitor (OIM) and to allow unfettered access to all MPD records, policies, and information necessary to fulfill the Office’s duties under the city code; moments like this emphasize the very reason we, alongside many other community members and organizations, have advocated for the creation for the OIM and defended its funding, authority, and independence.
Our policy platform provides guidance on policy reforms to prevent this from happening again. Key provisions call for 1. Making all policing decisions through an anti-racist lens, to dismantle the white supremacy ingrained within policing and public safety policy, 2. effective formal community control and oversight of the police, including maintaining the full authority and independence of and robust funding for the Community Oversight Board and Office of the Independent Monitor, 3. transitioning funding away from law enforcement and towards community development, public health, early childhood education, and human services, 4. increasing de-escalation and mental health resources, such as training for all police officers, along with resources for their own emotional and mental well-being, prioritizing the response of trained mental health professionals and crisis response teams to calls for service over that of armed law enforcement, and expanding CARES to offer 24/7 service, and 5. use of force policies that emphasize a duty to preserve life and use of proportional force.
These racist outcomes in the criminal justice system are directly connected to the issue of housing and homelessness in Madison and Dane County. If our community met Corey Ruiz’s basic human needs for housing and supportive care, would this interaction have ever happened? Progressive Dane opposes the criminalization of homelessness and the sweeps of persons and encampments on public lands.
We must begin to view those of us struggling with housing instability as our fellow neighbors, not a nuisance to shoo away. We must eliminate our own prejudices and biases along racial and socioeconomic lines. We must understand the behavior connected to the deeper needs that our community is failing to meet. This moment shines a light on the need for change in our criminal justice system, but it also shines a light on the need for all of us to stop dehumanizing our fellow Madisonians and work together to support human rights solutions.
