Madison police and fire scramble to fill shifts for staff sidelined by pandemic
The pandemic's effect on staffing has contributed to a big uptick in police overtime and resulted in some days when the department hasn't been able to meet minimum staffing levels. To make sure fire stations remain fully staffed, the
As of
For the police department, the pandemic and its effect on staffing come amid a national reckoning on police use of force -- including high-profile police killings of Black people -- that have prompted the majority of the
They also come amid a sharp uptick in shootings and car thefts locally, and as police have at times over the spring and summer seen near-daily, unannounced anti-police street protests that have occasionally devolved into looting and other violence.
The increased need for police combined with COVID-19 quarantines meant that as of
The police department budget for 2021 approved by the
Because the
"These are savings I have to find," acting police chief
Looking ahead, Wahl said the cuts to the department's recruit class and taking over policing in much of the town of
"It has been hard to find bodies," he said.
He also estimated that officers in special-duty positions -- such as the traffic enforcement team and neighborhood policing -- are only spending about half of their time on those positions because they're being assigned to fill shortages in regular patrol.
"In general I'm optimistic that we'll be able to keep our feet under us and move through the COVID pandemic," Powers said, but the budget cuts and anti-police sentiment by protesters and many on the council is making officers' jobs more difficult, and he said he expected to see more unanticipated retirements in the years to come.
Powers and Fire Chief
"We've been working just feverishly to keep it out of the stations," Davis said.
But once it did start to arrive in greater numbers, the
Whereas firefighters exposed to people known to have the virus initially had to quarantine for 14 days, beginning
Heading into winter, "my fear is we end up with a third or more of the workforce quarantined," Davis said, and encouraged people to wear masks, wash their hands and follow other COVID-19 precautions to help emergency workers remain healthy and on the job.
The city budgeted
PHOTOS: FIRE GUTS HISTORIC ATWOOD AVENUE BUILDING
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