After little discussion the Madison Common Council voted Tuesday night to renew the four year contract of the Dane County Narcotics and Gangs Task Force.
Council members raised questions concerning the accountability of the task force, according Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4. The city provides the majority of the staff for the coalition between the UW Police, the Dane County Sheriff's Office and the Madison
Police Department.
\I would say the main concern of my colleagues was that the [task force] has not had any specific oversight by the elected policy makers of the city,"" he said, adding that council members were interested in the general direction the group was headed .
""In terms of broader issues, are [the officers] concentrating on violent crack dealers instead of nonviolent pot smokers?,"" he said. "" The Police Department is very cognizant that the community wants them concentrating on reducing violence in the community ... and we should spend public resources on prevention and treatment for users and not on persecution.""
Ald. Todd Jarrell, District 8, disagreed with Verveer when he said that a substantial amount of time is spent on drug users.
""Fifty percent of their resources go to targeting users,"" he said.
Jarrell was one of three council members who voted against the proposal. Ald. Brenda Konkel, District 2, and Ald. Tom Powell, District 5, also did not vote in favor of the measure.
Council members rectified the lack of oversight when they passed an amendment that requires the task force to report to the council and the Public Safety Review Board.
Yet according to Jarrell, the lack of oversight is not the problem.
""I think the drug war is flawed, and we need to encourage alternatives,"" he said. ""I think our cops do a good job, but we're charging them with a task that they can never complete. You can never get all the drug dealers off the street.""
Jarrell also said he believes violence is inherent in anything illegal.
""Legalization of certain drugs would help [the problem],"" he said.
Verveer said the task force does little of its work downtown, concentrating instead on the outskirts of town.
""Basically, this just provided a forum for alders who are hungry to discuss the war on drugs to ask questions,"" he said.
