I don't get to see the Cardinal regularly, but I happened to see your column regarding the Madison police. I very much appreciated the kind of understanding you expressed for the difficulty of their job-especially in handling situations such as occurred on State Street this past weekend.
I would urge, however, that you might correct your characterization of police officers and those who go into policing. Coming from Philadelphia, I can understand your perspective.?? I am very familiar with the Philadelphia Police Department and its history.?? But you should know that the Madison police are much more advanced and much more professional. I don't have the figures myself, but a recent article in the local press reported that 10 Madison officers have their law degree. Thirty-four of them have a master's degree. And 259 have a four-year degree.?? Forty-nine have two-year associate degrees.?? It is my guess that a good number of the Madison officers that you may have observed working on State Street have their degrees from UW-Madison. Likewise, I believe, on inquiry that you would find the men and women in the Madison police department do not fit the stereotype of being \from the working-to-middle classes-many of whom cannot afford college."" A good number of them are probably more like you, but have chosen policing because they decided it afforded them an opportunity to perform very challenging work, to make full use of their intellectual capacities and to be of service to a community.
Herman Goldstein
Professor of Law Emeritus
