Only days after a deadly shooting in their community, residents of the Bay Creek neighborhood came together to try to understand how the events unfolded.
""South Madison has a lot of wonderful things ... It's not some dangerous, crime-filled area,"" Ald. Julia Kerr, District 13, said at a neighborhood meeting she hosted Sunday night on East Lakeside Street.
Yet several attendees were left feeling vulnerable after Officer David Retlick of the Madison Police Department shot and killed Gregory Bickford last week after Bickford allegedly robbed Cousins Subs at 1124 S. Park St.
MPD Lt. Joe Balles said the string of strong-armed robberies in recent weeks has primarily been motivated by heroin abuse.
""Heroin is at an all-time high in terms of presence in our community … which has been leading to robberies and burglaries,"" he said. ""They want money and then want to get away from the area as fast as possible.""
However, he also said he was 100 percent confident Bickford did not plan on being at the corner of Lakeside and Whittier Streets after allegedly robbing Cousins.
""There is no heroin house in the area he was looking to get to,"" he said. ""It was just happenstance.""
Officer Dave Dexheimer told residents that although some of the robberies have been limited to a certain area, it does not make the Bay Creek area any less safe.
""Cousins just happened to be close to where you live,"" he said.
Kerr echoed this statement by stressing that her neighborhood is still safe and crime is generally down.
Joel Plant, executive assistant to Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, said Madison is exceptionally safe, more so than it was 10 years ago. He also said the bad economy is not generating more crime and that crime rates are down.
Still, the majority of residents said some type of neighborhood watch program would benefit the area.
