The Madison Board of Police and Fire Commissioners released a statement Monday concerning its expectations for a new Chief of Police following the retirement of former Madison Police Department Chief Noble Wray.
The board stressed the need for applicants to be roundly educated and have an “intimate” understanding of diversity in the statement.
Some challenges facing the new chief are changes in demographics, limitations in police budgets, cutbacks in services from other agencies and increased charges of abuse and misuse of information, according to the statement.
The statement said the police chief will also encounter “big-city problems” in smaller communities.
“We acknowledge that the always difficult job of policing in a democracy has become even more difficult,” the statement said.
According to the statement, the board expects the MPD to “respond with even more innovation and creativity to contemporary challenges and not to succumb to pressures to abandon the progress and accomplishments of the past several decades.”
