The Madison Police Department plans to remove the homeless encampment near the Wisconsin Veteran’s Museum on the Wisconsin Capitol Square, after residents and business owners reported issues to MPD from the area.
Police cited concerns about human waste in the area, littering, retail theft and harassment from members of the encampment.
Anthony Vogel, a MPD police officer, told The Daily Cardinal that business owners and residents in the downtown State Street area had “expressed some frustration with the quality of life issues that have been occurring up at the top of State Street.”
Vogel said homelessness is something that police cannot “solve on their own.”
Homelessness remains a growing issue in Madison. A city survey recorded almost 800 homeless people in Madison this year — increasing by 7% since 2024. The Madison Board of Public Works plans to demolish a city-sanctioned homeless encampment on Dairy Drive this month, raising questions about where Madison’s sizable homeless will be able to stay.
Madison Street Medicine has called for affordable housing to be built as an alternative to shelters.
Most homeless shelters in the area, like Beacon and Salvation Army, are only open during the daytime rather than 24 hours a day. The Bartillon homeless shelter on the East Side is set to open next year, housing 250 people at a time. This is a number local advocates say is inadequate for the scope of Madison’s homelessness problem.
The museum is located near Capitol Square and several businesses, including Ian’s Pizza, Teddywedgers and Michelangelo’s Coffee House. The area encounters significant foot traffic, meaning disturbances can pose larger health and safety risks.
Though there is no set deadline for the homeless to move out, police may begin to enforce municipal ordinances barring obstruction of sidewalks and trespassing. But enforcement is “not our first option,” Vogel said.
“Homelessness is not something that we can, for lack of better words, arrest ourselves out of,” Vogel said. “So when we approach issues like this, we're really trying to approach first to offer resources — and then if need be, we do have enforcement options.”
To assist the homeless population in relocating, the MPD is working with community partners including the nonprofits Madison Street Medicine and Catalyst for Change.
“It really depends on law enforcement coming together with different community stakeholders in order to work towards ending homelessness,” Vogel said.
