The Madison Police Department has enacted new rules surrounding public protesting and high-volume gatherings in the city. They ask that events requesting additional police involvement to maintain safety pay a fee of $31.79 per officer, with a two hour minimum, and $15 extra per squad car. Any overtime is charged at one and a half times the officers’ pay rate plus benefits.
These events are extra, and not every Madison citizen supports them, which makes it easy to think someone who does not favor a particular cause shouldn’t have to pay to keep rowdy rally-goers under control.
But it is not just public nuisances involved in this new scheme to lower taxes. The new system for paying police officers could have serious repercussions regarding people’s first amendment rights.
As Jeff Scott Olson, who represented some groups marching for the legalization of marijuana, said, “A little man with no money doesn't have much in the way of political capital, and marching in the street is about all of the poor have left.” And it’s true.
If such a fee becomes required, the poor may find it more difficult to speak their mind or protest freely. The right to free speech will no longer be a right, but a privilege to be bought and sold. This would place undue authority in the police force, reinforce class separation, and dissuade even affluent protesters from spending the extra money just to make their voices heard.
Madison Mayor Paul Soglin has reservations about the new policy and says he will soon sit down with the police department to talk about the new rules.
But beyond threatening citizens’ right to free speech, the new policy is unlikely to function in the way the police department expects.
Paying for the extra officers and squad cars is still optional, and if an organization would rather save the cash, they can. Though several other groups have paid for police department coverage, the Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival decided it would not. This means only those officers who normally patrol the area were there to keep the event under control.
While the expectation is that any public protest or rally will remain peaceable, this is unrealistic when considering the potential size and passion surrounding certain events. Large gatherings can easily morph into dangerous fights or riots; their unpredictable nature means the police department will always need to have extra officers on duty at the location of the event to protect citizens who may not be involved but happen to be nearby. This completely undoes the system they are seeking to create, because whether organizations pay for more police or not, the city has to provide them.
In all, the new policy just won’t work. Maybe it has been effective in the few events that have paid for it so far, but these included the March of Dimes, the Catholic Diocese and Madison College. None of them were protest-based or politically charged. Perhaps once the city is confronted with real, intense activism that disrupts Madison’s streets, the police department will realize the faults in their reasoning.
Kate is a sophomore majoring in Spanish and English. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
