Fiscal Note
Approximately $775,000 is available in the Contingent Reserve to fund the $35,000 expenditure authorized by this resolution. Funding for this expenditure is included in the 2007 Operating Budget. There is no impact on the tax levy or eligibility under the state expenditure restraint program. The Police Department policy report required by this resolution could be accomplished through the reallocation of existing Police staff resources.
Title
SECOND SUBSTITUTE - Amending the 2006 Operating Budget by authorizing the expenditure payment of $35,000 from the contingent reserve, requesting the creation of a new Madison Police departmental policy, and conveying an apology.
Body
WHEREAS, in September of 1997, a visually impaired Madison resident named Patty was brutally raped in her home by an armed intruder; and
WHEREAS, Patty briefly recanted her story under questioning by a Madison Police Department detective who had come to doubt her story, questioning which Patty characterized as being extremely pressured; and
WHEREAS, Patty was subsequently charged with obstruction for filing a false report and faced these charges for seven months before they were dropped; and
WHEREAS, despite the dismissal of Patty's subsequent civil rights lawsuit against City officials, concerns still exist as to the whether the investigation by the Madison Police Department and the conduct of attorneys with the firm of Axley Brynelson, who represented City officials in that lawsuit, were inappropriate under the circumstances, and whether such conduct further victimized Patty; and
WHEREAS, the criminal charges and lawsuit saddled Patty with an extraordinary amount of expenses and debt from legal expenses and lost wages; and
WHEREAS, a "cold hit" in a DNA databank ultimately led to the identification of Patty's rapist, a known criminal named Joseph Bong; and
WHEREAS, it was only as a result of Patty's perseverance that this dangerous criminal was ever identi...
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