'PROBLEM-ORIENTED POLICING' IS MORE HUMANE AND JUST

Dear Editor: As members of the Progressive Dane Drug Policy Task Force, we
are very pleased to see that the Madison Police Department is considering
transforming parts of its narcotics team into decentralized
"problem-oriented policing teams," as reported in your newspaper.

We feel that this plan has the potential to be a very positive step toward
increasing Madison's focus on community-based, proactive policing that
improves the welfare and safety of individual neighborhoods while
diminishing curtailment of civil liberties. We look forward to seeing the
plans that the Police Department is drawing up and are happy that there is
an interest in shifting some focus away from drug prosecution as an end
goal. We also look forward to working with the Police Department in helping
to develop ideas for a more sensible and humane approach to drug policy.

Since its inception in early 2001, the Progressive Dane Drug Policy Task
Force has advocated for policing solutions that emphasize harm reduction in
regard to drug policy -- solutions that focus on the public health issues
and social ills that result from and contribute to the illicit drug trade.

We now have a mayor and many City Council members (of all political
stripes) who are in agreement with these goals and are willing to work to
make them a reality. There's a huge amount of potential for Madison to take
the leap forward in becoming a model of sensible, humane and effective drug
policy implementation and we are genuinely excited to be a part of it.

Stephanie Rearick, Carissa Cornwell, Gary Storck, Ben Masel, Dr. Jeff
Schiffman, Jon Hain, Bruce Rideout, David Chastain, Lucy Gibson, James
Reinke, Barbara Vedder, Madison