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Madison Police chief cites modest crime declines and expands pre-arrest diversion outreach
Summary
Chief John Patterson presented the department's 2025 second-quarter report to the Common Council, saying several major crime categories trended downward from the first quarter and summarizing expansion of the MARI pre‑arrest diversion program for substance use.
Madison Police Chief John Patterson and Captain Diana Nadego presented the department’s second-quarter report, highlighting several downward crime trends and program-level changes.
The department reported declines in burglaries, theft-from-auto and overall robbery numbers compared with earlier reporting periods. Chief Patterson noted an ongoing focus on data-directed patrols and traffic safety operations; staff said they would return with an analysis of the summer traffic enforcement initiative and whether it reduced crashes on the city’s high‑injury network.
Captain Diana Nadego described recent expansions to the MARI (Mobile Addiction Response Initiative) pre‑arrest diversion program. MARI, launched in 2017, offers a six‑month treatment and recovery pathway for qualifying people with substance use disorder; successful completion can result in charges being voided rather than forwarded to prosecutors. Nadego said the program is accepting voluntary self‑referrals, has lowered age eligibility from 18 to 17, and is accepting people on probation and parole where appropriate. The city has expanded outreach locations (libraries, the Beacon, the job center) and worked with Safe Communities and other partners to increase referrals and rapid responses to people who have recent overdoses.
Patterson and Nadego also summarized grant revenue supporting the program: MARI has received federal funding (CASP/CASAP grants noted by staff) for advertising and outreach, and the department said it is exploring residential treatment funding and contingency management to fill service gaps.
Council accepted the quarterly report by motion. Chief Patterson told members the department would continue refining public-facing dashboards and the requested monthly incident-type breakdowns for use-of-force reports.
Ending: Council members asked for more frequent updates on traffic enforcement results and for follow-up data on juvenile arrests and auto-theft characteristics; staff said they would return with that analysis in coming reports.
