I woke up in a lousy mood, and it wasn't just because of the gray skies. My mind was occupied by the tragic news of the contractor who lost his life while doing renovation work at Culver's. I can't imagine the unbearable pain his loved ones are enduring, nor the trauma the surviving victims will have to live with. That could have easily been you or me. Think about that for a second. Several hours after hearing the news, I sent a letter to my alders expressing my anger at the situation. At least one seems to be upset with my reference to the criminals as "savages." Letting someone die while you greedily steal cash that doesn't belong to you, is indeed savagery. What else would you call it? As I said in a previous post, we live in a topsy-turvy world - one where criminals have become the victims, and cops have become the criminals. As upsetting as this incident is, I believe the best way to deal with anger and sorrow is to take positive action - which is the reason for this post. The incident at Culver's is not an isolated incident - crime in Madison is increasing both in number and heinousness. The only barrier we have between us and the bad stuff is law enforcement. Without them, we're screwed. Public safety should be the mayor's and alders' top priority. No excuses. Supporting and strengthening the Madison Police Department is the unequivocal path to combating crime. I ask that you join me in taking the following actions. . . . 1. Sign and share my brand-new petition called "Fight Crime in Madison by Supporting Its Police Department." Find it at https://www.change.org/p/mayor-soglin-fight-crime-in-madison-by-supporting-its-police-department Once we get enough signatures, we'll deliver it to Mayor Soglin and Common Council, just like we did with this current petition. 2. Contact Mayor Soglin and Common Council and demand that they prioritize public safety - that they stop putting up roadblocks for law enforcement, and actively work to fund more police officers. (They can *say* what they want - actionable steps trump political legerdemain.) Mayor Soglin: mayor@cityofmadison.com Common Council: allalders@cityofmadison.com 3. Tell the common council, as well as the Dane County supervisors to issue a joint statement that violent crime will not be tolerated. I know they can do this, because they jointly issued a similar letter after the 2015 police / citizen shooting incident. Find it here: https://www.cityofmadison.com/news/joint-statement-to-community-on-tony-robinsons-death All Dane County supervisors: county_board_recipients@countyofdane.com 4. Write local media, and tell them how concerned you are about the uptick in crime. 5. Call your state legislators when Blue Lives Matter legislation is ready for a vote. (I'll let you know when this happens.) Policing is the bedrock of an operational society. Our officers need to feel safe in the job they do. 6. Honor the victim of the Culver's tragedy, as well as all victims of violent crimes, by advocating for them. Check out Wisconsin - Marsy's Law to see how they're working to ensure victims' rights. https://marsyslaw.us/marsys-law-state-efforts/wisconsin/ Each of us can do something. Small actions count. The alternative is sitting back and doing nothing - and that is simply not a good answer. Feel free to reach out to me at paula@pjpublications.com with comments and questions. All the best. --Paula Fitzsimmons