MADISON, Wis. — After what could have been a violent attack in Madison on Sunday, News 3 Now is continuing to look into the police response to the confessed Illinois parade shooter’s appearance in the city on the Fourth of July.
The Madison Police Department was told to activate its SWAT team on Monday at 5 p.m. after Robert Crimo III’s cell phone was detected in the area.
However, Madison residents were not notified about Crimo’s presence in the area.
“The faster you put information out, the more likely it is that it’s not going to be accurate,” said Jason Freedman with the Madison Police Department. “I think it’s really important to be diligent and (make) sure before we push that first domino that we’re there.”
Freedman said that despite little information from the FBI about the situation, the department somewhat assumed what it was responding to.
“In pretty short order, we felt like we knew who it was,” said Freedman. “We had some additional information.”
Freedman explained that the public was not notified because the situation was extremely active. Police were juggling getting the most accurate information out there while also trying not to create more of a threat.
“Let’s say we’re not sure of who we have we put it out there, and the suspect hears it,” said Freedman. “And now the suspect, who we might have been able to locate and isolate and deal with, now they change their plans and maybe they do something as a response to this notification that could be worse.”
Freedman also added that just because Crimo’s cell phone was reported to be in the Madison area, that doesn’t mean it is the most reliable source to send an alert out to the public.
“I have been in situations where the phone pings have been inaccurate, where they’ve been extremely delayed,” said Freedman.
News 3 Now spoke to a retired police lieutenant on Thursday that explained some of this response further.
“The average length of an active shooter situation is four minutes,” said Brian Landers, who was formerly with the Wisconsin Dells Police Department. “There is no way in four minutes that… any police agency is going to be able to respond, engage that threat, stop that threat, and start to evacuate and treat the wounded and then simultaneously get the word out to the public.”
As the Madison community moves on from what feels like a near miss for the city, it’s important to remember each piece of the bigger picture that police are trying to gather.
“There’s a lot of chaos,” said Freedman. “We’re balancing it with the need to be accurate.”
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