There were fewer homicides in Madison in 2024 compared with the year before, and the number of shots-fired incidents continued a five-year decline, police data shows.
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From left, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, Police Chief Shon Barnes and incoming interim chief John Patterson greet attendees at Tuesday's year-in-review press conference about public safety. Homicides and shots-fired incidents declined in 2024.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes highlights the declines in violent crimes last year, which he said reflect increased community engagement. Barnes also shared that the department is "fully staffed," a point of pride amid ongoing national recruitment shortages.
Want your car stolen or home burglarized? Here's how to make thieves' jobs easier
For years, police have warned residents to lock their vehicles and homes to discourage opportunistic young thieves. At times, that advice appears to be falling on deaf ears.
Unlocked doors led to a stolen vehicle and a stolen handgun overnight Thursday into Friday on the Near West Side, Madison police reported.
Fitchburg police have identified the two people arrested in a vehicle theft, interrupted burglary and shots fired incident in Cross Plains early Wednesday morning.
A spree of thefts from vehicles overnight Sunday into Monday included smashed windows and stolen purses, Madison police reported.
A 15-year-old boy was arrested Thursday, two days after fleeing the scene of a Far West Side burglary with others in a stolen vehicle, Madison police reported.
An unlocked SUV with a garage door opener inside of it was stolen from a Southwest Side home, along with several wallets, Madison police reported.
Town of Madison police officers found the stolen vehicle at a 7-Eleven on Park Street and arrested an 18-year-old male occupant, while a male juvenile ran from the vehicle and was not apprehended, police said.
The driveway vehicle was unlocked because it was believed the owner would move the car into the garage, but the car was not moved and thieves opened it, activated the garage door opener, entered the home and stole keys for both the driveway vehicle and an additional car in the garage, police said.
No injuries were reported in the crashes police responded to on Sunday.
One of the trio, a 15-year-old from Madison is wanted by several jurisdictions, with Madison police having probable cause to arrest him for burglary while armed and for dropping a handgun outside of Leopold Elementary School on Oct. 22.
Police: Westport homeowners confront burglars who gain entry from garage door opener in unlocked car
The case shows that recent arrests in Dane County and in Sauk County haven’t ended such crimes, as police had warned
"Stolen cars -- when recovered -- often have been damaged and many smell of pot, so on several levels people have been victimized."
Janesville police said they have seen a recent spree of thefts of vehicles left unlocked with keys inside.
