Madison Police Department steps up community policing efforts

 Officer Dexheimer manages the grill while Officer Reyes chats with community members. (Kate Jungers/Madison Commons)

On a 90 degree day on the Northside of Madison, Officer Alex Nieves Reyes and Officer David Dexheimer wave down cars passing a large apartment complex on the 1500 block of Trailsway. Drivers pull up to the curb with concerned expressions, expecting their day to be ruined with a speeding ticket or traffic violation.

While the drivers roll down their windows, Reyes leans in with a smile on her face and says, “You hungry? How about some hot dogs and lemonade?”

Dubbed “Guerrilla Grillers” by the Madison Police Department, police officers in the North District are setting up impromptu barbeque events to step up community policing efforts and create lasting relationships with members of the Northside neighborhoods.

Dexheimer and Reyes hosted their Guerrilla Grilling event in early August. In addition to manning the grill, they played with children and chatted with tenants in a nearby apartment complex. 

Dexheimer is the North District’s neighborhood resource officer, and he created Guerrilla Grilling as a way to allow community members to get to know their local police officers in a fun, casual setting. These types of community policing efforts aim to help community members feel comfortable with their presence.

“As a neighborhood resource officer, my job is to look for emerging problems and build relationships with community members, which is really effective policing. I love chatting with people, so something like this is excellent,” Dexheimer said.

According to Dexheimer and Reyes, Madison’s North District faces issues that make community policing particularly important.

Officer Dexheimer handed out “Junior Officer” stickers to children at the event. (Kate Jungers/Madison Commons)

“There’s a certain extent of homelessness, as well as people who are underemployed and unemployed. In my line [of work] I see a lot of single-headed households, having to deal with childcare, food, transportation issues and shelter,” Dexheimer said.

The Guerrilla Griller events are one of several community policing initiatives, including Fireside Five-Oh Living Room Conversations and Coffee with a Cop, Madison police have taken on the Northside and across the city.

”Events like this are beneficial to the neighborhood,” said Tom Burback, who attended the barbeque and has lived in the Northside for several years. “This is probably a neighborhood in particular that needs it,” he said.

The Wednesday evening grilling event was originally planned to last two hours and to be at two different locations, but the officers ran out of over 60 hot dogs and four gallons of lemonade within less than an hour and a half.

Omoregie Igiehon, a tenant of the apartment complex was happy to see this type of interaction between police officers and his neighbors.

“This is a great thing,” he said. “The police are here giving out free hot dogs and talking to us on a beautiful day. It’s like saying, ‘Hey, we are your friends not enemies.’”

“No question is off limits,” Dexheimer said. “A lot of stuff we do is not pleasant, and we can take the criticism because we can always improve. We are open to scrutiny, and we need people looking at best practices and while it’s difficult to go through this phase, it’s needed and it’s needed to continually look at what we do.”

Omoregie Igiehon, a tenant of the apartment complex nearby, chats with Officer Reyes. (Kate Jungers/Madison Commons)