UW Law’s Findley, Madison criminal-defense attorney among appointees to police oversight board

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UW Law School Professor Keith Findley and Joshua Hargrove, a Madison criminal-defense attorney, are among the first round of appointees to Madison’s new police-oversight board.

The city passed legislation on Sept. 1 establishing the Police Civilian Oversight Board to oversee the Madison Police Department. The board is meant to be an independent body that reviews and makes recommendations regarding police discipline, use of force, policy and more.

On Friday, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, Council President Sheri Carter, and Council Vice President Syed Abbas recommended the following people for appointment to the board:

• Shadayra Kilfoy-Flores, nominated by the Community Response Team;
• Ananda Deacon, nominated by Freedom Inc.;
• Joshua Hargrove, nominated by JustDane;
• Rachel Kincade, nominated by NAMI;
• Ankita Bharadwaj, nominated by OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center;
• Yesenia Villalpando-Torres, nominated by UNIDOS Against Domestic Violence;
• Maia Pearson, nominated by Urban Triage; and
• Jacquelyn Hunt, nominated by YWCA.

Rhodes-Conway also appointed Findley and Keetra Burnette to the board. She said she chose them from a pool of more than 75 applicants.

Findley has taught at UW Law for nearly 30 years. He’s a co-founder of the Wisconsin Innocence Project, and he founded a nonprofit dedicated to reforming how forensic science is used in the criminal justice system with attorneys Dean Strang and Jerry Buting, who represented Steven Avery.

Findley was also the co-chair of the Madison Police Department Policy and Procedure Review Ad Hoc Committee, and a former member of the Madison Police and Fire Commission.

Hargrove is a senior associate at Tracey Wood & Associates in Madison. He’s a member of the National College for DUI Defense, Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and Dane County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. He previously worked as an assistant district attorney and assistant state public defender. JustDane, a nonprofit serving individuals and families involved in the criminal justice system, nominated him for appointment.

Community organizations nominate candidates for the board, and nine are recommended for appointment by the mayor and city council leaders. The mayor and council also each appoint two members.

The Common Council will select two additional appointees next week and recommend one person nominated by the NAACP. All 13 appointments will be submitted for confirmation at the Oct. 6 Common Council meeting. Follow @“WLJreporter”