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“There are a lot of
arteries and veins in what I’ve been doing,” says Madison.
“To just cut it off would be painful. I’m part of the
community and I have a stake in it.”
Madison, a Toledo native
and graduate of Scott High School, earned an undergraduate
degree from the University of Toledo in art and a master’s
degree in criminal justice from Grand Canyon, joined TPD in
the early 1990’s after sending 14 years at the Medical
College of Ohio. MCO, at that time, was about to privatize
and the public union employees, such as Madison, were to
lose their positions and benefits. The move to TPD preserved
those benefits, such as her pension.
After spending four years
on street patrol, Madison became a school resource officer,
then a community services officer (CSO). In that position
she was tasked with implementing a senior volunteer program
to work with citizens on improving the condition of their
neighborhoods.
After her promotion to
sergeant, Madison joined the Internal Affairs division, an
especially rewarding assignment because it enabled her to
not only learn about virtually all aspects of the police
department but to also continue and enhance her involvement
with the community.
As a youngster, Floella
Wormely, a Toledo native who graduated from Scott High
School and attended Bowling Green State University, had
never given any thought to joining the police force. She was
working for a local bank when, by chance, on a lunch break,
she wandered through Levis Square and happened upon a force
of nature in the form of TPD’s Shirley Green, who would
later rise through the ranks and become a command officer
and after retirement, return as director of the City’s
safety forces during the Mike Bell administration.
Green was recruiting that
day and she convinced Wormely to take the civil service test
to qualify for the department. Wormely was convinced, passed
the test and the city and community have been all the better
for it.
About 10 years later Green
would again point Wormely in a direction that would alter
her career path. “Have you heard of the Police Prevention
Team?” Green asked her one day. “You should put in for it.”
The PPT is a
community-based diversion program designed to give juveniles
a chance to avoid prosecution for minor violations. They are
referred to the program by officers and, after completing
the program, the charges can be dismissed. Currently,
Wormely, the original team member, and her current partner,
Officer Byron Daniels, lead the program.
In 2012, Madison
received the assignment that has brought her the greatest
degree of professional satisfaction when she was assigned to
the Toledo Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (T-CIRV)
unit. “The effort to reduce violence among gang members is
the most important part of it,” says Madison. “And the
community aspect is the most important part of that. The
community aspect is not a different piece – we are getting
the community to help reduce violence in their own
neighborhood.”
T-CIRV, modeled on a
number of similar initiatives in cities across the nation,
changes the traditional approach the police department has
taken over the years when addressing the issue of gang
violence. “It used to be when someone got shot, we would go
after the shooter,” says Madison. “Now we focus on the
shooter and everyone involved with the shooter.”
The strategy of T-CIRV
includes engaging everyone involved in violence and those on
the periphery. “We know through data that face-to-face
conversation with the population reduces violence,” says
Madison. “We are trying to put spin offs on the strategy.”
While a lot will change in
Wormely’s life after July 1, much will remain the
same. She will stay with the PPT as a civilian and continue
to work on the programs she has helped to put in place over
the past decades. “I still get to work with a great partner
I have had over the last three years,” she says referring to
Daniels.
Wormely’s work had not
gone unnoticed over the years. She made it to Washington
D.C. in 2005 as a finalist for a Jefferson Award, has
received a Silver Slate and a Hoodie Award, among other
acknowledgements.
After July 1, Madison
will continue to be involved in the community aspects of T-CIRV
as well as with the many community-based organizations she
works with now. She is part of S.T.R.I.V.E., is on the board
of the NAACP, is part of her church ministry at Peoples MBS
(where her brother Michael Key is the pastor), is active
with Partners Empowering Community Safety (PECS) and has
been elected as president of the African American Police
League where she will continue to work on recruiting
minorities into the Police Department.
“I’m leaving the job on a
high note with a grand feeling – it has been really
gratifying,” says Madison of her impending departure. “This
has been a great department to work for.” |
