It’s not a winning message to say crime is justified by poverty. By Dave Cieslewicz - Jul 16th, 2021 02:09 pm //end headline wrapper ?> Police. Photo by Highway Patrol Images / (CC BY) Democrats need to come out forcefully against the bad guys. A few weeks ago I had a conversation with new Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes. I was impressed by him overall, but I was especially taken by one of the first things he told me. “I hate crime,” he said with conviction. “I just hate crime.” That would be, you might say, getting back to basics. A top cop who hates crime. That’s an excellent place to start.