MADISON (WKOW) -- Dr. Shon Barnes has accepted an offer from the Police and Fire Commission to become the city of Madison's next police chief.
The mayor's office, citing city of Madison Human Resources Director Harper Donahue, confirmed that Barnes accepted the job in text messages to 27 News Monday.
Barnes is expected to start his first day with the Madison Police Department on Feb. 1.
Madison's Police and Fire Commissionvoted to offer Barnes the jobon Friday by a vote of three to two.
"Following a rigorous, comprehensive process and after thorough deliberations, the PFC has selected Dr. Shon F. Barnes to be our Chief of Police," the commission said in a statement. "As is standard practice, the PFC will now be issuing a Conditional Offer of Appointment."
Barnes is currently the Director of Training and Professional Development for the Civilian Office of Police Accountability in Chicago, Illinois.
Barnes was most recently the Deputy Chief of Police in Salisbury, North Carolina (2017-2020) and a Captain with the Greensboro, North Carolina Police Department where he began his career as a patrol officer in the fall of 2000.
Lane Bailey, Salisbury's city manager, was effusive in his praise for Barnes for having championed many reforms concerning reducing police use of force during his time with the department.
"Did just a fantastic job for us," Bailey said. "I cannot say enough good things."
The city manager said that between 2017 and 2019, the years during which Barnes instituted his reforms, the number of times police used force during arrests fell by half.
Barnes left Salisbury this past August for family reasons, Baily said.
Barnes was honored as a National Institute of Justice LEADS Scholar for using innovative technology to reduce crime and was recently selected as a member of the National Police Foundation’s Council on Policing Reforms and Race.
Commissioners Fabiola Hamdan and Kevin Gundlach voted against offering the job to Barnes saying that they would have preferred to give it to Ramon Batista, a former police chief in Mesa, Arizona.
Madison police reacted to the choice by releasing a statement that looked to the future.
"Acting Chief Wahl wishes to thank the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners for their hard work and due diligence over the past months as they sought the best candidate to lead an exceptional police force," the statement said. "Chief Wahl, and other members of the MPD command staff, are looking forward to working with Dr. Barnes, and are committed to making his transition to MPD and the City of Madison as smooth as possible."
Barnes' acceptance brings an end to an almost 15-month search that began after former Police Chief Mike Koval retired in September of 2019.
Vic Wahl, who was an assistant police chief under Koval, has served in the interim as acting chief.
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