Dane County officials are refusing to release records in a similar case after releasing a Fitchburg police shooting 911 call that shed light on the circumstances of a deadly police shooting, according to a May 28, 2025 story in The Cap Times of Madison.
The story by Danielle Duclos states Dane County officials said the 911 recording related to a Fitchburg police shooting last year was “released inadvertently” amid an open investigation by prosecutors, and moving forward, the county District Attorney’s Office may block the release of similar records.
In an email to the Cap Times, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne defended the new policy, saying the community has a strong interest in the integrity of criminal investigations and potential prosecutions of police officers.
County officials cited the new policy in April after The Cap Times requested the release of 911 call recordings related to the Dec. 31 death of Richard Johnson, 32, which remains under investigation. Johnson died shortly after being taken into custody by the Madison Police Department, according to the article.
Johnson’s family voiced frustrations over how little information it is being provided in the case and hired an attorney to search for answers.
Attorney Tom Kamenick was quoted in the article saying questioning county authorities, who need to specifically show how releasing a record would interfere with an ongoing investigation. Kamenick is the president and founder of the Wisconsin Transparency Project, a public records and open government law firm.
“That’s not meant to be a blanket exemption,” Kamenick said.
Last fall, however, Dane County authorities released a 911 call recording that provided new information about the circumstances in a deadly police shooting even while the case remained under review by Ozanne.
In August, a Fitchburg police officer fatally shot Kevin Price, 28, sparking questions about what happened before and after the shooting. Then in October, under state open records laws, local news outlet Isthmus obtained a 911 call recording as well as reports on police and ambulance dispatches for the case.
The records were released by Dane County Public Safety Communications, which falls under the county executive’s administration and is a separate agency from the District Attorney’s Office.
The records obtained by Isthmus revealed that Price was the person who called 911 for help, sounding distressed and explaining that he might be in danger. This call was the reason police were dispatched to Price’s apartment, where they shot him. Price later died.
Aaron Collins, Dane County Executive Melissa Agard’s deputy chief of staff, said after the Price records were released, Ozanne met with Luis Bixler, director of Public Safety Communications. Together, Ozanne and Bixler adopted the new policy stating Public Safety Communications would consult the district attorney before releasing records, including 911 call recordings, related to any death investigation scrutinizing police officers.
“This incident was used to update and improve (agency) practices to ensure compliance with established Wisconsin statutes,” Collins wrote in an email.
