After years of debate, Madison alders could give final OK to a police body camera pilot

After years of debate, some Madison police officers could soon be outfitted with body-worn cameras.

The Common Council could vote later this summer on final approval of a year-long body camera pilot program. Over the course of the study, 48 officers in the capital city’s north policing district would wear the devices.

Eventually, the results of the pilot could pave the way for widespread and long-term adoption of body camera use among Madison’s officers, but not all city officials are on board with that outcome.

Some alders have raised concerns about costs. Others worry the cameras could lead to over-surveillance and over-policing of residents.

In a close decision last year, the council voted 11-9 to give its preliminary go-ahead to a body camera pilot program. But that resolution stated any final approval was dependent on review by the City Attorney’s Office of a policy that governs camera use.

Since then, nine new alders have joined the council.

Officials earmarked $83,000 for the pilot in Madison’s 2023 capital budget. And a final resolution to authorize the pilot was introduced at this week’s council meeting and referred to Madison’s Police Civilian Oversight Board and its Public Safety Review Committee.

Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes supports the pilot, and says the cameras will improve transparency while holding police and the public accountable. Currently, Madison’s police department uses dashboard cameras on vehicles, but the only officers who use body-worn cameras are those on the motorcycle unit or the city’s SWAT team.

That makes the city an outlier in the region. It’s the only law enforcement agency in Dane County without body cameras, according to a memo submitted by Barnes to the council.

In 2021, more than 60 percent of the Wisconsin law enforcement agencies who responded to a Department of Justice survey reported that their officers used body-worn cameras.

Body cameras have been a contentious issue in Madison for close to a decade.

In 2015, Matt Kenny, a white Madison police officer, fatally shot Tony Robinson Jr., an unarmed biracial 19-year-old, after responding to complaints about a man who was acting erratically.

The Dane County District Attorney later determined the officer’s conduct was lawful, after an investigation by Wisconsin’s Division of Criminal Investigation concluded Kenny opened fire after Robinson assaulted the officer.

Officials released dashboard camera footage from Kenny’s patrol car, but he was not wearing a body camera. The shooting sparked protests demanding police reform, with some people calling on Madison officers to start using body cameras.