The Madison City Council voted Tuesday to move ahead with a pilot program testing police body camera technology use by Madison’s north side police officers, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. Debate on the council floor lasted until around 11:45 p.m.
The move by the council, with a favorable vote of 16–4, greenlit the 90-day program despite some members’ voiced concerns about the police department’s plans for the initiative, potentially setting the city back from full deployment of the cameras.
Among council objections was the complaint that some of the pilot program guidelines stray from recommendations made by a committee that drafted how the technology should work in the city.
There are also fears that the use of cameras will lead to more people of color being charged with low-level offenses as prosecutors gain access to the footage. Supporters of the cameras, however, recognize that cameras alone will not address racial disparities in the local criminal justice system; instead, they say the technology will bring a layer of necessary transparency.
Madison is the Midwest’s largest community to hold out against the use of body cameras, according to a recent analysis of 71 Midwest law enforcement agencies by Lee Enterprises.
