Progressives Withheld Body Cameras From Madison Police
MPD has long wanted its officers to wear body cameras. Progressive activists and city council members stood in the way.
On July 22, Madison resident Corey Ruiz was fatally shot by a Madison police officer. The details from the incident are limited, and only shaky video footage exists. However, that has not stopped people from making claims about the shooting. For some, the video showed a man executed by police without justification. For others, it was a classic example of an officer acting in self-defense against an armed assailant.
This incident has made one thing clear: The Madison Police Department should require its officers to wear body cameras. The reality is that MPD has long wanted its officers to wear them, but Madison progressives stood in the way. That is the view of former mayor Paul Soglin, who argued that the City of Madison has failed to provide funding for body cameras because “the police want it.”
The first major push for body cameras happened after the fatal shooting of Tony Robinson by a Madison police officer in 2015. After that shooting, the Madison community was searching for answers. The public wanted to know what happened before the shooting, how the police interacted with Robinson, and if the police were ever in immediate danger. Without any body camera footage, the public was left with more questions than answers.
The police department wanted to implement cameras, but they first needed the funding. However, as public opinion was being gathered, it was clear the Madison community wasn’t in favor of body cameras. “After the information from the forums was tallied, it was indisputable, black and brown people don’t want body cameras in their communities,” said one community activist.
While progressive leaders wanted police reform, they did not think body cameras went far enough. They believed people would become complacent after minor reforms and would give up fighting for the changes many of the activist groups wanted. This ultimately led to Madison’s Community Policing and Body Camera Ad Hoc Committee voting against recommending a body camera pilot program in September 2015. “Right now we need to pay attention to the concerns of the community first. Take care of that, then possibly move forward in the future with the use of body cameras,” Committee chair Veronica Lazo said about the vote.
Another factor in the failure of body camera policies was the belief that they wouldn’t change how police acted. “The real question is who has the power to interpret the footage and frankly, who has the power to make a determination of wrongdoing?” said a leader of activist group Freedom Inc.
One of the most common concerns expressed by progressives was that the cameras would be used to surveil citizens. A 2021 feasibility study cited concerns regarding “the expansions of surveillance and intrusions upon privacy, the financial cost of BWCs and data storage, and data suggesting that BWCs expand criminalization of marginalized populations.”
Proposal after proposal to give the police department funding for body cameras failed, with the exception of a 90-day pilot program in 2024. Last November, the Madison Common Council rejected a plan to fund body cameras because it would have taken funding away from an independent office tasked with monitoring police actions. The council is now faced with a proposal to allocate $414,000 for a three year roll out program, which is long overdue.
All of this came even as the police department was open to a policy requiring officers to wear body cameras. “If the department is provided direction (and funding) to expand the use of body-worn cameras we will implement the program as effectively and efficiently as possible,” the Madison police department stated in 2018.
Since 2015, Madison has become an outlier. While Madison police do wear cameras in limited circumstances, they simply do not have the funding to implement them broadly. Almost all major police departments have instituted mandatory body cameras because they understood something the Madison community didn’t: Body cameras lead to more transparency and accountability.
Take the 2021 shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio. The police report stated Bryant had a knife and was attempting to stab an innocent bystander. The public was skeptical at first and many did not trust that the police report told the full story.
Protesters gathered in the streets of Columbus to protest and the situation was getting to a tipping point. However, body camera footage came out within hours, clearly showing Bryant was lunging at another person with a knife when the officer fired the first shot. The video mostly stopped the controversy before it got out of hand. It was clear to anyone who watched it that the use of force was, unfortunately, justified.
Body cameras don’t just help exonerate good cops. They also help root out bad ones. One example is the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols by Memphis Police in January 2023. The initial police report said Nichols attempted to fight the officers and even at one point tried to grab one of their guns. Like the Bryant incident, the public wasn’t convinced this is how the encounter went down, and their suspicions ended up being correct.
Body camera video didn’t substantiate the police report’s claims. Not only that, it showed the police attempting to beat Nichols multiple times while he never struck back at the cops and was even complying with their commands. After the video was released and an investigation was completed, six officers involved in the beating were fired. The footage allowed the public to understand what actually happened and ensured the blatantly false police report wouldn’t be the only side of the story heard.
Body cameras don’t just help with transparency. Some studies have also shown they can lead to a decrease in complaints over an officer’s use of force. A study performed by the Boston Police Department found there was a decrease in citizen complaints against police officers and their use of force. While there isn’t a causal relationship between body cameras and use of force, it has become evident they at least help to alleviate a lack of trust between the public and police.
Body cameras for the Madison Police Department are long overdue. There have been too many incidents of shootings where details are murky and police have to rely on evidence that lacks the conclusiveness of officer videos. There is no reason to continue holding out on small reforms solely because Madison progressives believe bigger reforms must come in the future.
Body cameras are a step in the right direction toward more public trust in law enforcement. They ensure the right information gets out so people aren’t left to make assumptions about these situations solely based on their preexisting notions about law enforcement.
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