As officials review widely circulated bystander videos of the of a homeless man in Madison, Wisconsin, one key perspective won鈥檛 be emerging: footage from the officers鈥� body-worn cameras.
Unlike nearly every other similarly sized city, Madison doesn鈥檛 require its police to wear them.
The absence of that footage has left residents in the dark about key moments leading up to the shooting, when police say Corey Ruiz pulled a knife during a struggle with four officers, injuring one of them. That officer then fired the shots, according to police. All four officers have been placed on administrative leave pending a state investigation.
In the meantime, the deadly encounter has reignited a contentious debate about body cameras, one that has long vexed local officials and pitted some of the city鈥檚 progressive groups against each other.
This past November, the Madison Common Council rejected a proposal to redirect funding from a police oversight group to a body-camera program. A new proposal to allocate $414,800 for a three-year roll out of the program is expected to be approved by the legislative body.
Police Chief John Patterson has the proposal as 鈥渕odest,鈥� adding that the cameras had become 鈥渆ssential tools for the modern police officer.鈥�
Law enforcement experts tend to agree and some expressed surprise that the city鈥檚 nearly 500 officers weren鈥檛 already using the cameras.
鈥淭here are very, very few agencies of that size that do not have a body-worn camera program,鈥� said Michael D. White, a criminal justice professor at Arizona State University who led training on camera adoption for the U.S. Department of Justice.
鈥淢adison has a long-standing tradition of being an innovative, progressive police department, so it鈥檚 startling,鈥� he added.
As far back as 2016, roughly 80% of police departments with 500 or more sworn officers had acquired body-cameras 鈥� a figure that White said was now approaching 100%.
Over the last decade, Madison officials have repeatedly debated adopting the cameras. Committees have borne , which have produced feasibility studies, and hours of debate.
Local officials primarily blame budget concerns, along with political inertia, for the ongoing stalemate. Another common source of opposition, identified in , came from community groups worried the cameras would be used to surveil and criminalize marginalized groups.
鈥淚 cannot approve something that doesn鈥檛 have a policy and procedure behind it that is potentially going to hinder the community more than help the community,鈥� said Veronica Figueroa, then a member of the body-worn camera subcommittee.
As camera adoption has become more widespread in recent years, those concerns have largely faded away, according to Common Council President Sabrina Madison.
But she said local officials have largely been preoccupied by another issue: finding shelter for a homeless population that has grown since the COVID-19 pandemic.
鈥淚t was like: if we鈥檙e going to figure out anything, we鈥檙e going to figure out how to fund shelter operations,鈥� Madison told The Associated Press on Thursday. 鈥淪o the last couple years, that鈥檚 where the focus has been.鈥�
The city did briefly conduct a body camera pilot program in the summer of 2024. A subsequent report found the cameras had little impact on officers鈥� behavior or the community鈥檚 feeling toward police.
Dr. Broderick Turner, an independent researcher who analyzed the program and authored the report, noted the length of the pilot 鈥� only 90 days 鈥� meant there was little time for anyone to notice a meaningful difference. And he described demographic differences in the city’s response.
鈥淏lack communities tend to want body cameras, but Madison is majority white,鈥� Turner said. 鈥淭he groups opposed were less impacted by crime and less impacted by policing.鈥�
For some in the city, Wednesday鈥檚 shooting has surfaced memories of Tony Robinson, an unarmed 19-year-old who was fatally shot by Madison police in 2015.
His death ultimately led to the creation of the Office of the Independent Police Monitor.
This past winter, Madison lawmakers shot down a budget proposal that would have paid for a body camera program by cutting funds to the monitor.
Katey Nelson, a member of the police civilian oversight board, said the amendment had presented residents with a 鈥渇alse choice.鈥�
鈥淭here are cuts that can be made with the Madison Police Department or the County Sheriff鈥檚 department, but they鈥檙e trying to pit similar agendas against each other,鈥� she said.
鈥淣obody can agree on anything,鈥� Nelson added. 鈥淣ow we鈥檙e here, looking at another police shooting where we don鈥檛 have what we need to make sure the officers are held accountable.鈥�
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