The forum let police and residents discuss how body cameras should be used in the city and what policies should govern their use. Representatives with Axon, a global public safety company that manufacturers body cameras and provides Madison police with Tasers, paid for food and space at the evening forum at UW-Madison's Memorial Union.
In a final Q&A, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes assured the crowd that public input will be used to shape the city's pending use of body cameras.
"That's the purpose, I think, of experimentation," Barnes said. "What's not productive is not communicating."
Madison police leadership and the officers' union have long been in support of adopting the cameras, but local police-reform activists have opposed them, citing the desire to reduce funding for law enforcement and research that doesn't show the cameras are associated with reduced use of force by police, which is already low in Madison.
The forum comes after the City Council last month delayed a decision until April on whether to launch a 48-camera pilot program on the North Side, asking police to conduct more public engagement like the event on Thursday.
In table discussions with personnel from Axon and Madison police, participants went through case studies on "body worn cameras and transparency." One study included the 2014 murder of Laquan McDonald by Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who was convicted in the case partially based on dash cam footage.
Participants were then asked to discuss questions like "What policies would you recommend for the release of video evidence to the public?" and "What other entities beyond the public will benefit from the release of video evidence?"
Public concerns
During the discussions, residents said they were worried about the cost of a rollout of body cameras, long-term storage of the footage, officers tampering with the cameras and that their the use could lead more people to be charged with crimes.
"My conclusion is the cost and harm outweigh the benefits," said Greg Gelembiuk, who has served on the city's body-worn camera feasibility review committee.
Not being able to roll back the use of body cameras once they're implemented and a lack of ongoing community oversight is another concern for resident Nick Pjevach
"What are the ways we can say no to a tool when we realize the tool is not serving the needs?" Pjevach said.
Five representatives of Axon's community impact team were at Thursday's meeting. Axon's staff stressed they were not a part of the company's sales team and were not trying to sell their product.
Axon is not guaranteed the city's contract for the pilot program should it receive City Council approval. Under city policy, the Police Department would have to put the program to a bid. A resolution approving the pilot program is slated for consideration on April 19.
Other community outreach events on the cameras are set for the coming weeks, with an online event on Feb. 17 and a second in-person event Feb. 24 at the police department's training center. A second online event will take place March 3.
Axon's presence at the meeting caused City Council member to allege that it posed a conflict of interest since the company stands to gain a contract to provide cameras for the pilot program.
"I have no issue with a vendor demonstrating their technology at a discussion, but the fact the department thought it was OK to have that vendor pay for space and help collect data with no disclosure to the public is incredibly disturbing," Ald. Keith Furman, 19th District, said in an email to Barnes.
Madison City Attorney Michael Haas said in an email that the meeting did not violate the city's ethics code.
"The ethics code applies to public officials receiving something of value personally which is not happening here," Haas wrote.
Furman also said having Axon finance the event doesn't appear to be illegal.
"If having vendors pay for events like this isn't illegal, residents are absolutely at the very least entitled to know when it happens," Furman said.
In response to Furman, Barnes wrote in an email that he "would disagree that I have made any attempt to hide any details regarding this community meeting."
© 2022 The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Wis.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
