Madison police shooting: Department lacks bodycams, stirs debate
Madison Police Department lacks bodycams for officers
All of Wisconsin's largest police departments have body cameras except one…Madison. Now a new debate has erupted after last week’s police shooting and death of Corey Ruiz.
MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin's largest police departments have body cameras except one – Madison. A new debate erupts over why the city doesn’t have them after last week’s fatal police shooting of Corey Ruiz.
Madison is the state’s second-largest police department, according to federal data. It is the only department of the state’s largest 15 police departments without body cameras.
Milwaukee started phasing them in 2015. West Allis got a federal grant and then officers there started wearing them in 2017. Racine officers have worn them since 2019. The Green Bay Packers helped their city buy body cameras.
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A FOX6 analysis of federal data identified the state’s 20 largest departments. Of the 20, only Madison doesn’t have body cameras. Manitowoc officers do have some, but FOX6 hasn’t yet confirmed if all Manitowoc officers wear them.
Madison police shooting: Corey Ruiz's prior history with police
The Madison police shooting of Corey Ruiz is under investigation. Public records shed light on previous interactions he had with law enforcement.
Ongoing debate
The backstory:
Madison has debated body cameras in the past and decided against them. Now, city leaders say that is going to change.
"Why don’t we have cameras? Before we got this far, the community did not want us to have cameras just yet, without some things in place. So, the community advocated against implementation of body-worn cameras for some years. And then more importantly, more recently, the community took a different turn and supports body worn cameras," said Madison Common Council President Sabrina Madison.
"Before we implement a full body-worn camera program, it’s very important for us to have the correct policies in place. I know there’s been some discussion about that in the past, and in the public. That is something I have communicated to the chief. And I hope the council will be involved in crafting that policy," said Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway.
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The Madison mayor and Common Council president both say they are confident this year the council will approve funding for body cameras. The mayor says her upcoming budget proposal will include that money for the first time. However, that new budget doesn't go into effect until January 2027.
Madison had a 90-day pilot program for body cameras in 2024. In addition, squad cars have dash cameras.
Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Jason Calvi and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from crunching federal law enforcement statistics, digging into state and city records along with FOX6 reporting for the 20 largest departments. The story also includes information from Madison Common Council President Sabrina Madison and Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway.