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Eric Toney On Police Body Cameras
The Republican candidate for attorney general in Wisconsin says Madison’s officer-involved shooting shows the need for police body cameras.
Madison is currently the only major city in Wisconsin that doesn’t allow its officers to wear body cameras. Toney said having cameras would give investigators and the public a lot more information about Wednesday’s deadly shooting.
“If the city of Madison is serious about transparency, at their next [city council] meeting the first thing they should be doing is approving body cameras for their officers,” Toney said during an interview on News Talk 1130 WISN.
Madison Police have asked for body cameras, but city leaders have resisted.
Madison Common Council President Sabrina Madison said the city council voted against a body camera plan last year because of cost.
But she said this week's shooting has city leaders reconsidering.
"I do think, over the last two or three years maybe, that the push to now implement body-worn cameras has picked back up," she said.
Madison's mayor said she plans to include body camera money in her next city budget.
Toney said body cameras are always a key part of any investigation into any officer involved shooting.
“Because that [video] would have some key evidence that would have been reviewed by DCI as they look into the investigation.”
Madison’s police chief on Thursday said the case is being investigated as a homicide, but Toney said that’s not the proper way to frame it.
“They’re not called homicide investigations, I’m not sure why the police chief described it as that,” Toney added. “There is a specific statute that mandates what these investigations are.”
The law requires at least two investigators from an outside agency, and a prosecutor’s review. Both the Wisconsin Department of Justice and Madison’s Police Civilian Oversight Board have said they are investigating the shooting.
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