MADISON, Wis. — The largest city in the Midwest without police body cameras will soon have them — at least temporarily.

Police body cameras have been a contentious issue in Wisconsin’s capital city. The plan has been in the works and debated for nearly a decade.

An analysis by Lee Enterprises shows Madison is by far the largest city in the Midwest without them.

A committee was assigned to come up with a pilot program detailing how Madison should start utilizing them. They researched body camera best practices and submitted recommendations in 2021.

Now, that pilot program has finally been adopted. However, it will only apply to officers on the North Side of the city, and only for 90 days.

“There were a lot of things that were unclear to me, like what is the purpose of the body-worn camera pilot?” said Ald. Sabrina Madison, who represents District 17.

She’s one of the four aldermen who voted against the program.

“There didn’t seem to be a clear end goal, like ‘we are doing this pilot to accomplish x,’” said Madison.

She said she’d rather see the city implement projects to address the root causes of crime, like poverty and housing insecurity.

Meanwhile, after so many years of planning, some aldermen seemed frustrated and ready to give it a go.

Ald. Jael Currie represents District 16. She’d voted against other iterations of the program in the past. This time, though, she was one of the 16 aldermen who voted for it.

“I’m hoping that it provides some re-established or enhanced trust,” Currie said. “We have a pretty good police force. And hope that they are feeling a little more backed up by the council and specifically leadership implementing the pilot.”

The program will soon go into effect for officers on the North Side of the city. After those 90 days, the city will evaluate the results.