“We are blessed in this sense, a lot of the communities that are going to the cameras are starting from a position of mistrust,” Koval said. “I really don’t think we have the same sort of manifest mistrust in our city toward our police as a lot of those communities.”

A handful of Madison residents came to the meeting Tuesday night to testify both for and against the body cameras. Those in favor echoed the idea of enhanced accountability both for officers and the people they interact with. Those against the idea argued that there is strong police distrust, particularly among “black and brown” people — and that won’t be solved by adding body cameras or giving more money to police.

“I think the community engagement piece is going to give us a much better understanding of what body cameras will mean for our city,” said District 5 Ald. Shiva Bidar-Sielaff. “The issue of trust in the Latino community is a huge issue, and it makes people not even want to call the police.”

Koval said he has talked to Lester Moore, a neighborhood police officer in the Darbo-Worthington area who thinks the cameras will have a chilling effect.

“He’s sort of petrified at what the implications of cameras will do in terms of relational abilities,” Koval said.