ST. PAUL — Minnesota lawmakers waded Thursday into a thorny debate over access to footage caught on police body cameras, which aim to increase trust but have raised privacy concerns.

A police-backed proposal to put strict limits on who sees body camera videos was introduced in the House. A Senate version isn’t far behind, but even those most involved in the debate warn it’s a complex issue that may need more than one legislative session to solve.

Lawmakers are racing to catch state data laws up with the spread of cameras, which are affixed to an officer’s uniform to capture encounters with the public. They’re in use in Burnsville, Brooklyn Park, Duluth and some other places. Minneapolis is undergoing a pilot project that may be expanded department-wide. State data law now presumes most or all of that footage is public.

“There are some competing interests here. To the extent it’s public, there’s a certain amount of accountability,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Ron Latz. “But to the extent it’s public, it also could represent a significant public airing of private matters.”