Border Patrol to test body cameras on agents

WASHINGTON — U.S. border authorities will begin testing body cameras for its agents next month as part of the agency's response to criticism about use-of-force incidents, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said Thursday.

Kerlikowske, who also announced that the agency has been granted new authority to investigate misconduct of its own agents, said testing of the body cameras would be conducted at the Border Patrol's training academy in Artesia, N.M.

Describing camera deployment as "complicated'' and "expensive,'' the commissioner said testing at the academy was a "first step'' toward the technology's broader distribution to agents in the field.

Earlier this year, the CBP released a critical review of its handling of use-of-force incidents, concluding that some incidents lacked justification and that reviews of the agents' actions often failed to include important details.

Since last month, when the fatal shooting of a Ferguson, Mo., teenager prompted weeks of community unrest, body cameras have been touted as another check on the use of excessive force by law enforcement.

Last week, the Justice Department released guidelines for law enforcement's use of the technology. The report offered a series of recommendations that address such considerations as: the scope of camera deployment; where the camera could be located on the body (chest, collar or sunglasses); the creation of recording policies (when and when not to record); and how the data should be downloaded and stored.

"Since my confirmation, I've been committed to increasing transparency and making changes to improve accountability of the CBP work force," Kerlikowske said Thursday.

The commissioner said the agency's new internal investigative authority is "part of a larger effort to hold the workforce accountable for maintaining a high standard of integrity and aligning CBP with law enforcement best practices throughout the country."

In addition, Kerlikowske said the agency is forming an Integrity Advisory Panel, co-chaired by Karen Tandy, former administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and New York Police Commissioner William Bratton.

Jennifer Podkul, senior program officer at the Women's Refugee Commission, said the the CBP's new authority to conduct internal investigations represented "a positive first step to a more thorough and accountable procedure to investigate abuses and misconduct at our borders.

"For years, human rights advocates have called upon the government to improve the transparency of investigations at the border and we hope today marks a sea change to our nation's policies to no longer allow atrocities at the border to proceed without justice,'' Podkul said.