There is no sign that indicates the U.S. government will ask for funds to equip border agents with body cameras in the next few months; this is a fact that worries human rights organizations.
President Barack Obama will present his last government budget bill to be approved by Congress in February, and up until today, there are no funds considered for that technology, which has been required by activists as a tool to prevent police abuse incidents.
Recently, Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Gil Kerlikowske announced that more studies will be made to determine the viability of this technology, which will be extended to officers at safety catches, sea operations, and land ports of entry. They are also analyzing the possibility of using them in patrol cars.
“We will develop policies that will reflect technology requirements, privacy concerns, training implications, union and budget negotiations”, stated the commissioner on a press release issued a few weeks back.
Authorities think this initiative would also benefit the agency since it promotes transparency and accountability, apart from providing evidence in the case of wrong accusations, and it would avoid police abuse cases.
CBP indicated that before implementing this program, questions regarding privacy protocols, image storage, officers training and costs should be addressed.
This announcement gets here after a year of pilot testing at different points of the U.S. border, which is why activists do not like the idea of this new delay
“(it seemed like) a strategy for the clock to run and pass this issue over to the next president”, considers Christian Ramirez, director for the Border Communities Coalition.
Because of this, organizations that are a part of this coalition have looked to get closer to the presidential candidates in order to emphasize the importance of this issue; so far, only democrat Bernie Sanders has included the use of cameras in his migratory proposal.
“It is an important step”, said the activist. “Not only is he the first candidate to have broken down a platform on migratory issues, but he is also the first presidential candidate to stand in favor of demilitarization of the border, at least, in the past twenty years”.
Debate on the use of this technology with federal agents reopens after having 42 abuse cases registered at the border, and only one on which charges were pressed against the responsible officer.
Parallel to this, dozens of security agencies in the United States have decided to implement this measure, after incidents such as death of young Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in the hands of a police officer.
In San Diego, the Police Department has already equipped around a thousand officers with this kind of cameras, which has resulted on a 23% decrease on citizen’s complaints.
