MOSCOW, September 19 (RIA Novosti) – US border patrol agents will start wearing cameras by the end of this year, as the government is trying to reduce criticism of the agents’ use of excessive force, reports CBS News.
“If they [the cameras] are used correctly by the agency, they will offer an independent account in use-of-force incidents or any type of incidents. We do have concerns; management would use them to look for administrative violations”, said Shawn Moran, a spokesperson for the border patrol agents’ union, as quoted by ABC News.
US Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gill Kerlikowske stated that cameras will be tested starting October 1 at the Border Patrol’s training academy in New Mexico. However, it is still unknown when the cameras will be introduced, and whether all 21, 000 border patrol agents working in the field will be equipped with the new technology, the Guardian said.
Although Kerlikowske believes that the introduction of cameras will help the agency address complaints about issues of transparency and the use of excessive force by border patrol agents, he is also concerned about the cost of rolling out the new technology. “Putting these [the cameras] into place, as you know, is not only complicated, it’s also expensive. We want to make sure that we do this right”, Kerlikowske said at a news conference, as quoted by AP.
Last week, the US Customs and Border Protection’s internal affairs head Mark Morgan stated that there have been 155 cases of alleged misconduct by border patrol agents since 2009, according to CBS News.
