A border-state senator is pressuring Senate Democrats and Republicans behind the scenes to include millions in funding that would allow the country’s largest law enforcement force to put body cameras on personnel working along the border.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a first-term Democrat from Arizona, sent a letter last week to the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, of which she is a member.
In the Oct. 16 letter, Sinema described how law enforcement organizations across the country had employed the new technology, but the 60,000-person U.S. Customs and Border Protection within the Department of Homeland Security has not followed suit despite years of debate and internal research.
“Nationally, almost 300,000 state and local law enforcement officers have embraced the use of body-worn cameras, and more than 60 percent of all police departments nationwide have in-car cameras,” Sinema wrote in a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner.
The Democrat-controlled House in June included $21 million for body cameras in the 2020 DHS appropriations bill. “This funding should be included in any final FY20 DHS Appropriations bill,” Sinema wrote. “The $21 million will ensure CBP has the resources to begin deploying a technology already widely accepted by local law enforcement.”
A source familiar with CBP’s position on body cameras said the agency is supportive of the funding and rolling the devices into operations. However, the agency has not publicly endorsed the move, nor has the White House.
CBP did not answer an email request on whether it wants to see the measure passed. However, earlier this month, the agency released a formal Request For Information (RFI) for “Body-Worn Cameras in Support of Incident-Driven Video Recording Systems,” indicating it is looking for a contractor if the funding can pass the Senate.
Following the request, media reports stated CBP was looking for technology capable of capturing people’s faces and identifying them.
“The RFI specifically states that facial recognition is not a required feature for IDVRS implementation,” CBP spokesman Matthew Dyman wrote in an email Wednesday evening. “While CBP does not plan to use facial recognition as part of IDVRS at this time, CBP will continue to monitor developments in facial recognition technology to determine whether it could be incorporated into IDVRS in the future.”
CBP, which is comprised of Border Patrol, Air and Marine Operations, and Office of Field Operations at ports of entry, has been looking since 2014 into whether and how it would incorporate body cameras into agents’ and officers’ work. Congress funded one such study in fiscal 2017.
Sinema said the agency’s responsibilities are massive, and on an average day, employees across the agency inspect 1 million visitors, screen 57,000 cargo containers, and seize six tons of illegal drugs. CBP’s website describes altercations, including shootings by agents, while interacting with the public. CBP does not publish annual data on the number of people they kill while performing their duties.
Body cameras were increasingly employed following public outcry over police officer’s actions while on the job. Cameras range from $129 to $900 and are meant to be turned on and left on throughout the shift.
