ICE Says Every Officer Will Have Body Camera by Month’s End

Immigration and Customs Enforcement says its body-camera deployment is running ahead of schedule, with acting Director David Venturella pledging full coverage for officers before the end of the month.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom

Immigration and Customs Enforcement expects to finish equipping all of its officers with body-worn cameras by the end of the month, acting ICE Director David Venturella said, accelerating a deployment that became a point of contention during the months-long government shutdown earlier this year.

Congressional Democrats had pushed for the cameras during the shutdown, and Venturella said in a social media statement that ICE is now moving faster than originally anticipated.

“We’re committed to transparency and accountability,” Venturella said.

The acting director also challenged an Associated Press report that characterized the agency’s policy as allowing ICE to release footage only when doing so served the agency’s “best interests.” Venturella called that account “misleading” and “sensationalized,” saying the agency’s actual policy establishes circumstances in which footage may be released quickly while also protecting investigations and personal privacy.

“Here is the truth: ICE policy permits expedited release when appropriate—and clarifies that it’s not appropriate to release footage when doing so could compromise investigations or privacy,” Venturella said.

He said the approach is consistent with policies followed by other federal law enforcement agencies and with requirements under the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act.

The broader push for body cameras intensified last month when White House border czar Tom Homan announced that ICE personnel conducting traffic stops would be required to have at least one body camera among the officers involved.

Homan announced the requirement following consecutive shootings involving illegal immigrants in Maine and Texas. He said the cameras could provide the public with a direct record of what officers encountered when force was used.

“[Body cameras] exonerate more law enforcement than ​they convict, and I want officers to wear body cameras because I want the American people ​to see what the officers saw when they took that action,” Homan said in an interview with Fox.

ICE briefly suspended traffic stops before President Donald Trump publicly emphasized their importance to the agency’s enforcement operations, describing them as “one of I.C.E.’s most important and effective Crime Fighting tools.”

With the agency now saying the camera deployment is ahead of schedule, ICE expects officers nationwide to have body-worn cameras available by the end of the month.