Border Patrol to test body-camera use

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Border Patrol will begin testing body-worn cameras on agents next month, the head of its parent agency said Thursday, a step toward seeing if the technology should be used in the field as the government seeks to blunt criticism about agents’ use of force.

R. Gil Kerlikowske, Customs and Border Protection commissioner since March, said a variety of cameras will be tested beginning Oct. 1 at the Border Patrol’s training academy in Artesia, New Mexico.

He didn’t say when or even if cameras will be introduced to the roughly 21,000 agents in the field.

“Putting these into place, as you know, is not only complicated, it’s also expensive,” Kerlikowske said at a news conference. “We want to make sure that we do this right.”

Kerlikowske, a former Seattle police chief, has moved more aggressively than his predecessors to address complaints that Customs and Border Protection is slow to investigate incidents of deadly force and alleged abuses by agents and inspectors.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Thursday that he gave Customs and Border Protection authority to investigate possible criminal misconduct by its agents and inspectors. Previously, Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated such complaints before Customs and Border Protection could.

Kerlikowske acknowledged Thursday that cameras raise a host of privacy issues and said their introduction must be negotiated with the agents’ union.