US ICE bodycam policy lets agency decide what footage to release

The Story in Brief

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will equip all field officers with body-worn cameras by the end of September, but its policy gives the agency wide control over releasing footage. Videos of shootings or serious injuries will be made public only when officials decide it is in ICE's 'best interests'. A committee of senior officials and lawyers will review footage after such incidents and can recommend release within 72 hours, but the ICE director can block or indefinitely delay it by citing 'specific and compelling circumstances'.

The policy follows two fatal shootings by ICE officers in Maine and Houston that were not captured on cameras. ICE spent $30.9 million in July on equipment from Axon, a Taser maker. Congress had allocated $20 million for the cameras in April. Critics, including professor Christopher Schneider, say the policy 'says the quiet part out loud' and could let the agency use cameras as image tools rather than accountability devices. Cameras have been distributed to over half of field officers.