KRVGMcALLEN – A new piece of equipment is causing concern among some Border Patrol agents.
The agents soon will be outfitted with body cameras. The spokesman for the agent’s union says he is concerned the cameras will be used more to reprimand agents on minor agency violations rather than catching illegal aliens committing crimes.
Many law enforcement officers in the Rio Grande Valley already use the cameras. The San Juan and Rio Grande City police departments outfitted their officers with the new technology.
Officers activate the cameras for traffic stops, search warrants and any time they’re in contact with the public.
Officials with Customs and Border Protection say the cameras will be used to stop agents from using excessive force on the job.
National Border Patrol Council Local 3307 Vice President Chris Cabrera said he worries the agency will use the cameras to catch agents committing minor policy violations, not major crimes.
“What I would hate to see is our agents second guessing themselves because there’s a camera on them,” Cabrera said.
The cameras also would capture assaults on agents. In the past year, at least six agents in the Valley have been physically attacked while in the field.
Cabrera says the cameras could help prove the assault cases, but he’s not sure they’d be used that way.
“One would hope that that’s how they would use it. Unfortunately, we see agents get assaulted with other agents as witnesses, with civilian witnesses, even with some of the detainees witness it, we’ve seen agents with multiple injuries, and most of the time nobody follows up on it,” Cabrera said.
The roll out will start slowly, with agents at the academy testing them to see how they work with the unique demands of Border Patrol.
http://www.krgv.com/news/border-patrol-union-concerned-about-body-cameras/
If I were a betting man, there may be a flood of police brutality videos on the street soon. Buy early and save some bucks that continue to devalue as we speak. Happy Trails in La La Land.
The spokesman for the agent’s union says he is concerned the cameras will be used more to reprimand agents on minor agency violations rather than catching illegal aliens committing crimes.
Then I say, if the (trained) officers are reprimanded on minor violations, they deserve it…I always wear my seatbelt, but I was driving from the residential nearby store, 2 blocks from my house, residential street, cant go over 20 MPH, and I did not put it on..It was ridiculous. I got a ticket. My first traffic ticket in 20 years…If the officers dont break the rules then they have nothing to worry about.
Funny, they dont want cameras so that minor infractions are not caught on tape. But the average american is being video taped, NSA spying 24/7.
You get the point.
just have one of your other cop / border patrol guys shoot out your partners body cam.. problem solved lol
I mean they need the target practice so they can effectively kill fido the poodle and take guns away from little ol ladies