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 / Modified oct 9, 2020 4:02 p.m.

Border Patrol agents to be equipped with body cameras

The cameras will be distributed to agents stationed along the Mexico border starting next spring. by Michel Marizco, Fronteras Desk

U.S. Border Patrol agents along the southwestern border will soon be equipped with body cameras like those used by local law enforcement.

Customs and Border Protection gave a $13 million contract to Axon Enterprises for body cameras for 3,800 border agents. They’ll be distributed to agents stationed along the Mexico border starting next spring.

The agency has been testing several platforms for at least the past six years after it started drafting up new use of force policies following a series of violent encounters between agents and civilians.

The Border Patrol’s national union has opposed agents wearing cameras, arguing in the past they don’t work well in the field.

Among the details that still need to be resolved: setting policies for when agents must turn the cameras on.

Fronteras Desk
Fronteras Desk is a KJZZ project covering important stories in an expanse stretching from Northern Arizona deep into northwestern Mexico.
MORE: Border, Fronteras Desk, Immigration, Law Enforcement, News
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