ICE rejects recommendation for body cameras that automatically record

The immigration agency rejects a report from a government watchdog recommending improvements to its body camera policy. The immigration agency has rejected a report from a government watchdog, making suggestions for improved body camera policy. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a United States agency that has taken a central role in President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, has rejected a government report calling for its agents to wear body cameras that automatically activate. On Wednesday, the Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan agency that provides research to Congress, released a report recommending an update to ICE guidelines for camera usage. It suggested that “automated camera activation” would be helpful in situations where “unexpected and unplanned incidents, unrelated to sensitive operations, result in use of force by or against personnel”.

“Given the important role of body-worn cameras in law enforcement activities, we maintain that additional controls are needed to help ensure that ICE personnel capture footage in accordance with policy,” the report said. Automatic activation, it added, would address difficulties ICE agents face in manually turning on their cameras during enforcement operations. But ICE has rejected the recommendation for automatic activation, which could be triggered by an agent pulling a gun or turning on a car siren. The agency cited privacy concerns. But the Trump administration faces public pressure to improve transparency