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East County News Service
December 2, 2014 (San Diego) – President Barack Obama has announced a proposal to spend $75 million on equipping police officers with body cameras.
The Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) issued a statement welcoming the proposal as a “positive step toward accountability” but called on the President to also include Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the nation's largest law enforcement agency.
If the use of body-worn cameras is considered to be a best practice for police departments, then it should also apply to CBP whose officers we encounter on a day-to-day basis in our communities, the group contends.
SBCC points out that the Border Patrol has a history of abuse allegations. Since January 2010, at least 31 civilians have been killed by border officers.
Advocates believe that body-worn cameras increase trust among the public and can also reduce allegations of excessive use of force by authorities.
The Southern Border Communities Coalition represents 60 organizations from San Diego to Texas that are committed to ensuring law enforcement policies and practices are accountable and respect human rights along the southern border.
Director Christian Ramirez says, “We are encouraged by the President's commitment to the acquisition of body-worn cameras for police departments as an important policy change that will help prevent police abuse in our nation. However, border residents must remind the President that the our region is home to tens of millions of people from San Diego, California to Brownsville, Texas and should be consulted in policies that address accountability in border agencies.”
He concludes, “For this ambitious and urgently needed program to work, it is vital that the White House mandate Customs and Border Protection, the nation's largest-law enforcement agency that continues to be plagued with serious cases of misconduct, to immediately equip border agents with body-worn cameras.”
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