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ICE will limit public release of body camera footage

newsAug 7, 202634195

Immigration and Customs Enforcement will equip field officers with body-worn cameras by the end of September, but its February 2025 policy says footage will be released to the public only when doing so is “in the best interests” of the agency. The policy requires officers to activate cameras during routine enforcement activities such as arrests, search warrants and emergency responses, and it mandates a review by a committee of top ICE officials and lawyers after shootings or other encounters that cause death or serious injury. If the committee recommends release, recordings could come out within 72 hours; the ICE director, however, can block or indefinitely delay release for unspecified “specific and compelling circumstances.” The policy also requires redaction of officers’ faces, names and badge numbers to preserve privacy. Experts including Christopher Schneider warned that spelling out agency image interests gives ICE broad discretion to selectively disclose footage, and taxpayers funding the tens of millions of dollars for the cameras may not see footage of some high-profile confrontations. Practices elsewhere vary, with some cities routinely releasing bodycam video within set timeframes while others rarely use discretion to disclose footage.

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