Body camera mandate for federal agents in Minnesota may take months to roll out
The Associated Press reports one of its photographers witnessed several federal agents arresting a car full of activists at gunpoint Tuesday morning in south Minneapolis. None of the agents were wearing body cameras.
This incident comes one day after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the agency is "deploying body cams" to all field agents in Minneapolis "effective immediately."
However, an official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement's St. Paul field office says it may take as long as six months to equip the estimated 2,000 agents in the state involved in Operation Metro Surge.
In a declaration filed in an ongoing lawsuit against Homeland Security, the official said ICE would need at least 180 days to set up software, equipment and training protocols. The official also noted that as of mid-January, there were no body worn cameras physically located in the St. Paul field office.
Scott Sweetow, former special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' St. Paul operations, says the directive from the top may speed up the process, but it won't happen overnight.
"I would be surprised if it actually took six months," Sweetow said. "I think this is going to really help restore some of the loss of confidence between federal law enforcement and the public."
The current body worn camera policy for ICE shows agents must turn them on manually before certain kinds of operations. Border Patrol has a similar policy, but both note that there are not nearly enough cameras for all of their officers to wear them nationwide.
WCCO learned that there is body camera footage of Border Patrol agents shooting and killing Alex Pretti. But a week and a half since his death, that video has not been made public.
Noem says the body camera policy will extend nationwide once funding is available. It's important to note that last year, a Republican-led Congress set aside about $170 billion for immigration enforcement and border security, including an extra $75 billion for ICE.
ICE has not responded to WCCO's questions on body worn cameras.
