Agents with FBI, DEA and US Marshals Service will be first to use body cams.
— Phoenix and Detroit field offices of ATF will kick off the effort, on planned operations.
Federal agents with the U.S. Department of Justice have started wearing body cameras when carrying out preplanned law enforcement operations, such as serving arrest warrants and conducting warranted searches.
The Justice Department announced Wednesday that it was beginning the first phase of its body camera rollout for federal agents, nearly a year after permitting non-federal law enforcement officers working on federal task forces to use the cameras.
Agents operating out of the Phoenix and Detroit field offices for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives became the first federal agents to wear body cameras, according to a news release.
Some agents with the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service will begin wearing cameras “over the course of the next several weeks.”
In June, a report from the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General found the agency “generally unprepared” to roll out its own program.
Though the department spent $115 million over the past decade for state, local and tribal law enforcement to build their own body camera programs, according to the report, it did not have one of its own.
As of 2016, about 60% of U.S. law enforcement agencies had at least some body cameras, according to the report. Among agencies with at least 500 full-time officers, 80% had body cameras. Seven states mandate the use of body cameras by law enforcement officers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco issued a directive June 7, requiring DOJ agencies to develop policies for using body cameras within 30 days.
The report noted that calls for use of body cameras have increased as the country grapples with questions about excessive use of force from police officers. Last summer, protests erupted in response to the police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky.
Body camera footage was among the evidence used in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for Floyd’s murder.
The inspector general’s report said operational costs of using body cameras were among the “areas of concern” identified in the audit.
The Justice Department said Wednesday its plan would have a “phased implementation” and would “rely upon Congress to secure the necessary funding to equip agents nationwide” with body cameras.
The department did not immediately respond to questions about the cost of the program, the number of agents that would receive body cameras and the length of time it would take to roll the cameras out to all agents.
“Law enforcement is at its most effective when there is accountability and trust between law enforcement and the community. That is why we have expanded our body worn camera program to our federal agents, to promote transparency and confidence, not only with the communities we serve and protect, but also among our state, local and Tribal law enforcement partners who work alongside our federal agents each day,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
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