Lack of body cameras on ICE agents fuels more uncertainty over fatal shootings

After federal immigration agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens this January, the then-secretary of the Department of Homeland Security pledged to  rapidly  deploy body cameras to officers nationally.

 As funding is available, the body camera program will be expanded nationwide,  Kristi Noem wrote on social media on Feb. 2.  We will rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to DHS law enforcement across the country. 


But over five months later, the distribution of those body-worn cameras is still ongoing - and notably hadn't reached the officers involved in fatal shootings in Houston and in Maine this past week. Neither victim was the intended target of the immigrant enforcement operations, officials have said.

The lack of body cameras for these Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raises questions as to the pace and status of that national effort. In the meantime, the lack of firsthand video from federal officers - combined with DHS' recent history of false statements - has deepened skepticism of the government's narrative in these fatal shootings.

 They've got tons of money. Why they don't have body cams I think is a very fair question,  Sen. Angus King of Maine told CNN on Monday night.  That would resolve this kind of factual issue that we're going to be trying to resolve over the next several weeks here in Maine. 

The shootings this week underscore the yearslong push for body cameras, both from the public and the officers themselves. Spurred by the 2014 police shooting and ensuing unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, police forces across the country have adopted and mandated the use of body cameras, a move law enforcement experts say helps ensure safe and accountable policing.

 Law enforcement officers across the country tell me body cameras actually do them a service when it comes to controversial cases,  CNN senior correspondent and former FBI agent Josh Campbell said.

Federal agencies, however, have been slow to adopt such devices, and the Trump administration has reversed itself on 

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