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  1. #1
    Administrator Jean's Avatar
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    Border commissioner, facing heat, promises changes

    Alan Gomez, USA TODAY 6 p.m. EDT October 30, 2014

    ORLANDO — The new head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection is trying to get his agency back on track amid controversies that range from deadly shootings by agents to the handling of children flooding across the border from Central America.

    Gil Kerlikowske, the former national drug czar who was confirmed as CBP commissioner in March, has changed rules that govern when agents can use deadly force, created a new review system to investigate abuses, and is pushing to get body cameras on all agents.

    During an interview with USA TODAY, Kerlikowske said those measures attempt to reverse what had become an institutional practice of secrecy when faced with questions from outside.

    "We had the perfect storm," he said during a break at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Conference here. "If you combine the lack of transparency with the concern people have raised that someone isn't being held accountable ... it really just builds and builds."


    A police officer models a body camera at a Washington, D.C., news conference on Sept. 24.(Photo: Brendan Smialowski, AFP/Getty Images)

    One of the most visible changes will be body cameras. As more police agencies rush to outfit their officers with them, Kerlikowske called the devices "a fact of life" that will soon become standard for law enforcement officers.

    His agents are currently testing the devices, which raise several concerns.

    They include determining videotaping guidelines based on varying state privacy laws, negotiating the new rules with CBP's union and the high price tag to outfit more than 21,000 agents at as much as $900 a piece

    Despite those concerns, he said it's no longer a question of whether they will be used, but how soon. "That train has left the station," said Kerlikowske, who helped implement dashboard cameras in police cars when he was chief of police in Seattle.

    Once agents start using the cameras, the videos must be made available so the public can see how agents are behaving, he said.


    A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine agent patrols near the Texas-Mexico border on Sept. 5 near McAllen, Texas.(Photo: Eric Gay, AP)

    "You can't pick and choose because it works for you or against you," he said. "It's going to have to be released."

    Among other changes Kerlikowske has implemented are new orders that agents remove themselves from situations that can escalate into deadly confrontations, such as when people from Mexico throw rocks at them over the border fence.

    The biggest changes, however, have focused on how to investigate alleged abuses by officers and how to keep the public informed.

    He praised an ongoing review by CBP investigators of cases in which agents used force against suspects. A Los Angeles Times report found that agents fired their weapons 960 times and killed 30 people over the past eight years, but no agent has been disciplined or fired for possible abuses. He said the review is examining 15 shootings in which agents may have acted inappropriately.

    Once that review is completed, he plans on training his managers to speak to the news media, "hopefully within 24 hours" of any shooting, to reveal the basics of the incident.

    "If something has gone wrong, if mistakes were made, if it was a violation of policy, it's going to come out," he said. "And I'd much rather it came out by us talking about it rather than anyone else talking about it."

    He's also considering changes to the strategy of securing the southwest border with Mexico.

    USA TODAY has reported complaints by sheriffs and residents along the border that the Border Patrol has retreated from the actual border, instead focusing its resources on highway checkpoints that can be 25 to 50 miles away. Sheriffs dislike the decision to leave the border largely unattended, while residents complain that being regularly stopped on U.S. highways for possible immigration violations is a nuisance and invasion of their privacy.

    Kerlikowske defended the approach, but said he has ordered a review to collect data on the number of arrests and drug seizures at each checkpoint to gauge how effective they really are.

    "Regardless of the number of people that you have, if they're only stationed within one or two miles of the border, you're missing a great deal of value," he said. "But are we getting the most bang for the buck at individual checkpoints? We have to look at that."

    The wave of young Central American children caught crossing the border by themselves and placed in detention for deportation has raised humanitarian concerns. He said a slowdown in crossings over the summer has given agents time to readjust and prepare for future waves.

    Kerlikowske said the agency has improved processing centers, detention space and transportation plans to ship the children to other government facilities.


    Gil Kerlikowske addresses an Oct. 11 news conference at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Officials outlined health-screening procedures for people arriving from Ebola affected countries.(Photo: Craig Ruttle, AP)

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...ints/18110249/
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  2. #2
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    I object to police coming to my house with a body camera operating, I think it violates freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. If they need a court order to tap my phone, why would I let them record at my home without a court order?

    I would request that they disengage the camera and allow me to hold it while thy are here or leave at once. More government intervention into our private lives is what this amounts to being.

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