WASHINGTON, DC – The acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a statement earlier in August in response to an article published by the Associated Press which the acting director claimed was “misleading and sensationalized” regarding the outlet’s coverage on the agency’s bodycam footage release policies.
On August 7th, the Associated Press published a report written by contributor Ryan Foley titled, “ICE will release body camera video only when seen in the agency’s ‘best interests,’ policy says,” which said report frames the agency’s policies around bodycam as being one where the public will remain uninformed in the wake of critical incidents involving officers.
Foley’s report made mention of the agency working to secure bodycams for all officers by the end of September, noting said push comes in the wake of “recent fatal shootings by officers enforcing President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown,” but claimed that the taxpayer-funded endeavor would likely result in citizens being “kept in the dark about some high-profile confrontations.”
According to Foley, he reached the aforementioned conclusion by pointing to a portion of ICE’s bodycam footage release policy which reads that video would only be publicly released if “it is in the best interests of the agency.”
Acting ICE Director David J. Venturella issued a prompt response the day following the publishing of the Associated Press article, asserting the outlet was conflating two different distinct release policy scenarios which differentiate between critical incidents and general releases of footage.
“It’s disappointing, though not surprising, to see yet another misleading and sensationalized Associated Press report about ICE operations and policy. The AP fundamentally mischaracterized ICE’s body-worn camera policy by conflating the expedited release of footage following a serious bodily injury or death in custody with ICE’s broader authority to release body-worn camera footage,” Acting Director Venturella mentioned in his statement.
Acting Director Venturella continued his statement from there, pointing to the true meaning of the reportedly misinterpreted policy, while also making mention that the agency is ahead of schedule regarding the equipping of officers with bodycams.
“ICE policy permits expedited release when appropriate — and clarifies that it’s not appropriate to release footage when doing so could compromise investigations or privacy. This approach mirrors other federal law enforcement agencies’ policies and is fully consistent with the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act. At the same time, we’re committed to transparency and accountability, and we’re on track to equip every officer and agent in the field with body-worn cameras by the end of August, ahead of our original timeline,” Acting Director Venturella concluded in his statement.
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