Border Patrol agents have shot their guns four times so far this fiscal year, including two of them in the Tucson sector, newly released data show.
Customs and Border Protection released sector-specific use of force statistics today, six months after reporting national numbers. The largest law enforcement agency in the country will also update the number of incidents on a monthly basis, broken down by sector and by branch.
CBP also announced Thursday that it is seeking industry input on body and vehicle-mounted cameras. The fiscal year 2017 budget calls for $5 million to be spent, including getting the camera system and developing the agencyβs policy.
βThis solicitation for information on available technology is an important step in CBPβs efforts to determine how expanded camera usage can benefit our agency,β Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske said in a news release.
CBP wants to look into using the cameras for areas at and between the ports of entry, including checkpoints, outbound operations and other high-risk areas, the release said.
CBP has come under increasing scrutiny for its use of force. Over the last five years, agents and officers have killed at least 40 people.
Since fiscal year 2011, use of force incidents dropped about 36 percent nationwide from more than 1,000 to 756 last fiscal year. So far this year, CBP reported 281 use of force incidents. The vast majority β 185 incidents β involved a βless-lethal device.β
In Tucson, Border Patrol agents have used less-lethal weapons in 30 occasions. And so far this year 26 of them were labeled as βother,β which can include a physical strike or the use of their vehicle.
In January, a Border Patrol agent shot and wounded a suspected drug smuggler near the Arizona-New Mexico border, the latest shooting here.
But nearly three months later, neither CBP nor the Department of Justice has released any additional information, including the name or nationality of the person who was shot, the number of times he was shot or his medical condition.
