The DEA Once Touted Body Cameras for Their “Enhanced Transparency.” Now the Agency Is Abandoning Them.

An internal email obtained by ProPublica said the agency made the change to be “consistent” with a Trump executive order. But at least two other federal law enforcement agencies are still requiring body cameras.

by Mario Ariza

May 6, 2025, 3:30 pm

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The Drug Enforcement Administration has quietly ended its body camera program barely four years after it began, according to an internal email obtained by ProPublica.

On April 2, DEA headquarters emailed employees announcing that the program had been terminated effective the day before. The DEA has not publicly announced the policy change, but by early April, links to pages about body camera policies on the DEA’s website were broken.

The email said the agency made the change to be “consistent” with a Trump executive order rescinding the 2022 requirement that all federal law enforcement agents use body cameras.

But at least two other federal law enforcement agencies within the Justice Department — the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — are still requiring body cameras, according to their spokespeople. The FBI referred questions about its body camera policy to the Justice Department, which declined to comment.

https://www.propublica.org/article/drug-enforcement-administration-ends-body-camera-program-trump

No, not a body cam, a personal phone:

Renee Nicole Good said ‘I’m not mad at you’ before ICE agent shot her, video shows

Clip first posted by partisan outlet Alpha News shows perspective of ICE agent as Good was fatally shot

Ramon Antonio VargasFri 9 Jan 2026 23.50 GMT

Renee Nicole Good calmly said everything was “fine” and “I’m not mad at you” seconds before an on-duty Immigration Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot her in Minneapolis as she drove away, according to a cellphone video shared on Friday by Donald Trump’s White House.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/09/ice-agent-minneapolis-bodycam-footage

13th Jan 2026, Nev Shalev noted on Substack:

MURDER WITH IMPUNITY IS NOW POLICY

Four top prosecutors in the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division resigned last night in protest. The chief, principal deputy chief, deputy chief, and acting deputy chief all walked out after Harmeet Dhillon refused to investigate the ICE agent who killed Renee Good. This is the same unit that prosecuted the officers who murdered George Floyd and Tyre Nichols. For decades, this office has been America’s last line of accountability when federal agents kill. Dhillon—who retweeted posts justifying Good’s killing before any investigation—has now made clear: there will be none. The FBI isn’t investigating Agent Jonathan Ross. They’re investigating Good—looking for ties to “activist groups.” The message to every federal agent is unmistakable: shoot first, the DOJ has your back. Minnesota prosecutors say they can’t file state charges without evidence the FBI is now hoarding. This isn’t a cover-up. It’s the end of civil rights enforcement.