Agents with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will no longer wear body cameras during field operations after a social media post publicized how to identify individual agents.
“All U.S. Border Patrol Agents will cease the use of body-worn cameras (BWC) in all operational environments,” CBP said in a statement to NewsNation, which originally reported the news.
The directive comes after a post on Reddit claimed that the mobile application BLE Radar, which uses Bluetooth to scan for low-energy devices such as phones, smartwatches and speakers, can also track CBP body cameras from a distance of 100 yards and can also trigger improvised explosive devices.
CBP officials sent out a directive following the post informing agents of a “potential security risk” while immediately pulling body cameras from use in the field.
“Pending completion of investigation and risk mitigation, all Agents will stand down the use of their BWCs [body worn cameras] until further notice. Additional guidance and information will be disseminated as it is received,” the directive said.
Sources told NewsNation that the cameras used by CBP agents are Avon body cams, which the social media post claims are devices BLE Radar, which was developed by F-Droid, can detect.
The directive comes as both CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have ramped up enforcement efforts in the weeks since President Donald Trump took office, an effort that was a cornerstone of the president’s campaign to return to the White House.
Since the beginning of February, the daily average of gotaways, or illegal immigrants who successfully enter the U.S. without being apprehended, at the southern border has fallen to just 132 per day, a 93% drop from highs seen under former President Joe Biden, a senior Department of Homeland Security source told Fox News.
Data obtained by Fox News showed that during FY 2023, 670,674 known gotaways were recorded by the agency, or more than 1,800 per day.
CBP did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
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