Border Patrol agents work in dangerous situations which can lead to tragic consequences like the shooting death and wounding of agents in Arizona . There is no justification for such violence targeting law enforcement officers. Yet there is also a crisis regarding use-of-force by Customs and Border Protection that is severely damaging the agency鈥檚 integrity (CBP is the Border Patrol鈥檚 parent and includes officers who work at ports of entry). The many recorded incidents of CBP and abuses demand a comprehensive, independent investigation of CBP policies and practices, as requested by , the , and the . A permanent, arm鈥檚-length oversight commission for CBP must also be created.
It鈥檚 not every day that the President of Mexico implies that an American law enforcement agent committed criminal homicide. This past weekend, the asked 鈥渉ow many Americans have heard of Guillermo Ar茅valo Pedroza? He was killed [in September] by a bullet fired from a U.S. Border Patrol boat while picnicking with his wife and two young girls on the south side of the Rio Grande, near Laredo, Texas. 鈥楴othing happened in the legal institutions of this country,鈥� [Mexican President] Calder贸n says with evident restraint, noting that another 14 Mexicans have been killed in roughly similar ways this year alone. 鈥楾his father was not trying to cross the border, he was trying to pass a good day with his kids.鈥欌��
The Border Patrol agents claimed rocks were being thrown at them from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, although 鈥淸a] posted online by a Nuevo Laredo news organization showed the shooting, but didn鈥檛 show any rock throwing.鈥� from Laredo are that Mr. Ar茅valo died in the arms of his 9-year-old daughter. Disputed facts aside, a cross-border shooting seems an inappropriate and unnecessary escalation of force.
Fatal Border Patrol shootings have occurred with dismaying frequency; others reported extensively include (near Brownsville, Texas on July 7, 2012); U.S. citizen , 19, shot in the back three times while allegedly fleeing to Mexico (near Douglas, Arizona on March 21, 2011); and 15-year-old Sergio Adri谩n Hern谩ndez Guereca (near El Paso, Texas on June 7, 2010).
CBP can鈥檛 ignore systemic use-of-force problems because of pending confidential investigations into individual cases. The agency must instead engage with the public and make clear whether or not it abides by best law enforcement practices, such as training agents to prioritize de-escalation techniques and equipping agents with protective gear that reduces their risk of injury and corresponding need to use potentially deadly force. Moreover, CBP should explain in detail what disciplinary actions it takes for violations of use-of-force policies and what plans it has to install officer, hold room, and dashboard-mounted cameras to record its operations. If CBP use-of-force policies and investigation protocols differ from best practices, these differences must be publicly justified.
CBP鈥檚 credibility is on the line: while the agency stays the course of silence its questionable use-of-force cases keep accumulating. Last weekend, in San Diego, an American citizen mother of five was shot dead by a plainclothes Border Patrol agent. The Border Patrol鈥檚 is that the agent 鈥渨as carried several hundred yards [on the hood of the car] before he discharged his weapon through the windshield of the vehicle.鈥� Multiple published accounts contradict this version of events; , 鈥淸w]itness Ashley Guilbeau told KMFB-TV that the plainclothes agent walked toward the front of the car shooting 鈥榓bout 12 times鈥� without identifying himself: 鈥榃ithout her even able to say a word, I didn鈥檛 hear anything, [he] just came across and just shot at the windshield many times.鈥欌��
Earlier this year, PBS鈥檚 featured the death in May 2010 of Anastacio Hern谩ndez Rojas, who left behind a widow and five U.S.-born children in San Diego. PBS obtained eyewitness video of what are alleged to be five Tasings by CBP officers of a man handcuffed and surrounded by about a dozen agents, one of whom appears to have his knee on the man鈥檚 neck. The words 鈥渜uit resisting鈥� are heard over the prone man. The coroner鈥檚 office classified Mr. Hern谩ndez Rojas鈥檚 death as a homicide, noting in addition to his heart attack: 鈥渟everal loose teeth; bruising to his chest, stomach, hips, knees, back, lips, head and eyelids; five broken ribs; and a damaged spine.鈥� CBP鈥檚 version of events a 鈥渃ombative鈥� person: force was needed to 鈥渟ubdue the individual and maintain officer safety.鈥� It took two years 鈥� and PBS鈥檚 broadcast of the video 鈥� for a to be convened.
Americans don鈥檛 know what really happened in any of these cases. The 老澳门开奖结果 is certain, however, that use-of-force incidents like those described must not be swept under the carpet without full CBP transparency. CBP proudly declares itself to be the largest law enforcement agency in the United States; that mantle carries responsibility to be accountable to the American public.
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