Border Patrol has a history of excessive force. Critics say they’re out of their depth : NPR
People who study the Border Patrol say it continues to be less well prepared than big city police to handle crowds and situations involving protesters, some of whom are legally armed.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Staying in Minneapolis, federal officials say they are investigating the killing of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent on Saturday. CBP is conducting its own investigation amid a torrent of criticism over the agency’s use of force. Experts say immigration officers lack the policing skills needed to manage crowds in urban settings. NPR law enforcement correspondent Martin Kaste reports.
MARTIN KASTE, BYLINE: Customs and Border Protection is often considered the nation’s largest police department. And with more than 45,000 officers, it is larger than any state or local law enforcement agency. But for Americans who live far from the border, it remains unusual to see the CBP on their streets…
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: Now is not the time. Did you know?
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KASTE: …Pushing back protesters and observers and spraying irritating chemicals in their faces.
IRENE VEGA: The skills that these federal immigration agents are bringing to these cities are absolutely not what we actually need.
KASTE: Irene Vega is a sociologist at UC Irvine who has studied border agents’ attitudes toward the use of force, interviewing more than 90 of them. She says CBP has a very specific institutional culture.
VEGA: They saw themselves as very different, didn’t they? They told me they were trained to hike in the desert. You know, they often spoke to me about the arrest of 10, 15 people who were very docile.
KASTE: Minnesota officials have demanded that CBP and ICE withdraw from this type of policing. This is Governor Tim Walz on Sunday.
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TIM WALZ: It’s their job to handle immigration and customs enforcement. It is the job of law enforcement to enforce the law in Minnesota.
KASTE: There is concern that these immigration agents, who now outnumber the Minneapolis police, will be overwhelmed by this new environment. For example, after Pretti was shot, federal officials blamed him for having a gun, angering the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus. The group’s president, Bryan Strawser, said state law allows concealed carry with a permit, which police say Pretti held.
BRYAN STRAWSER: Federal agents, especially those not based in Minnesota, should be informed of our laws.
KASTE: Federal immigration agencies counter that they are forced into this crowd control role. Here’s CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott on Fox News this weekend.
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RODNEY SCOTT: The main training was going out and arresting suspects, which is already dangerous. This whole environment where the community is encouraged by local leaders to go out and stop you from making a felony arrest – it’s a new dynamic. We’re trying to move towards that.
KASTE: Local politicians encouraged protesters to be peaceful and not interfere with police officers. This is not the first time CBP has been under pressure to change. More than a decade ago, outside studies revealed excessive use of force, such as police shooting at people who threw rocks at them. The agency updated its manual in 2014 to require officers to carry less-lethal weapons, such as pepper spray. There are also changes in training. Kawika Lau, a retired federal trainer, helped shape a new approach to teaching de-escalation.
KAWIKA LAU: We teach them emotional intelligence, self-regulation, self-awareness, because you cannot bring calm to any situation if you yourself are not calm.
KASTE: But Lau cautions that these techniques are intended for one-on-one confrontations. When it comes to crowds, he’s not sure how prepared CBP is.
LAU: They may have some training and some expertise in urban operations and, you know, they work in cities, but that’s not what this position was designed for. So this is not what training is supposed to produce.
KASTE: Earlier today, Governor Walz said on social media that he had what he called a productive call with President Trump, who he said has agreed to consider reducing the number of federal agents in Minnesota. Chuck Wexler, a veteran police reform expert, told NPR yesterday that if another police department had officers involved in three shootings in as many weeks, it would stand down and reevaluate what it’s doing. He says he hopes the federal government will also consider what he calls a tactical pause in Minnesota. Martin Kaste, NPR News.
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