mamacita - 9-9-2006 at 10:58 AM
Has anyone had trouble renewing or using their Sentri pass lately. A friend of mine has had a Sentri pass for about 4 or 5 years. Last time he
crossed the border - they took his pass and transponder and said his pass was revoked. Told him to come into the office to find out why in two weeks.
He went in last week and they asked about his criminal record. He'd stated on the form when he'd renewed his pass two months - as always - that 45
years ago as a 21 year old - he'd been arrested and put in jail for 3 hours - in an incident at a bar. That explanation had been accepted - but now
they are saying that unless he can bring in a form from the police saying he was not convicted - he is ineliglble for a Sentri pass. The said anyone
who has ever had a negative experience with law enforcement must prove they were not convicted of a crime. Effective as of July 2006.
Phil C - 9-9-2006 at 02:13 PM
How do you prove that you were not convicted of a crime 45 years ago? I can see that they coud prove you were convicted, but howdo you you go about
proving youself inocent if no charges are filed and there no records?
pinchegringo - 9-9-2006 at 03:04 PM
Sounds like another great example of Homeland Security. We'll take away anybody's Sentri pass unless you can prove yourself innocent.
schatzi - 9-10-2006 at 07:58 AM
I had my sentri yanked as well, after 4 or 5 years of use and 2 renewals. I met with a supervisor. As it turns out, 5 new rules came into effect from
homeland security july 15th. One of them stateing that any sentry pass holder can have 0 convictions in your life time. The supervisor told me that
aprox 15 a day are being revoked. I had renewed mid May. It seems like people with fresh files are getting it first. I have friends that have renewed
slightly more early than me with convictions and not yanked yet, and some that had fresh renewals yanked. It sounds like it is a matter of time for
all with any conviction what so ever. The supervisor also stated that their is a chance that the rule could change back down the road. He also stated
that is the way it has always been for the sentri at the Canadian border and they wanted to make everything the same.
Between the sieners wiping out the fishing off Ensanada, the violence on the toll road, the sentri crap, the rent more than doubled at our trailer
park Kings Cornitas in the last two years, we are finding our selves definatly loosing interest in going down.
When you have the option to boat and play out of Newport and do Catalina or drive for three hours to Mexico and take a chance of getting shot and
robbed on the toll, pooooor offshore fishing, we are saying more and more why go.
So for now when we return from Mexico my wife with a squeaky clean record will drive the truck thrue sentri, and I will walk or ride a scooter across
the border
When in Doubt, LIE !
MrBillM - 9-10-2006 at 09:20 AM
An arrest by local authorities wherein no charges at all are filed, especially over 40 years ago, is not going to be on record in the Federal system
or anywhere else. It is foolish to ever list said arrest on any legal form.
Speaking from experience, in my teens and 20s, on a few occasions I spent up to 72 hours in local jails with no charges filed and have NEVER listed
those when asked. That includes enlistment forms when I joined the military. There was also an occasion in my 30s where I was taken into custody,
but not arrested. I have never had any negative feedback. On two occasions, I was subject to a security check to obtain a "Top Secret" security
clearance, first by the USAF and second by North American Aviation, without any problems.
[Edited on 9-10-2006 by MrBillM]
schatzi - 9-10-2006 at 09:36 AM
When I originaly applied for sentri the first time I was denied for not disclosing a arrest that I never was convicted for that happened 30 years ago
that I had completely forgotten about, In fact the charge against me droped4 days after the arrest. Sentry told me what it was and gave me the arrest
info so I could reapply. They know a lot more than you think, unbelievable actualy.
Personal Experience
MrBillM - 9-10-2006 at 09:44 AM
We can all only speak from our personal experience in this sort of situation, but I would have to think that mine would be the more common, given the
lack of coordinated record keeping among local, state and Federal law enforcement that many years back.
Back in 1988, as a result of alcohol and fatigue, I made a nuisance of myself at a secondary inspection coming back from Baja. I spent three hours
"detained" by U.S. Customs in Calexico while they ran my ID through every available data base, including Interpol, hoping to find a reason to "Punish"
me. Finding nothing, they let me go, after I had to reload EVERYTHING in the back of my truck.
rts551 - 9-10-2006 at 09:49 AM
Arrests without charges do stay on a record. How far back depends on the ability at the time to record them.
rts551 - 9-10-2006 at 09:52 AM
Mr Bill
You are lucky. Having reviewed many security clearances for The USAF, there are many minor arrests that show up on peoples records that they have
long forgotten about - depends on whether you were arrested or just "detained".
dean miller - 9-10-2006 at 10:00 AM
Schatzi-- (A great German term of endearment!)
re: Kings Corinitas-- a personal questions--1) What is the current rent for your space? 2) What is your space number?
FYI;
My daugher owned space #33 some years ago--front row with a view. It was an unobstructed view of the aera; the rocky beach was devoid of trash and
sewage run off-- the mariana had not been developed and the college was just being developed---her rent as I recall was $30.00 a month.
Apparently the current operator/owner, Elsie's daughter, has increased the rent and reduced the services and in general is allowing the park to
deteriorate at a rapid rate. It has been rumored for a number of years that the heirs want to develop the area into a prime vacation location
--either a hotel or high density high rise condos...and some day they will.
I first camped at Kings in 1955 or 56. I knew Elsie well as any occasional camper can. She had moved to Ensenada from La paz in 1942 with her
husband and had purchased the point which even in the 1950s was still rural. Her husband passed on leaving her with young children and no means of
support. So she developed point as an open area camping at unheard of price of 50 cents a night per camper. Since it was the only area avaliable
for camping in the Ensenada area and prime diving was a few feet away, she did very well finiancially by renting raw land. Eventually she made
improvements; a boat ramp, installed showers and flush toilets and around the late 1950s began leasing the front rows for perment trailer sites.
The cove was a very productive for huge lobsters, scallops and fish for about 5 maybe 10 years. By the early 1960s the Mexican Marine Cooperatives
had leased the waters and with their uncontrolled harvesting all game became scarce. And Kings lost favor as a destination for the early divers.
It will be interesting to see what the next fifty years will bring??
Cypress - 9-10-2006 at 10:14 AM
What happened to the statute of limitations? 7 yrs. ought to be more than long enough to forgive misdemeaners.
Cypress - 9-10-2006 at 10:15 AM
My Wife would disagree!
QuePasaBaja - 9-10-2006 at 10:31 AM
Just so that you know. They are also yanking the Snetri of people who have a relative with a past.
Also, U find Snetri to be a joke.
They do a massive background investigation into, as though you will be taking care of sensitive documents in the FBI or something, and then they wast
your time with the interviews, etc. Finally you get your pass. You go through a few times, with no problem, and they send you to " Complaince " (
secondary ) they ask for license registration and insurance, and usually to open the doors.
I have friends with Snetri, that have been to " Complaince " 8 times in 2 years, but I driving thrhough the regular lanes have never been to
secondary. And I often take a friend that has a felony back ground with me. Never questioned, and never checked out in the computers.
I think that they give people with no back ground a harder time than people that have been arrested. So I spend 35 to 40 more min in line. I dont have
some idiot looking in my car for drugs or people, then 14 cars drive behind him loaded with them.
Arrests vs. Detention
MrBillM - 9-10-2006 at 12:04 PM
Trust me, all of the events other than the detention in 1988 and one in Indio in 1978, were arrests complete with bookings. I suppose it would depend
on the policies of the individual Local PDs. A close friend of mine while I was living in Manhattan Beach had a number of arrests (either traffic or
drug-related) without charging and they never came up when he joined the Army in 1968.
DENNIS - 9-10-2006 at 01:40 PM
1968 ----
It probably didn't matter if one had a record if he was volunteering to be a target in Nam.
Getting Lucky in 1968.
MrBillM - 9-10-2006 at 01:52 PM
The friend I mentioned was about to be drafted so he enlisted instead. It turned out to be a good move. After Basic, he went to Nuclear Weapons
School and spent almost his entire enlistment below ground at Sandia Base, New Mexico, maintaining Tactical Nukes. He was always favored by the "luck
of the draw". Conversely, I had another close friend at the time that went into the Navy as a "C.O" and was made a Medical Corpsman. He was assigned
to a Marine unit in Vietnam and killed after less than three months.
My "Nuke" friend liked to joke afterwards about the Army Recruitment motto of "Join the Army and learn a skill". He was unable to find anyone in the
private sector that needed someone experienced at Nuke maintenance. Today, he might be able to go to work for Al Qaeda.
[Edited on 9-10-2006 by MrBillM]
schatzi - 9-11-2006 at 06:56 AM
Hi Dean, the interior spaces I think are going for $225.00 to $250.00 per month. The oceanfronts are going for $400.00 to $425.00 per month. We are in
#19 on the water front. The park is actualy in its nicest shape ever and looks verry decent. We have not heard any talk about high rise condo's or
luxery hotel. They recently have biult a few small 2 bedroom homes on some of the water front spaces as rentals. I think that ultimately they would
like to do these homes on all the water front spaces little by little as they come avalible.
So far I have only talked to only a few people that go back 30 years or so. Your background thier is pretty cool going back as far as it does.
Thanks for the info as I will share with the others thier.
cathart - 9-11-2006 at 08:19 AM
I got my pass last week after having waited for 10 months! But my husband, who of course applied at the same time as I did, still hasn't heard
anything--and they won't tell him anything--just that his "is pending". He doesn't have any criminal convictions at all, but his younger brother was
in jail--is it possible that that is the problem?
DENNIS - 9-11-2006 at 01:22 PM
If real terrorists [ man, am I getting sick of that word ] knew how badly our government terrorized us, they would probably figure we had enough and
leave us alone.