Cisco - 2-20-2014 at 03:15 PM
"By Andrew Becker and G.W. Schulz, Published: January 28
It’s one of the U.S. Border Patrol’s most controversial practices: shooting at migrants and suspected drug runners who throw rocks and other objects
at agents. Many law enforcement experts say the best option is to take cover or move elsewhere, rather than use lethal force.
A law enforcement think tank — hired last year by parent agency U.S. Customs and Border Protection to review the Border Patrol’s practices —
recommended restraint when agents encounter rock throwers who don’t pose an imminent threat of serious injury or death.
ut when the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general released a report in September on the Border Patrol’s use of force, officials blacked
out that call for holding back in such incidents, among other recommendations, according to an uncensored copy reviewed by the Center for
Investigative Reporting.
The redacted report highlights how the Department of Homeland Security has attempted to mute the debate surrounding a spate of agent-involved
shootings that have killed more than 20 people since 2010, critics say.
Josiah Heyman, an anthropology professor at the University of Texas at El Paso who co-wrote a recent report on the Border Patrol that focused on
migrant abuse, said the agency has a long tradition of resisting greater transparency, which has limited public discussion about issues such as the
appropriate use of force.
“Accountability is absolutely fundamental in this whole story,” he said.
William Hillburg, a spokesman for the inspector general’s office, declined an interview request. He wrote in an e-mail that the report was “redacted
due to deliberative material.”
Congress asked the inspector general to review the agency’s training and policies on the use of force in spring 2012. The inspector general included
material from a 2013 report that Customs and Border Protection commissioned from the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based law
enforcement think tank.
Agency officials ordered the outside review after a rash of fatal shootings, including the October 2012 death of Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Ivie,
who was killed after mistakenly exchanging gunfire with other agents while on patrol in Arizona.
The think tank report, portions of which were shared with The Washington Post and CIR, recommended that Customs and Border Protection “train agents to
de-escalate these encounters by taking cover, moving out of range and/or using less lethal weapons. Agents should not place themselves in positions
where they have no alternatives to using deadly force.”
wessongroup - 2-20-2014 at 03:35 PM
"Many law enforcement experts say the best option is to take cover or move elsewhere, rather than use lethal force."
Perhaps this approach should have been implemented in the North Hollywood shoot out ... HUH
And good luck with this one too ...
"Agents should not place themselves in positions where they have no alternatives to using deadly force.”
Bet that would catch on with "field staff" ... 
DaliDali - 2-20-2014 at 05:51 PM
Did you ever try to "move out of the way" at a whizzing fastball coming your way?
Wonder why baseball players wear helmets?
ThinkTanks are NOT field conditions....rocky uneven terrain, slippery footing and conveniently placed "cover" spots don't exist there.
Do you have a Woody???
bajaguy - 2-20-2014 at 06:04 PM
Hey, Cisco....why don't you share with us why you have an obsessive hate for/against the Border Patrol???.........personal experiences or just a
problem with green uniforms???