Border Patrol Agent

Border Patrol Agent

Oscar

Charleston, SC

Male, 31

Spent a bit over four years (2006-2010) serving as a Border Patrol Agent in Tucson Sector, AZ: the busiest sector in the country. Worked numerous positions, and spent the last year and a half operating/instructing ground radar installations. Duties included: field patrols, transport, processing, control room duties, transportation check, checkpoint operations, static watch duties, etc.

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Last Answer on November 08, 2016

Best Rated

Could I use the border patrol explorer program as a Job-Related Experience on the border patrol written exam.

Asked by Mr.305 almost 12 years ago

I have no idea.  The exam is made for people who have no prior Border Patrol experience, so I am not sure you'd have a big advantage.

Do you receive any training or education on Intelligence while on the Border Patrol?
Also, what are the chances of starting as a BPA and crossing over to the intelligence division of Homeland Security? Or other federal agencies (ICE, FBI, ICE)?

Asked by janjo almost 12 years ago

You get very very basic intelligence training, but nothing that will make you stand out.  In fact those courses were FLETC courses and not the BP courses, so they may not even include them anymore.

Like everything else, the BP does have intel units.  However these units are small, and very difficult to land (normally going to senior agents).  If you were able to get into intel in the BP, then yes I'd imagine there would be a decent amount of crossover.

I am currently doing a certificate in Intelligence Analysis with an online university as that field interests me as well.  I would probably suggest getting some college credits or degrees in intelligence if that's really what your end goal is.  Of course, working in the BP would give you the money to do so.

Good luck!

Is the opposition to building a giant wall the length of the border mostly economical ("we can't afford it"), pragmatic ("it wouldn't work") or political ("a wall is an antagonistic symbol of exclusion")?

Asked by Bucknell about 12 years ago

It's about 95% politics.  No party nor politician wants to be responsible for losing the Latin-American vote or ruffling the feathers of Mexico's government.  It would actually save us a lot of money in the long-run, given how much we spend on border security.

I know that the Border Patrol buys its dogs from independent vendors, so I am wondering if the Border Patrol has a standard for the dogs it uses?

Asked by C L Smith about 12 years ago

The vast majority of our canines (at least our normal detection/tracking canines) were actually imported from the German Border Police (Bundesgrenschutz) canine school.  Most of the dogs we received had actually failed bite-dog school, and had been repurposed.  This is why our K9 operators use many commands in German, as opposed to English.

Right before I left the BP was starting its bite-dog program, but they had a silly politically correct name for it (Patrol K9's was the term they used) because they were afraid of scaring people (?).  I do not know where the bite-dogs were sourced from.

All of the dogs I worked with were from the German schools.

does being a border patrol affect spending time with your family?

Asked by lynn almost 12 years ago

Short answer: yes.  Law enforcement work of any type has statistically been very hard on families and relationships.  Unfortunately law enforcement officers have a much higher rate of substance abuse, suicide, etc.  It's a high stress line of work, working long hours, and dealing with the bottom of society.  A lot of people live fine, normal lives - but the numbers are pretty bad.  High rate of divorce is common.  I do think the BP might be better than some local LEO work.  I was away for an average of 11 hours a day, so if you have loved ones or family, it can be very taxing.

If you did weed once when you where 17 will that stop you from becomeing a border patrol agent

Asked by Mr.305 almost 12 years ago

That question will come up during your background investigation and/or polygraph test.  I'm not sure what effect a positive answer would have in that situation.  It is something that will come up for any government job which involves any level of security clearance though, and I doubt it can help.

Unfortunately in certain lines of work - those things you do on purpose or by accident as a young person can come back and bite you in the ass.  I know several of my fellow agents had smoked weed before joining the BP, but I don't know if they answered truthfully during their background investigations.

Personally I think weed should be legalized, but I imagine it might depend on the person doing your background investigation.

Is there tension between you and local cops or other federal agencies about whose jurisdiction something is? Is it ever like on TV where some captain shows up and bellows "Alright this is MY investigation now, get all of these mall cops outta here!"

Asked by Toranna. about 12 years ago

There was a lot of tension between the local indian tribal police and ourselves.  The Tohono O'Odham indian police were often very shady (and caught doing rather suspicious things).  The entire reservation was corrupt/dirty so these police often had family members who were into illegal stuff as well.

You'd occasionally catch the police driving at night in the desert, lights out - well beyond their patrol areas.  They'd invent some story about what they were doing etc.  Likewise they would attempt to pull over BP vehicles when we were tailing suspicious vehicles etc.  It was always an interesting time with them.

The only issues we had with local deputies or police was simply due to manpower.  They'd get mad at us when we didn't have enough agents to respond to their immigration issues, and we'd get mad when they wouldn't come pick up warrants because we were too far away from them etc.  It was never harsh, just frustrating from both ends.

Sheriff Joe (Maricopa County Sheriff) was always a cool cat.  I actually liked that he openly berated DHS etc. for not doing our job better.  He would bring news cameras etc. with him when he turned over tons of illegal immigrants to the local I.C.E. office who didn't want to process them etc.  He really gets stuff done, and doesn't take nonsense from anyone.

There is so much criminal traffic out in AZ that all LEO's pretty much gel together when the proverbial feces hit the wind oscillator.  You'd always stop to back up local PD, DPS guys, or Sheriff's Deputies etc.  They would likewise stop and check on you.

I was involved in a 120-mile pursuit one time which involved: BP Agents from two stations, indian police, sheriff's deputies, sheriff's drug task force, DPS, and two local police departments.  It got downright confusing, but we got the vehicle.  In short, we never had the silly TV show drama.