CBPGuy
7 Years Experience
SouthWest, US
Male, 25
I am a U. S. Customs and Border Protection Officer on the southwest border between Mexico and the United States. I know the ins and outs of the job as seen on TV/News and things intentionally hidden from the media! There's more to this job than "Anything to declare?" I dont know all but I'll do my best to answer any questions you have! All answers are my opinion, and my opinion only!
Yes. People forget that we are law enforcement officers. We handcuff people for a number of reasons, it does not necessarily mean your under arrest. If I think it'll be safer for everyone if i handcuff you before I search your car, I am completely justified in doing so. We must always take officer safety into account. If your twice my size and intoxicated, I am going to handcuff you so the situation does not turn ugly.
As a GS-12 (pay scale), I earn about $110,000 a year with overtime. The pay scale goes like this:
GS-5 (first year) = $35,000GS-7 (second year) = $43,000GS-9 (Third Year) = $52,000GS-11 (Fourth Year) = $62,000GS-12 (Fifth Year) = $76,000
After you hit GS 12, every year or so you get a raise of about $2,000 to $3,000. All the numbers mentioned above are approximate and include my additional locality pay.
Under the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (LEOSA), we are allowed to carry any personal firearm that can be concealed. Generally, this means pistols/revolvers. You are not required to carry only your duty weapon.
I'm not sure of any tests you mean for your personal firearm. I have carried my personal firearm off duty since day one without taking any tests.
When I went through FLETC, we had 1 to 2 classes graduating every week. Now its slowed down a bit, so its about 1 a month. FLETC is 4.5 months long, not including 6 weeks of Spanish training. In CBP, all armed positions and Agriculture Specialists go to FLETC, the others do not.
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Everyone who gets arrested in the United States (visitor or not) is assigned a permanent FBI number tied to their fingerprints. This number is assigned the moment they take your fingerprints at the police station. When you scan your fingerprints on primary, it sends an alert telling us that you have something derogatory with your fingerprints. It is the job of the Officer in secondary to determine what that is and if it is enough to deny you entry.
You will always go back to secondary unless the FBI expunges your record.
For work purposes, you are only allowed to carry, on duty, agency issued weapons. If it is not agency issued, you should not have it. However, some POE's may have different policies in regards to that due to being out in rural areas. I have been to a couple POE's and the rules have been the same (Agency issued only).
One thing I will say from personal experience, I had to hold someone for about 45 minutes before I was able to clear him in our system. His name was similar to a convicted felon wanted for child endangerment. My job was to determine if this person in front of me was the same person who was wanted. I cordially explained to him why he was back there and what I was trying to accomplish. He was very friendly and thanked me for doing what I was doing. About 4 days later, I read a news article that and this person was on it. He told the news outlet that he was locked in a room for 2 hours, denied food and water, and was treated like a criminal. I couldn't believe it! I treat everyone with professionally and with respect, this person even acknowledged it, and yet here he is in the paper saying all of this.
Needless to say, the news, or the person being interviewed, may not always portray the accurate truth.
To answer your question as best I can, we are not legally allowed to make a determination based on religion. It is against the law for anyone (CBP, local police, even an employer) to make a decision based on religion.
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