60 Minutes last night featured the US Border Patrol in Arizona.  370 criminal accusations a year, multiple charges of murder, drug running etc. One guy who was accused of a double murder now serves on their Tac team. I think the story went this way:  MM the BP agent was at a desert party. He was last one seen with two Mexican guys.  They were found dead from 9mm gunshot wounds. MM owned a 9mm. When police interviewed him, he said he saw two other Mexicans in a pickup truck as he was leaving but he could not describe them or their truck. He also had "lost" his 9mm pistol. NO charges were filed against him.  He was soon thereafter fired by his supervisor and removed from BP for 6 other alledged criminal acts.  He got a lawyer, got his job reinstated and now serves on the super elite BORTAC BP swat team.  Boy do I feel safe at night.
One former supervisior said that if they were a local law enforcement agency, the Department of Justice would take them over. Pretty sad and scary state of affairs. This is the link:

www.cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,13502-
412,00.shtml

Sorry this link is not to the complete story.  I am trying to find the full story link.

[url]www.cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,13502-412,00.shtml [/url]

In all honesty though, they said these guys make between $35K and $45K per year. Additionally, my understanding of BP job is as follows - giant area to patrol, little or no backup, involved in more gun fights than any other LEA in the US on an annual basis.

Therefore, what did we expect? I am not saying that they are all bad - by no means. However, you have to admit - it isn't the pay that is attracting these guys. The job provides one with many opptunities to take advantage and little or no supervision. Additionally, crimes against people - the obvious thought is that these people are going to be easy to either intimidate or discredit.

As with all things in life - you pay for what you get. LE needs to be paid more.

I have always known that an LE job is the one job I can not have - there is no question that I would be on the take.

$35-45k isn't bad for LE pay, depending on where you live.  I can't imagine the cost of living to be that high in Arizona.  Hell, I bought my house when I was 22 making 32k/year, and it's a big two story house out in the suburbs.

God Bless Texas

Even better than that - now that the gov. is hiring for Air Marshal openings the Border Patrol agents who serve directly on the border are running to sign up.  The Douglas area, according to today's Tucson Citizen evening newspaper, is particularly heavily hit by officers leaving for greener pastures.  

Can't blame them - work out in the desert heat trying to A) catch poor immigrants trying to find a better life, B) picking up corpses of the ones who didn't make it, C) dealing with the armed drug dealers and "coyote" immigrant runners who constantly are slipping across, D) dealing with the Mexican police who are possibly in the pay of "C" and are just as likely to shoot at you as they are - or: fly on an air-conditioned plane between air-conditioned airports, stay in air-conditioned hotel rooms living off per diem, and most probably never have to face anything worse than a drunk passenger?

That's a no-brainer.

KBaker: yeah, I heard on a radio news segment on NPR that around a [b]third[/b] of the Border Patrol officers had applied for the Air Marshalls. The story mentioned that the Border Patrol is considered in LEO circles to be an "entry-level" LEO job. Their words, not mine.

Personally, the Elian Raid pissed me off at the Border Patrol. I think they could have showed alot more restraint at the very least. They acted like a bunch of thugs in raiding the house. They hurt innocent people and used excessive force. The GOnzalez Family are not the Arellano-Felix Family, you do not need to use that much force.

As far as it all goes, they were doing their jobs by entering the house. They crossed the line by using excessive force. My anger for conducting the raid at all is at Bill Clinton, Janet Reno, Doris Meisner, and The Ex-Miami Polic Chief as well as Ex-Ballot Stuffing Mayor Xavier Suarez's Right Hand Man who has finally been indicted for fraud. Fortunately, the raid got the Commission to stop vetoing the Mayor, when he decided to kick that Ballot Stuffing asshole out.

Just a little info on Border Patrol pay here.  They make at the minumum 40k a year to start.  In 5 or so years I beleive they are up to the GS-11, maybe GS-13 level making about 75-80k a year as an 11 and if a 13 about 95-100k.

And Elian deserved to be taken, he was kidnapped from his father and the family forced the INS to forcibly enter the house.

Just another example of the poor reporting of the truth outside of South Florida. I was in Atlanta for a few days while it was going on (The Dispute) and they reported it entirely incorrectly. I was there when it was going on, I should know. Unfortunately, I decided at 2 AM that since it was coming up on Easter and it appeared to be stalled (The whole issue) that he wasn't going to be seized. I was tricked out of being there (In Front Of The House) when the raid actually went down. People were assaulted. Most notably, an unarmed Cuban-American Community Leader who did nothing wrong was struck to the head with the butt of a BP Agent's shotgun. They never called medical help. The demonstartors were left to call for their own medical help. I probably met many of those same people who were gassed that day by BP/INS Agents.

In reality, Elian was NOT kidnapped by the mother. The mother had custody of Elian and she was divorced from Juan Miguel for many years. He in fact rarely if ever visited Elian. He couldn't have given a horseshit what happened to Elian. One Day Elian's mother fled the repressive Communist Regime like many others before her. She was killed on her way by a storm. Her wish would have been for Elian to live in a free country (USA). When he arrived, the was little fanfare. In fact there was none outside of the Gonzalez family. Shortly thereafter, Cuban Police picked up Juan Miguel and told him that the mother's boyfriend had kidnapped the mother and child and that she was killed on the way here. Castro decided it would be a great political idea to get the child back and it would be more mud to shove in America's face. This would be easy with his best friend Bill Clinton in office. So, he directed whomever directed Juan Miguel to get the child back.

If any of you believe Juan Miguel was free to stay you are crazier than A member of HCI. Juan Miguel was sent with gaurds who were "to protect him", but rather were to insure he did not defect like like a Russian Gymnast in the free world for the first time. Juan Miguel would have been dead instantly if he had tried to defect. And, guess what they had "Diplomatic Immunity". If he had lost, I also gurantee you Elian would have been on a plane back to Cuba immediately and there is Jack Shit America could have or would have done short of Military Forces (wouldn't have happened).

In fact, one of Elian's "Doctors" was detained at the airport with mind-altering drugs that were used primarily to make people feel happy.

Anybody else wonder why Elain tripped 2 or 3 times on the Tarmac, then again on the way into the airplane and actually had to be supported by Juan Miguel. That boy had been drugged up. Anybody will look happy when you shoot them up with Mind-Altering Drugs.

Watch the video of his return and you will see he was drugged up very clearly.

Did anyone actually expect a federal law enforcement agency to be of some higher moral code than the rest of the citizenry?  You realize they're now federalizing baggage screeners.  Can you imagine how low the standards are going to have to be to get all they people that will be needed?  Any time you create an uneven balance of power, you end up with corruption.  

That 60 Minutes segment really pissed me off.  Not only do we pay for those louts, we pay again and again and again when the screw up.  Might better throw open the borders and disband the federal govt.  

Elian's mother did not kidnap him that so-called family of his did.

Let someone take your son from you and tell you it is freedom and I bet your opinion will change.

And Trickshot, fuck you man.  After your "killin' cops is ok due to these pesky DUI checkpoints" thread you are a certified piece of shit.

damm, but you know the average Mexican would slit your throat and your family members throughts to get what you and I have, without blinking, make no mistake about it. They hate us.

What? when did fed jobs become so high paying? I must be living in a vacumm, I thought the highest paying LEO's in the country were on Long Island in NY? Am I crazy but a basic border patrol officer making that much I seriously doubt it,,possibly a very superior officer,,

How does a GS-11 make 70-80k per year? I'm a GS-11 step 4 and make a bit more than 47k per year. Inquiring minds want to know.

If you're a GS11 step 4 and only make $47K, then you're obviously not a BP agent.  They get AUO & FLSA which increases their base pay substantially.  Most BP GS-9's easily make over $50K per annum.  In fact it's no problem to make $60K as a GS-9 BP if you do some 45 ACT (OT) and go on detail to other stations and collect some of that per diem.    

By the way, if you guys buy this whole 60 minutes story lock stock & barrel, just ask yourself if you would be as eager to believe them if they were reporting on any gun related issue.  I think we all know how their reporting would be skewed.  There is some truth to the fact that there are less than reputable agents, but this is a very small minority.  Pointing out bad apples is appropriate, but doing so knowing that the implication is that the whole agency is this way, is just what one would expect from liberal leaning journalists who would prefer that immigration laws not be enforced at all.  And if that Chief Sanders was so concerned and had any balls, he would have spoken up before he retired, instead of covering his own ass.

As for Elian G.  If you're complaining about how the BORTAC agents handled it, then perhaps you would have preferred ATF agents.  You would have seen some real ass kicking then.  The bottom line is some people didn't want Elian removed at all, so any type of removal would have been unsatifactory.  As for the mind altering drugs.......I think somebodies tinfoil hat fell off.

MG

Mean_Green......
I kind of thought that they must get some additional add ons to their pay, thanks.

They're all overpaid.