CBP to beef up Internal Affairs

CBP to beef up Internal Affairs Strengthening measures to prevent corruption by Border Patrol and Customs officers is one of three new areas U.S. Customs and Border Protection is focusing on as it attempts to institutionalize organizational changes following the 2003 merger into the Department of Homeland Security, Deputy Commissioner Deborah Spero said Wednesday.
   Although CBP doesn’t have any systemic problems with officers taking bribes to look the other way when smuggling or illegal immigration occurs, the agency wants to do more anticorruption training and enforcement, she said.
   The border management agency “is launching a major uptick in Internal Affairs,” she said at a homeland security conference hosted by Homeland Defense Journal in Arlington, Va.
   CBP had a robust Internal Affairs Department prior to the merger, but lost all its investigators to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of the DHS transition. Under the original organizational plan, CBP managed front-line officers and investigators who worked cases throughout the country went to ICE.
   Gradually, CBP has been pulling back some of its capabilities.
   More than a year ago the agency retrieved the Air and Marine unit, which does interdictions, from ICE. Air and Marine was moved to ICE because it used to be under the Office of Investigations.
   Now, it is getting back investigators and building up its Office of Internal Affairs, Spero said.
   CBP also wants to try to coordinate the operations of the Border Patrol, officers at ports of entry, and Air and Marine patrols, she said. The idea is to have senior field commanders share a central command center where they can hold security briefings, and share intelligence and analysis about what is going on in their region.
   Another point of emphasis is to strengthen partnerships with Capitol Hill, the private sector and foreign governments, Spero said.