CBP Use of Force Case Summaries
CBP continues to implement significant policy, procedural and programmatic initiatives that ensure the safety of CBP personnel while striving to earn the public trust. To that end, CBP established U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Use of Force Review Board (NUFRB) in December 2014 as part of the many initiatives adopted by CBP to increase accountability and transparency.
The NUFRB is a committee of senior leaders from CBP, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement assigned to review use of force incidents resulting in serious physical injury or death, or any incident involving the discharge of a firearm in a non-training setting. The board reviews cases that have completed the investigative process and have been declined for prosecution by either a U.S. Attorney, state or local prosecutor.
The board considers the following:
Whether use of force is within policy;
Whether there is possible misconduct associated with the application of force; and
Whether lessons can be learned from the incident in terms of techniques, tactics, policy, training and equipment.
Following senior agency leadership concurrence or non-concurrence with the NUFRB’s conclusions, the Commissioner makes the final determination regarding whether the use of force was within policy.
Below are summaries of use of force cases that have completed CBP’s internal review process as well as the conclusions of the NUFRB’s review of those cases.
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On the morning of Oct. 24, 2014, while patrolling on the Pasqua Yaqui Reservation (in an area known for smuggling and other criminal activity), a U.S. Border Patrol agent spotted and began chasing a....
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On Oct. 2, 2014, at approximately 10 a.m., local time, Border Patrol agents assigned to Rio Grande City, Texas, Border Patrol station were patrolling the Rio Grande River in three Customs and Border....
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On July 22, 2014, the Edinburg, Texas Police Department (EPD), in concert with numerous other law enforcement agencies, located Joaquin Tomas Cibrian, a known violent felon wanted for capital murder....
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On the afternoon of May 30, 2014, two U.S. Border Patrol agents (BPAs) assigned to Nogales Sector were riding together in a service vehicle when they responded to reports of activity southwest of....
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On May 24, 2014, the San Diego Police Department notified CBP authorities at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry (POE) that a pick-up truck driven by a suspected carjacker was being pursued in the direction....
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On March 31, 2014, a Border Patrol Agent was parked near the intersection of Federal Route 19 and San Miguel East Road, on the Tohono O’Odham Nation Reservation near the small village of San Miguel....
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On the night of Jan. 16, 2014, a United States Supervisory Border Patrol Agent (SBPA) assigned to the Douglas Border Patrol Station in Douglas, AZ was on patrol in a remote desert area. The SBPA....
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On March 1, 2013, during pre-dawn hours, an agent from the El Paso Border Patrol Station was patrolling near the international border when he observed an officer from the El Paso Police Department....
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On Dec. 2, 2012 a Border Patrol agent assigned to Tucson Sector was working alone in the Baboquivari Mountains in Southern Arizona – approximately 13 miles north of the U.S./Mexico border – when he....
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“The lack of publicly available information regarding the circumstances surrounding the death of Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Ivie, gave rise to many misinformed theories, inaccurate accounts, and....
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