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| LATimes: Border Patrol restricts agents' use of force |
| 2014-03-08 |
| WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Border Patrol has restricted border agents' authority to shoot at moving vehicles or at people throwing rocks, changing a controversial policy that has contributed to at least 19 deaths since 2010. In a memo released Friday, Border Patrol Chief Michael Fisher directed border agents not to step in front of moving vehicles, nor to use their bodies to block them, in order to open fire at drivers. He also barred shooting at vehicles whose occupants are fleeing from agents. A deadly threat, which would justify use of force, does not "include a moving vehicle merely fleeing from agents," the new rule states. Fisher also ordered agents to seek cover or move away from rock throwers if possible and not to shoot at them unless a rock or other object poses an imminent danger of death or serious injury. The new rules would bring the Border Patrol's practices closer to those used routinely by the nation's major urban police departments. They are a response, in part, to widespread complaints from immigrant advocates that border agents have shot and killed people in some cases when deadly force was not necessary to protect the lives of agents or the public. The new policy "seems to be a response to political pressure from special interests," Shawn P. Moran, vice president of the Border Patrol agents' union, said in a telephone interview. The ACLU has proposed that agents wear small cameras and install video cameras in their vehicles, as many local and state police forces do, to provide a clear record when force is used. The Border Patrol agreed last year to test the cameras, but Fisher said the agency was still discussing that idea. |
| Posted by:Anguper Hupomosing9418 |
| #2 Wonder if we'll see media reports about the increase of border agent injuries? |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-03-08 21:56 |
| #1 I wouldn't have thought their ROI could get any more restricted, except of course when dealing with known American citizens. Them they can bust up. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2014-03-08 07:18 |