Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
Customs and Border Protection is the largest law enforcement agency in the United States in terms of manpower. It enforces border regulations including visitor access, trade, cargo, customs (import taxes), and immigration. CBP works closely with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the FBI to keep U.S. borders safe while facilitating legal immigration, visitation, business and trade.
BUDGET: Approximately $12 billion in 2015.
The CBP Operative at a Glance
POWERS OF ARREST? Yes.
EXPECTED TO CARRY A WEAPON? Yes.
ACCESS TO FUNDS? Can be supplied with a credit line if traveling or on an investigation or mission. The credit line can be up to a Standard expense
without eliciting official review.
OPERATIONAL BUDGET/RESTRICTED ITEMS? Using Bureaucracy, the operative can access surveillance and tracking equipment. Items like infrared or low-light cameras or goggles are equivalent to an Unusual expense. Specialized vehicles including dune buggies, improved police cruisers, improves SUVs, hardened ATVs (quads), patrol boats, and horses are Major expenses. Aerial vehicles like drones or helicopters with surveillance equipment are equivalent to an Extreme expense.
The Organization
Based in Washington, D.C., CBP employs over 50,000 people (40,000 of whom are law enforcement personnel) and maintains offices at over 300 points of entry into the United States, including preclearance posts at airports in foreign countries.
In terms of law enforcement operations, CBP’s three most important offices are Air and Marine Operations (AMO), Border Patrol (BP), and the Office of Field Operations (OFO, pronounced “oh foh”). All three employ special agents and uniformed officers to enforce U.S. law. OFO staffs the points of entry into the United States, including customs and immigration offices and posts at land borders, maritime ports, and airports. Border Patrol covers the rest of the border and is responsible for tracking and arresting illegal entrants. AMO provides air and maritime support for OFO and BP and conducts maritime searches.
Within the Office of Border Patrol is the elite Special Operations Group (SOG). SOG provides
Customs and Border Protection with specially trained and equipped teams capable of rapid response to dangerous situations, including hostage rescue, tactical operations, search and rescue, and field medical response. Within SOG there are two operational units. The Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) deploys at a moment’s notice around the world, including into active combat zones. The Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue Unit (BORSTAR) provides advanced search and rescue and field medical support. SOG maintains a small in-house Intelligence Unit (SOG IU) and deployable logistics team (the Mobile Response Team, or MRT). SOG IU conducts electronic targeting and collections, and provides additional support for selected CBP missions and Border Patrol. MRT deploys into crisis areas to provide logistical and supply management support for other SOG or federal law enforcement teams.
Key CBP Offices
» Air and Marine Operations (AMO)
» Border Patrol (BP)
Special Operations Group (SOG)
∙ Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC)
∙ Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue
Unit (BORSTAR)
» Office of Field Operations (OFO)
Cainine Enforcement Program
» Office of Intelligence
Operatives
CBP agents have the authority to stop, question, inspect, and examine any person or vehicle entering or exiting the United States, and to arrest individuals suspected of violating federal law. The primary difference between OFO, BP, and OAM is the parts of the border they focus on. OFO focuses on formal points of entry, BP patrols the large stretches of the border, and OAM covers the skies. Each CBP trainee completes courses in integrated law (including nationality, immigration, and criminal law), physical training, firearms instruction, and driving. Many CBP employees learn Spanish.
SOG officers train like other federal SWAT teams, though they travel more than most. SOG specializes in remote-area tactical operations, and in many ways operates like a military unit.
CBP canine officers use specially trained detector dogs to identify narcotics, concealed humans, smuggled agriculture products, explosives and ammunition, and unreported currency. These teams are some of the most effective means to catch explosives and contraband and are in high demand.
Authority and Mandate
In general, CBP ensures that authorized people and goods have minimal trouble entering the United States, while making it hard for illegal people and items to enter. CBP’s border security missions include interdicting illegal narcotics and other contraband; refusing entry to people attempting illegal entry or who pose a risk to the U.S. (including known or suspected terrorists); protecting American agriculture from harmful pests and diseases; collecting import duties; and enforcing trade, immigration, and agriculture laws.
Field Operations
For Border Patrol and AMO, the “field” is a breathtaking amount of territory along the northern and southern borders as well as maritime ports of entry. Agents usually spend more time out of the office than in. An AMO patrol covers specific territory such as a marine port or shipping lane. AMO patrols board ships and aircraft. Border Patrol covers large areas of remote land. While most patrols only last a day or
two, they can sometimes stretch into many days or
weeks, particularly if the team is looking into suspected criminal trafficking in remote wilderness.
It is increasingly common for surveillance drones to support Border Patrol on routine outings. BP deploys advanced IR and low light cameras, and is open to exploring new or untested surveillance technologies. By setting up regular patrols over areas suspected to be used by smugglers, the organization builds a large amount of time-lapse data on a discrete area. It discovers considerable detail by tracing physical evidence like footprints, tire tracks, or even residual heat signatures.
OFO works inside or nearby static facilities; “ports of entry” at the land border, traditional ports, and airports.
Areas of Friction
CBP generally gets along well with other federal agencies. It cooperates closely with DEA, ICE, ATF, and the FBI to combat terrorism and criminal syndicates. It is a large contributor to Joint Terrorism Task Forces. CBP works with the Department of State to identify potential criminals or terrorists who try to use fake or illegally obtained passports or visas to enter the United States.
CBP gets into bureaucratic trouble due to the distinct cultures of its three operational arms. OFO, BP, and AMO all operate in different environments, with different equipment, and sometimes with different priorities. The three offices often act like independent units rather than part of a cohesive CBP, making information sharing and cooperation unnecessarily difficult.
A series of operational failures and difficult public relations stories about the treatment of refugees and immigrants, particularly South Americans and Muslims, have subjected CBP to ongoing public criticism. Congress increasingly scrutinizes its day-today operations.
Playing a Deputy
At land Ports of Entry, OFO officers look at the credentials of drivers who enter the U.S. from Canada or Mexico. Travelers entering through portal facilities or airports are interviewed as CBP stations as the last line of clearance to enter the United States. Even at slow entry portals or airports, OFO officers and agents perform hundreds of these interviews a day.
As a member of OFO, you likely wanted to be part of law enforcement for some time. OFO provides the opportunity to guard the border and a comfortable and stable work environment. If are are family-oriented, this is a good job. Travel is light, your assignments last years at a time, and your hours are regular. OFO-operated facilities and entry portals are often the best and most reliable employers in some of the most remote areas of the country.
As part of OFO, your loyalty is to the American people, not to the traveler trying to get past you. You are sympathetic, but your job is to stop the wrong people from entering the U.S., even those who don’t know they are in the wrong. The law is the law, and the grey areas are few and far between. Travelers either have valid credentials and qualify to enter the U.S. or they don’t. Simple as that. You are amazingly quick at evaluating someone’s intentions, even outside of work. You watch for micro-expressions, universal tell-tale signs on a person’s face or in their demeanor. You listen to the pitch of their voice. You watch to see how steady their hand is. You don’t so much listen to what someone says as much as how they say it.
Border Patrol attracts a very different breed. Border Patrol agents tend to be happy to go out on long patrols in everything from SUVs to kayaks. Border Patrol tends to rely on the judgment of its personnel in the field. In the middle of the night, surrounded by desert, there isn’t always time to call headquarters for approval. On patrol, you use the same skills as a hunter: patience and a keen eye for physical evidence.
The primary activity of a Border Patrol agent is “Line Watch.” Line Watch involves the detection, prevention, and apprehension of terrorists, illegal aliens and smugglers near the border by maintaining an extensive surveillance network, both active and passive. Active surveillance involves drones, canine units, remote cameras, and officers’ eyes. Passive surveillance involves sensing equipment like unmanned infrared cameras and chemical sniffers to determine the numbers and locations of illegal crossings.
AMO is somewhere in between the outdoor appeal of BP and the stable offices of OFO. If you are AMO, you like the fusion of law enforcement and vehicles such as aircraft or boats. The wide-open environment means you have to think a bit differently than most police, constantly evaluating the environment and geography. AMO officers usually play a support role to Border Patrol and OFO, and that suits you fine. Your team only gets called in when there is a need that the other offices can’t cover. That means much less wasted time.
Suggested Professions
Border Protection (Preclearance or Portal Monitoring) (OFO/P)
These officers man points of entry into the United States. They screen visitors and cargo. Many are posted in dangerous border crossings and face well-armed and determined narcotics traffickers.
PROFESSION: Federal Agent.
SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Alertness, Bureaucracy,
HUMINT, Persuasion.
EQUIPMENT: See TOOLS OF THE TRADE: FEDERAL AGENT
(page 85).
Marine Interdiction (AMO/MI)
Marine Interdiction Agents are drilled in boarding actions, particularly from a small ship onto a large vessel.
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
» Alertness 50%
» Bureaucracy 30%
» Criminology 50%
» Drive 50%
» Firearms 50%
» Forensics 30%
» Foreign Language (Spanish) 50%
» Heavy Weapons 30%
» HUMINT 60%
» Law 30%
» Persuade 40%
» Pilot (Boat) 60%
» Search 50%
» Swim 50%
» Unarmed Combat 60%
BONDS: 2
SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Alertness, Athletics,
Search, SIGINT
EQUIPMENT: Per TOOLS OF THE TRADE: FEDERAL AGENT
on page 85 of the Agent’s Handbook, along with
water survival gear.
Detection Canine Program (OFO/K9)
CBP canine teams assess and identify smuggled material, particularly contraband, illegal narcotics, and explosives. K9 teams are always in high demand and can travel extensively.
PROFESSION: Federal Agent.
SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Alertness, Craft (Dog
Training), Science (Veterinary Science), Search.
EQUIPMENT: Per TOOLS OF THE TRADE: FEDERAL AGENT
on page 85 of the Agent’s Handbook, a canine
colleague (working or sporting breed), dog handling
equipment, and veterinary medical supplies.
U.S. Border Patrol
Border Patrol officers run interdiction, surveillance, and search teams to identify trends in illegal entry and capture illegal migrants or contraband. Border Patrol officers are hardy and used to operating out of an SUV for extended periods of time
PROFESSION: Federal Agent.
SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Athletics, Drive, Navigate, Survival.
EQUIPMENT: Per TOOLS OF THE TRADE: FEDERAL AGENT
on page 85 of the Agent’s Handbook and access to a
wide range of transportation.
Border Tactical Unit (SOG/BORTAC)
Deployable and mobile, the BORTAC is CBP’s primary tactical operations group. It specializes in both dense urban and remote environments and is designed to be self-sufficient for days without support or resupply.
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
» Alertness 50%
» Bureaucracy 20%
» Criminology 50%
» Drive 50%
» Firearms 50%
» Forensics 30%
» Foreign Language (Spanish) 40%
» HUMINT 40%
» Law 30%
» Navigate 60%
» Persuade 50%
» Pharmacy 50%
» Search 50%
» Survival 60%
» Unarmed Combat 60%
BONDS: 2
SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Alertness, Firearms, Melee
Weapons, Military Science (Land).
EQUIPMENT: Per TOOLS OF THE TRADE: FEDERAL AGENT
on page 85 of the Agent’s Handbook.
Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue Unit (SOG/BORSTAR)
BORSTAR provides skilled medical and search and rescue personnel for BORTAC and other law enforcement groups to provide. BORSTAR specializes in operations in remote areas.
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:
» Bureaucracy 50%
» First Aid 60%
» Forensics 50%
» Medicine 60%
» Navigate 40%
» Persuade 40%
» Pharmacy 50%
» Science (Biology) 50%
» Search 50%
» Surgery 50%
» Survival 30%
BONDS: 2
SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Firearms, First Aid, Medicine, Survival.
EQUIPMENT: Per TOOLS OF THE TRADE: FEDERAL AGENT
on page 85 of the Agent’s Handbook and extensive
medical supplies and trauma equipment.
National Air Security Operations (AMO/NASO)
NASO operates CBP’s long-range patrol aircraft, P3 surveillance planes and drones.
PROFESSION: Pilot.
SUGGESTED BONUS SKILLS: Alertness, SIGINT, Pilot
(Airplane or Drone), Craft (Electronics).
EQUIPMENT: Troubleshooting manuals, flight checklists, and access to a P3 aircraft or secure space to operate a drone.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:59, Fri 19 Apr 2019.