Washington, DC - U.S. Customs and Border Protection released today seven Use of Force case summaries on CBP.gov. The case summaries detail the National Use of Force Review Board’s (NUFRB) conclusions and if the NUFRB recommended improvements and updates in policy, training, tactics, and equipment.
The case summaries posted were from use of force incidents that occurred on May 24, 2014, in Otay Mesa, California; January 25, 2015, in Rodeo, New Mexico; February 17, 2015, in San Diego, California; November 15, 2015, near Boulevard, California; December 17, 2015, in Laredo, Texas; March 14, 2016, in San Ysidro, California; and January 14, 2017, in Davison, Michigan.
Five of these incidents were determined to be consistent with policy, while employee actions within two of the incidents had uses of force inconsistent with CBP’s policies.
CBP established the NUFRB in December 2014 as part of the many initiatives adopted by the agency to increase accountability and transparency. Building upon the investigative work of the CBP Use of Force Incident Team (UFIT) process, the NUFRB meets regularly to review and provide recommendations following significant use of force incident investigations. 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 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.
NUFRB members include senior U.S. government personnel from inside and outside of CBP to include: representatives from CBP’s Office of Field Operations, U.S. Border Patrol, Air and Marine Operations, Laboratories and Scientific Services Directorate, and Law Enforcement Safety and Compliance Directorate; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Office of Professional Responsibility; U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division; Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Additional CBP support for the NUFRB process comes from the Office of Professional Responsibility, Office of Chief Counsel and Office of Public Affairs.
