Deputy: Things "getting personal" after Border Inc

[Paladin]

http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=4449500

"Deputy: Things "getting personal" after Border Incursion; Families, Officers Threatened

Feb 2, 2006, 06:26 PM CST

EL PASO, TX. - According to law enforcement officials directly involved in the border incursion two weeks ago, the cross-border confrontations are "getting personal."

The confrontation started ten days ago with drug smugglers trying to bring illegal drugs across the border in SUV's east of El Paso. Mexican authorities have now removed the SUV that got stuck in the Rio Grande and was torched by men in military uniforms on January 23rd.

While there are few signs remaining of last week's standoff, matters are anything but calm in Hudspeth County. According to law enforcement officials, things are escalating on the border in Hudspeth County.

During a ride-along Thursday with the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Department, one deputy, who has been with the department since the 1960's, told ABC-7 that this is the most tense matters have ever been along this area of the border.

In the past few days, Hudspeth County Sheriff's Department deputies and their families have received threats to stay off the Rio Grande. Sheriff Arvin West told ABC-7 Thursday morning, before departing for Houston that the Mexican military is behind all of this.

Sheriff West said, "There is no doubt in my mind -- from the first time going back to a couple of years ago and every time in between --- it's the Mexican military. In a nutshell, everybody's been trying to tell everybody that they were here...they've been here ...[and] they come here quite often, regularly."

Now Sheriff West is having to deal with threats being made against his deputies and their families. One Sheriff's Deputy, who refused to appear on camera out of fear, described the situation today in Hudspeth County as "very dangerous." and now, he said, "it's getting personal."

The deputy added that "he is very leery of a firefight erupting on the border just east of El Paso.""

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A heads up for anyone in the area. Sounds like things are heating up near the border.

[ShootingStar]

Paladin,

We saw Mexican military regularly on the border back in October. They waved at us to come up and talk to them, but we declined. It was against policy and I didn't want to take the chance of being dragged across. Don't laugh; I wouldn't put it past them. They had G3s slung over their shoulder and my AR was in the truck. Not that they're all bad, but they have a saying, "take the money or die". There really isn't much of a choice when the drug lords approach you to work for them and no place to hide there. We were filled in by a Border Patrol agent who said that basically the whole Mexican military was corrupt and you couldn't trust them.

If the Sheriffs were not so afraid of being politically correct, they would ask for volunteers and, after screening, assign two or three to a deputy to work under his direction. Unfortunately, it's the same mentality "the powers that be" had that when CHL passed, that there would be people shooting over trivial incidents. They would rather put the deputy’s lives in jeopardy I guess. Oh well, not that I want to be a LEO, but I respect them enough to help out if there was something I could do. In this case, sheer numbers and the will to use whatever force is needed would help solve this problem.

Sorry for rambling, but the border issue is near and dear to my heart. Especially when we have foreign military incursions that are allowed to go on and our LE are expected to deal with it. They shouldn't be put in that position. If I was the Sheriff in Hudspeth or El Paso county, I'd start looking for volunteers; carefully screen them, and putem under the direction of a deputy. That might embarrass the feds into doing something.

[Chris]

if i was the sheriff there, i'd turn in my crown vics for hummers with 50s on top. and i'm dead serious. screw all that politically correct mess. that would get some attention.

[gigag04]

if i was the sheriff there, i'd turn in my crown vics for hummers with 50s on top. and i'm dead serious. screw all that politically correct mess. that would get some attention.

Get some with the Mk. 19 semi-auto grenade launcher. Played with some of those before...very cool.

[HighVelocity]

if i was the sheriff there, i'd turn in my crown vics for hummers with 50s on top. and i'm dead serious. screw all that politically correct mess. that would get some attention.

Sounds good but who would pay the bill?

[gigag04]

if i was the sheriff there, i'd turn in my crown vics for hummers with 50s on top. and i'm dead serious. screw all that politically correct mess. that would get some attention.

Sounds good but who would pay the bill?

I propose a tax on illegally earned wages by illegaly residing citizens.

[Chris]

if i was the sheriff there, i'd turn in my crown vics for hummers with 50s on top. and i'm dead serious. screw all that politically correct mess. that would get some attention.

Sounds good but who would pay the bill?

the US govt. you can go online through your state and search for military equipment from the DRMO on all the bases on the planet. the only thing you have to pay are shipping costs, and submit an annual inventory of every item you've acquired, and their dispositions.

my officers would be cruising the hoods in a bradley.

[Paladin]

Looks like the Governor is sending in some re-enforcements:

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/2286411.html

"Perry Launches Border Security Operation

Gov. Rick Perry unveiled a state-led initiative Thursday called “Operation Rio Grande,� which is aimed at dealing with increasing violence and security concerns along the Mexican border.

“There is not only great concern that the drug trade is becoming more aggressive, but that terrorist organizations are seeking to exploit our porous border,� Perry said.

“Last year alone, 135,000 people who are not of Mexican descent were apprehended entering Texas illegally. The threat is real, and it grows each day.�

The announcement comes after a series of border confrontations between Texas and U.S. law enforcement officers and alleged drug smugglers, and reports that Mexican troops have frequently crossed the border.

“With ‘Operation Rio Grande’, the state will take the lead role in coordinating state and local efforts to detect, track and deter criminal activity along the border,� Perry said.

Perry activated the Governor’s Emergency Management Council Thursday and placed the Texas Fusion Center on the highest level of alert.

The Texas Fusion Center, which was formed in July, is a central agency, which oversees the collection and dissemination of intelligence information on terrorist activity.

Analysts from the Department of Public Safety Criminal Intelligence Service staff it.

The state operations center will coordinate state, local and federal authorities and serve as a clearing house for law enforcement agencies as much as 100 miles away from the border.

Perry also ordered a Department of Public Safety response team dispatched to the area; covert DPS patrols and surveillance activities; DPS aviation support; the deployment of a DPS SWAT team and the development of “regionalized, enhanced swat teams with rapid response capabilities;� an investigation of alleged incursions by the Mexican military, and the use of other state resources including canine search teams, game wardens and department of transportation road barriers.

Texas Army National Guard officials will also support the operation, Perry said."

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Violence jumps on US-Mexican border
Thu Feb 9, 2006 4:57 PM ET16

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attacks on American border patrol agents along the U.S. border with Mexico have jumped more than 100 percent in the last year, Homeland Security officials said on Thursday.

"There has been an over-100 percent increase in the last fiscal year in border violence aimed at our Border Patrol agents, and that ranges from gunshots fired across the border to rocks being thrown, sometimes flaming rocks," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar told a news conference there were 778 assaults against Border Patrol officers in the last fiscal year. So far this fiscal year, which began in October, there have been 192 attacks, he said. He did not give the previous year's figure.

[Kalrog]

Looks like the Governor is sending in some re-enforcements

My only response is "About damn time!"

[barres]

Looks like the Governor is sending in some re-enforcements

My only response is "About damn time!"

I'm sorry to say, but my response is my usual response to Perry's actions: "Too damn late!"

[Boma]

I don't know that much about politics, but...

I thought Republicans were pro military/ law enforcement? Why didn't Perry do something sooner?

[stevie_d_64]

I don't know that much about politics, but...

I thought Republicans were pro military/ law enforcement? Why didn't Perry do something sooner?

"School Financing"

But I digress...

Govenors in some states are rather more like cheerleaders in some ways...They Ra-Ra the troops (depending on party affiliation, abd yet still try to ride the fence in that regard)...

The real power (obviously in Texas) is the Lt. Govenor...And not to say he has not tried to be effective, this particular issue has had PC "hands off" written all over it for years...To much of a hot potato to mess with...

Until some pundits have raise the issue to a boiling point in the last two years...

Most who have followed this problem for longer than that are definitely the ones who are saying "About damn time"...And I agree with them...

Steve's opinion -

If it had been addressed (years ago) from strictly a national security issue, the actual exploitation of the drug trade, human trafficking (prostitution), and the risk of terrorist being able to "blend in" to the crowd illegally coming into this country...Instead of the multiple millions in the country exploiting the infrastructure of health care, welfare, and other social programs would have been considerably reduced if you were to take a snapshot of the problem right now...

And the fact that the states are taking the lead in this is not surprising...It took a while, but when you have zero consensus at the Federal level in dealing with this crisis...And that not saying they should have been there for us in the states either...Talking about it and actually doing something tangible are two entirely different things...

And needless to say, and to be perfectly honest, illegal immigration has not really effected me personally, other than I know my valuable tax dollars are being effectively dispersed dis-proportionally in this battle...The crime associated with drugs and human trafficking can be dealt with from a personal level when and if the need arises...

As far as terrorist exploiting this problem...I am not sure if that is as big a problem as it is being touted...Although I know it only take one devoted follower to screw the pooch...

I just don't understand that if there are terrorist cells in this country, and with all the things going on that would trigger (or provoke) action by these "cells" that are already here, why don't we see and hear of acts of terror everyday???

And I am not talking about 9-11 stuff...I'm talking about IED's, mass shootings and other random attacks???

But I hate to ramble on about this stuff...There are just a few things about this issue, as a whole, that don't add up...

How this all adds up to us, is that we all have to keep our heads on a swivle and be ever watchful for things that just don't look right in our small part of the equation...

It certainly doesn't mean keeping a higher than normal conditional awareness about our surroundings...It just means we need to retain certain things about what we see and hear in our lives...

We are the best information source on the ground in this country...And keeping a little notebook and date-time stamping something you see (that kinda makes you wonder) with all the details you can jot down is the simplest way to be that "ace in the hole" if something does happen...

But hey...thats just me...call me crazy for taking the security of this country a little more seriously than some of the jokers who are getting paid to fund, support and coordinate the effort...

off the soapbox...