Posted on 03/03/2003 10:22:51 PM PST by Marine Inspector
Today was my first day on the job as an officer/agent/who knows what of the new Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (BCBP).
The purpose of this thread is to give everyone a glimpse inside the BCBP. I will post to this thread daily and create a new thread weekly.
Feel free to ask me anything you wish about what is going on, but understand that I will not compromise myself or national security. I will give you insight that will not be provided by the media and answer what questions I can.
As expected, not much has changed. I’m still wearing my old INS Inspector uniform, and performing the exact same duties as before.
At our Port of Entry (POE), the top US Customs supervisor has been named as the Port Director (PD) or Port Coordinator (PC). My upper chain of command has changed drastically, but that does really effect me, as my immediate supervisor is still the same.
The PD/PC reports to his same boss at the regional Customs office. Our INS district office and it’s service personnel went to the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. That is good, in my opinion.
Currently, my supervisor and the PD/PC have decided that there will be no operational changes in the way the port is run. Agriculture will conduct their business, Customs will conduct their business and INS will conduct our business.
Since Customs does not micro manage as much as INS did, some of our reports have been eliminated. They were never needed, but INS management wanted reports on everything to cover their butts. So there is a little less paperwork at the end of the day for us and our supervisor.
The biggest change came in the form of radiation beepers. We have been issued radiation beepers to carry, while inspecting passengers. The idea is to hopefully detect any radioactive material entering the country.
Unfortunately, in the Governments move for good PR, the beepers have to be worn by us at the front of the inspection area. While that may sound correct, the passengers do not have their luggage when us former INS officers inspect them. Once we are done, they collect their luggage end report to Customs and Agriculture.
This is were you want the pagers. More than likely, the smuggler will have the material in his luggage as opposed to on his person. Typical Government move. We sent a message to HQ explaining this, but we’re sure it will fall on deaf ears.
That’s about it for day one, I’ll report back tomorrow.
Nothing to report, again.
I'll be off for the next 5 days, so the next report will not come until Wednesday night, of next week.
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