Posted on 01/10/2008 12:45:25 PM PST by NormsRevenge
EL PASO, Texas - A NASCAR race car, sponsored by the U.S. Border Patrol. Billboards hundreds of miles from the Rio Grande, promoting a career as a border agent. TV commercials for the federal agency, aired during Dallas Cowboys games.
With the Border Patrol undergoing an unprecedented hiring boom, the agency is going to extraordinary lengths to compete with police departments around the country for an unusually small pool of qualified applicants.
"We've not done anything this ambitious before," said Assistant Chief Michael Olsen. "Our biggest task, our biggest hurdle, is just getting our message out to parts of the country that maybe didn't know we existed."
Previously, the Border Patrol relied heavily on word of mouth and job fairs to find recruits. But it has been forced to get creative to compete with local and state agencies, including the expanding Texas Department of Public Safety, that are mimicking the corporate world with hiring incentives such as take-home cars, paid internships and five-figure signing bonuses.
The multimillion-dollar recruiting campaign was also prompted by a shortage of qualified candidates, blamed on a number of factors. Among them: the strong economy, which can offer jobs that pay more than the Border Patrol's starting salary of about $35,000 to $45,000; the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has reduced the flow of military retirees applying for second careers in law enforcement; and the Border Patrol's own stringent requirements.
Too many applicants lack the clean criminal records and good credit required for patrol duty along the border, where bribes are an ever-present temptation.
Nationally, only about 3 percent to 5 percent of applicants for law enforcement jobs meet the requirements, according to Jason Abend, executive director for the National Law Enforcement Recruiters Association. Olsen said the Border Patrol finds an average of one qualified candidate for every 30 to 40 applicants — a rate as low as 2.5 percent.
With politicians demanding more "boots on the ground" to secure the Mexican border, the Border Patrol is expanding rapidly. It has gone from about 12,000 agents in 2005 to nearly 15,000 now, and wants to reach about 18,000 by the end of the year.
To reach recruits, the agency is posting highway billboards well inland, including suburban Salt Lake City, 800 miles north of the Mexican border, and is looking into other new corners of the country.
Michael E. Douglas, a Border Patrol assistant chief patrol agent in Washington, said a team of eight agents is canvassing about 13 Southern states to look for new hires.
"We're going down into the Southeast where we haven't traditionally had a lot of candidates. We are hitting minority groups and trying to make them more aware of who we are," Douglas said.
During the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series season, the Border Patrol put its agency name and seal on the No. 28 Chevy in a sponsorship arrangement worth more than $1 million.
And under a deal signed in November with the Dallas Cowboys, football fans around the country will be seeing TV commercials reminding them that the agency is hiring.
Border Patrol officials are also talking about making a slogan for the agency, one they hope would become as ubiquitous as the Marines' "The few, the proud."
Also, the Border Patrol has raised its age limit for new hires to 40 from 37.
Douglas said it may take several months to know exactly how successful the department's efforts are.
Despite such enticements, recruiting for law enforcement jobs is likely to be a challenge for a while, said Merle Switzer, a consultant and retired law enforcement officer in California.
"Right now, I am telling agencies five to seven years," Switzer said.
Look out for #28 this year...
Join the Border Patrol, protect the borders and go to jail. Free Ramos and Capion.
DO they talk about the 12 year forced retirement plan with room and board?
Exactly.
What’s the use of joining the BP if your hands are tied?
Just join the Minutemen, you aint getting paid but you’ll feel better.
I heard one of their ads on radio yesterday. Here is the thing, I meet many of their requirements. I can speak, read, and write Spanish (as well as French). I have a university degree (in fact I have a BA and an MA). The catch is that I do not care to go to prison for doing my job. I am funny that way.
Wow.
I read that for decades the Border Patrol was resented for poaching cops from podunk towns and small sheriff’s departments. Their pay, combined with Federal employee bennies, was a powerful lure.
Th BP has become one of those jobs Americans won’t do... because our corrupt ggovernment will arrest them if they do their jobs.
Absolutely, If John McCain wanted my vote, he ought to put a plank in his platform that his first official act of business would be to free the Border Agents! I bet whoever would make a statement like this would draw thousands!
McCain has neither been a friend or supporter of the Border Patrol. His open disdain for the BP was obvious. I spent nearly 20 years working the border in Arizona and not once did he ever speak in support of the difficult job we were doing. It shows with his support for amnesty.
lol.. I’m still trying to figure out who will be driving it.
Exactly. Free Ramos and Capion.
Join the Border Patrol, do your job, go to jail. They’re going to have to address that problem, or there will be a shortage of recruits.
ping
mc mcain last night says well I’m from a border state and I know how to secure it
er mc mcain you haven’t done anything about the border except try to help illegals come here and help to reward them.
you might not call it amnesty but it is but as usual you are so far from what the people want.
his speech to union workers telling them they wouldn't’t pick fruit and veg for 30$ proved that
Quite true, the only politician who consistently supported the BP agents and mission was Hunter.
Have seen them recruiting at some South Texas Gun Shows.
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