The next chapter in the life of a Customs Officer.

Oct 22 23:05 UTC 2003

2.212b  Temporary seizure with reasonable suspicion.

An officer who reasonably suspects that an individual is or has been engaged
in crime may seize that person to investigate the suspicion.

Under appropriate circumstances force may be used to both stop and hold a
suspect.  Since an officer who has a reasonable suspicion that a person is
engaged in wrongdoing may stop that person, he may use reasonable force to
do so.

        Law Course for Customs Officers p.79


        On December 6th, while we had guests in our home, my daughter was
assaulted by her boyfriend in the basement of our home.  She was not seriously
hurt, but a law was violated.  He slammed her up against the wall several
times.
        As her boyfriend attempted to escape the scene, he ran directly into
me.  I did not know what had happened.  I did know after looking into his face
that he was extremely upset, was in effect in a panic and not fully in control
of his faculties.  I did not know the reason for this, if he was upset because
he had ruined his relationship, or that I was going to hurt him, or that the
police were going to arrest him.  I did believe that I could not let him
leave.
        We struggled, we went to the floor, and while people were yelling at
me that he had assaulted my daughter, I decided to use my handcuffs (issued
by the federal government) to restrain him until the police got here.
        The police got here, I told them that I had not arrested him, that I
had detained him and he was handcuffed for officer and public safety, and that
he had not been searched.  The officers completed the on-site investigation,
removed my cuffs, replaced them with their own, and took him to jail.  He had
not been hurt, and he later admitted that he would have committed suicide had
he been allowed to leave, probably by driving his car into a wall.

        Now, nearly a year later, this incident may have cost me my job as an
inspector with Customs and Border Protection.  I was green, out of FLETC only
two weeks before, and sure that what I had done was the correct thing, both
morally and legally.
        I reported the incident to my superiors as required that night, then
I went to the Port and filled out a report the next day, on my own time, and
faxed it to Internal Affairs.   Four months later, I received formal
counseling on this action, and was told that 
use of restraints outside your role as an inspector, constitutes an arrest.
Your actions would be considered a Citizens Arrest.  Use of government
property, outside of your official duties is not authorized. And a copy was
placed in my file.
        Now, nearly a year later, It may have cost me my job.
        I was called into my supervisors office yesterday and informed that
I was being dismissed.  This and a record keeping error were listed in the
letter as the reasons.  The record keeping error was purely statistical and
had nothing to do with any criminal case.
But they were enough to get me fired because I am still on probation.
        I joined U.S. Customs in September of 2002, but I am still on probation
because they have changed the requirements from a one year to a  two year
probation.  There were only two items in my file after ten weeks of training
and over eleven months on the job.
        The union is looking into whether I have any options, but basically,
if the two year probation stands, I am out of a job.  Because I did what I
believed I was supposed to do, protect people and stop crim

So now I sit at home, updating the resume, filling out applications, and
getting ready for interviews, while the union looks at whether or not they
can represent me.  The confusion is over whether I am on a one year or two
year probation.  If I am on a one year, they have fired me without cause. 
If I am on a two year, they need no reason to fire me, adn there is nothing
the union can do.  So, to decide the matter, we need my records from
Washington, D.C., which will take about amonth to get here.

I am posting this because I made you all live thru work I went thru at FLETC,
I think you deserve to know what happens in the next chapter.  I have already
placed an application with TSA, and recieved a reply to take the test.  We
shall see what happens next.

response 4 of 196:

Oct 23 02:19 UTC 2003

Transportation Security Agency, or some similar meaning.  The new 
Federal agency in charge of airport security.

response 6 of 196:

Oct 23 04:08 UTC 2003

Bruce, I am sorry to hear that actions you took with the best of 
intentions and reason have caused you the loss of a job you so obviously 
enjoyed and looked forward to continuing for a long time to come.

It really sucks to be on the wrong end of a policy-based action that 
simply does not take into account such factors as those in your case.

I hope you'll try to learn from this what you can and use it to benefit 
you along your path in life rather than dwelling on the injustice to 
which you've been subject.

I hope also that this experience will help you appreciate the value of 
compassion in the formulation and application of law, in order that 
Justice be served to the greatest extent possible.

response 8 of 196:

Oct 23 08:03 UTC 2003

Dunno nothing 'bout the particulars other than what you enter, bru, but
I have to note that most fathers I know would have no problem detaining
daughter's boyfriend without cuffs in the situation as you relate it. I
wonder why the cuffs were so handy?  Sorry.  Just seems odd to me.
Most uniformed cops I know wive's complain about them leaving their
'batman belt' in the bathroom for the most part, or the bedroom (after a
few beers there is frequently talk of cuffs as 'maritial aid'). I just
wonder that the cuffs were so handy and that you would even think to use
them two weeks out of boot camp (by your narrative) in that situation.
Don't take it personally, maybe TSA is better suited for you - seems to
me with your training you have a definate leg up.  And if your union can
get you the job back perhaps you should consider not accepting unless
your management signs on and encourages you - who wants to work where
they are not wanted for whatever reason even if totally stupid?  Best of
luck - when life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

response 10 of 196:

Oct 23 11:45 UTC 2003

He had his stuff out 'cause we had company and he was showing it to them.
Spiffy new equipment and all.  Actually, since one of the people there was
very willing to beat up Brad (at least that's what he was indicating in the
heat of the moment), I think keeping him restrained so the other person would
not do that was also a good idea. (It was a very confusing fifteen or so
minutes.)

It's not exactly fair, but it is what happened. And it's true that lemonade
can come out of the weirdest lemons. 

response 12 of 196:

Oct 23 14:27 UTC 2003

It seems kind of odd to fire someone in October for something that 
happened the previous December. Does the government really work that 
slowly? 

I hope the union can help you out. Thank goodness you have a union. 

response 14 of 196:

Oct 23 15:15 UTC 2003

My feeling is that there are office politics involved, but who knows? We'll
have to wait and see what happens with the paperwork and everything else. 
Thanks for the good wishes. 

response 18 of 196:

Oct 23 18:21 UTC 2003

Havn't there been cutbacks in the numbers of customs agents at borders?
If this is still ungoing I would expect them to cut anyone for whom they
have the slightest excuse. 

response 20 of 196:

Oct 23 21:24 UTC 2003

no cut backs, we are still hiring inspectors.

response 22 of 196:

Oct 24 02:08 UTC 2003

I could not have done what bru did - attempt to physically restrain
another person. I don't feel I have the *right*, as well as knowing that
the potential consequences are so uncertain and dangerous that it cannot
be justified unless it were my assigned responsibility. Therefore I cannot
say that I think bru did the "right thing", since he had no such authority
or responsibility in those circumstances. 

response 24 of 196:

Oct 24 06:50 UTC 2003

Now I gotta stick up for bru.  "My House, my rule".

re#22: You, sir,  are an idiot.

If it were my daughter... hmm, things will be completely different.
I would not need to exercise authority as a LEO but will do so as the
alpha male.  I will not need cuffs or any other sex tool but merely the
assurance of the use of physical force backed up by Mr. Large Stick if
necessary.  And it is my stick and nobody else dare touch it.

In thinking about it perhaps it is appropriate that bru choose a
different line of work.  It just strikes me as rather odd that bru had
to resort to cuffs inside his own house and just maybe it struck his
management similarly.  Show and tell of ikons of authority just sorta
seems wierd to me as well.