The following is from a Los Angeles Times editorial:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, is the largest law enforcement agency in the nation. With more than 43,000 Border Patrol agents and customs officers, its ranks have nearly doubled in recent years.
But along with that rapid increase have come troubling allegations about excessive use of force. Since the beginning of 2010, at least 19 people have been killed along the southern border of the U.S. by Border Patrol and customs officers; that compares to only three such deaths in 2008 and one in 2009, according to the Arizona Republic. Some of those killed were shot in the back, including a 16-year-old in Nogales, Mexico, who was fired on 10 times through the border fence and hit at least seven times.
So far, Customs and Border Protection has provided few details about the deaths. Last year, officials ordered an internal review and an external audit of use-of-force policies. Neither has been made public. And a report released in September by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general had key information redacted.
Clearly, the job of patrolling the border is a dangerous one. Those risks, however, do not shield the agency from its obligation to respond to questions about its tactics. In Arizona, civil rights groups filed a grievance detailing scores of complaints involving excessive use of force by Border Patrol agents.
Customs and Border Protection recently agreed to expand use-of-force training for new agents and to improve how it tracks and monitors incidents. We hope the agency will consider adopting other proposed reforms, including one that would establish greater transparency for public reporting of use-of-force incidents. A little sunshine is in everyone's best interest.