CBP Director: ‘Some of The Safest Communities in America’ Are on U.S.-Mexico Border

CBP Director: ‘Some of The Safest Communities in America’ Are on U.S.-Mexico Border
By Edwin Mora
May 2, 2012


Well this is according to Gene Garza, the director of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the Laredo field office.

He told this to a House Homeland Security Subcommittee during testimony.

(CNSNews.com) -- The U.S. side of the southwest border is home to “some of the safest communities in America,” Gene Garza, the director of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)in the Laredo, Texas field office, told lawmakers on Tuesday.

Garza testified before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security on May 1 at a hearing entitled, “Using Technology to Facilitate Trade and Enhance Security at Our Ports of Entry.” The CBP is a component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Garza said he based his assessment of the safety of U.S. communities along the southwest border to information derived from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), a compilation of annual U.S. crime statistics.

I wonder if he knows anything about the towns and communities on the Other Side of the border !!



conflicting reports ?

However, the U.S. Attorneys’ Annual Statistical Report for Fiscal Year 2011 paints a different picture, showing that 80 percent of all cases filed against criminal defendants in U.S. Magistrate Courts were filed in districts along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Both the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys are components of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Although the most recent U.S. Attorneys’ report makes no direct mention of U.S. border violence, the FY 2010 report states, "Violence along the border of the United States and Mexico has increased dramatically during recent years. The violence associated with Mexican drug trafficking organizations poses a serious problem for law enforcement personnel."

read more in the story.

Now why would he say all that ?

Originally posted by xuenchen

Now why would he say all that ?

That's a really good question. Either this man is completely uninformed or he's lying through his teeth. Since I doubt he's that uninformed, why would he be lying? Could it be he has some connections he doesn't want exposed or interrupted?

Originally posted by xuenchen

I wonder if he knows anything about the towns and communities on the Other Side of the border !!

Yes, I wonder how many here actually do.

Take this for what it's worth. After living most of my entire life in the US and about the last 6-7 years in Mexico it is my hope to never have to return to the US again, even for a brief visit. I feel much safer here, not just from the criminal element but much safer from corrupt or over-ambitious law enforcement.

I don't live in a border city but I would not be surprised if the news from there was a bit over-blown. Even a very safe city is not crime-free.

I have a friend who lives in Tucson,she frequents border town areas in her buisness,they are a seemingly safe areas,only criminals around are the red neck vigilantes,typical media hype,I don't watch the news on TV,at least a comedy is meant to be laughed at so I avoid main stream media

reply to post by xuenchen


The executive levels of the C.B.P. are out of touch with their on the ground bretheren. They are fed result oriented stats and figures that executive level types like him can report to his superiors. In return he is ultimately given the credit for all of this "progress" and rewarded accordingly. Meanwhile, the ground agents continue to struggle trying to hold that crappy peice of the nation together. The reality is that the U.S. Mexico border is a dangerous place as we all have seen in the media. Beginning with the jet skier's husband who shot in the head. Not to mention all of the drug activity going on. Just ask the people who live there if anyone really cares to know the truth.

Originally posted by Humint1
reply to post by xuenchen

 

The executive levels of the C.B.P. are out of touch with their on the ground bretheren. They are fed result oriented stats and figures that executive level types like him can report to his superiors. In return he is ultimately given the credit for all of this "progress" and rewarded accordingly.

As stated in the OP, Gene Garza Director of the US Customs and Border Protection cites the FBI Uniform Crime Reports compilation of US crime statistics www.fbi.gov... to arrive at his assesment the U.S. side of the southwest border is home to “some of the safest communities in America.” However, in the same linked article Steven McCraw, director of Texas Department of Public Safety, question his conclusions:

cnsnews.com...

McCraw said the FBI crime statistics highlighted by the CBP about safe border communities fail to provide a full assessment of the situation on the ground.

As McCraw testified, “To accurately assess the overall criminal impact of an unsecure border on Texas requires the syntheses of several different variables within and outside the border region."

Meanwhile, the ground agents continue to struggle trying to hold that crappy peice of the nation together. Just ask the people who live there if anyone really cares to know the truth.

My quick look at crime statistics in Loredo and El Paso shows them both to be near the national median rate though Loredo is somewhat higher. I had lived for a time in San Diego, CA which is next to the southern border and it is rated as one of the safest of the US's larger cities. All US crime statistics appear to show a continual drop over the past decade which shows an improvement overall. Your comment about the "crappy peice [sic] of the nation" may be a bit harshly applied to the border areas as the higher crime rates appear to belong to other areas of the nation.