Border Patrol

[futurecop28]

I have been looking into border patrol and i was wondering what the normal day is like. How long do you work? How much paper work is it? Is it really competitve and I know that they teach you spanish in their academt but will being fluent in spanish already help my chances?

[ask80]

honorfirst.com will give you more details. shifts vary with OT. paperwork varies with arrests...it's competitive like any LE process but they are on a massive hiring spree. so they hire "faster" than other federal agencies IMO. being fluent in spanish will help since you'll take the spanish portion of the language written test. and i believe you can test out of the spanish portion in the academy. i was hired with BP a year half ago but turned them down.. and it took like 5 months for the process...have a buddy of mine in san diego who loves it. each station does different stuff...

[biggreen]

It really depends on where you're sent. Some stations have only "Still Watch" positions (X's) and others you patrol a designated zone. How much action you will get really depends on the area you get stationed at. As far as paperwork, again, it depends on the area and the size of the station. If it is a small station, you will probably clean what you catch and do all of the paperwork yourself. If it's a big station, processing will likely be part of your rotation and that will be all you do. As far as paperwork in the field, it's minimal. If you do an administrative or criminal case, there is more involved. Hope this helps and yes, being a native speaker helps. Border Patrol Spanish is formal, so native speakers may have just a little trouble adapting. It sounds like you'd do fine.

[Sleuth]

Normal Day: Report in, catch and saddle your horse, and head out. Come back after 8-10 hours, brush and feed horse, process your catch, go home.

Enjoy

[yellowreef]

Horses? I'd say you just dated yourself :p

[madchiken]

Horses? I'd say you just dated yourself :p

mmhmmmmm

[Sleuth]

Yup - so what?

Before I retired in '97 (1997, not 1897), I did use a horse "donated" by some smugglers to round up a batch of dope smugglers, along with our patrol force (the Shadow Pack). In the desert, horses are still able to go where cars, and even ATV's, cannot. Plus they can be silent (their exhaust has smell, but no noise), and since there are free running herds of horses where I worked, until they see you, the smugglers just think it is one of the herd. Plus, a smuggler in the best possible shape cannot outrun a horse. They just get caught tired!

Besides, I'm a history buff. It was fun to relive what "the old patrol" had done. Read about some of the early Customs Mounted Inspectors (pre-Border Patrol) and early BP did. They would saddle up and head out for a 3/4 week mounted patrol, from Nogales 1/2 way to Yuma and back!

[yellowreef]

Yup - so what?

Before I retired in '97 (1997, not 1897), I did use a horse "donated" by some smugglers to round up a batch of dope smugglers, along with our patrol force (the Shadow Pack). In the desert, horses are still able to go where cars, and even ATV's, cannot. Plus they can be silent (their exhaust has smell, but no noise), and since there are free running herds of horses where I worked, until they see you, the smugglers just think it is one of the herd. Plus, a smuggler in the best possible shape cannot outrun a horse. They just get caught tired!

Besides, I'm a history buff. It was fun to relive what "the old patrol" had done. Read about some of the early Customs Mounted Inspectors (pre-Border Patrol) and early BP did. They would saddle up and head out for a 3/4 week mounted patrol, from Nogales 1/2 way to Yuma and back!

Yup, I was just messing with you. We still have quite a few guys on mounted patrol nowadays. One of these days I might even put in for it.

[Sleuth]

I know, no offense taken. Look for a book (I can't recall the title) about Jeff Milton, Custom Mounted Inspector prior to WWI. It will make you appreciate what the 'old patrol' had to do.One of my friends, a retired BP Agent in Tucson, owns Milton's double barreled shotgun.

Besides, the average life expectancy of an LEO after retirement is 5 years. I fully intend to be the worlds oldest living Civil Service retiree. I want to live so long, my retirement becomes a line item in the Federal Budget! So there, Yellowreef. I want to be invited to YOUR retirement party!