Through two years, there were 44 cases of disciplinary review involving Customs and Border Protection employees in the Swanton sector of the northern border, according to a report released Friday.
The documents, released by CBP, cover disciplinary incidents, misconduct and arrests of employees between October 2015 and September 2017, but does break down which type of incident took place in which sector.
The Swanton sector, with headquarters in Swanton, Vermont, covers an area of 24,000 square miles along the U.S.-Canadian border and encompasses all of Vermont, the very eastern part of New York, and the northern tip of New Hampshire.
Out of the eight sectors along the northern border, Swanton ranked third for fewest disciplinary incidents: above of only Buffalo sector in New York, and Grand Forks sector in North Dakota. Blaine sector, in Washington, had the most incidents with 109.
Of Swanton sector’s 338 employees, including 292 agents, three employees were “removed” from their jobs, seven received “informal discipline,” while one employee was put on “indefinite suspension” over the two years covered in the report. In 27 instances, it was decided no discipline was warranted, according to the records.
The area’s field office, located in Boston, which is in charge of all New England states, reported 230 incidents, ranking second fewest among the eight field offices, only ahead of Buffalo’s 136 incidents. New York City’s field office ranked first with 355 incidents of misconduct.
Across the country, the two most common reasons for arresting a Border Patrol employee was drug or alcohol misconduct, which accounted for 228 incidents over the two years, and domestic or family misconduct, 95 cases during the same time frame, according to the documents.
There were also 25 cases in which CBP employees were arrested for assault and 30 incidents in which employees were arrested for corruption.
Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that it must earn the public’s trust and that “integrity is a core value that guides all CBP employees and is reflected in the successful work the Agency performs each day securing our nation’s borders and protecting its citizens from harm.”
The report came a day after a bill aimed at enhancing border security, by making it easier for CBP to hire applicants, passed by unanimous vote in the Senate.
Introduced by Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-ND, and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., lawmakers hope the bill will address employment problems while boosting border security for ports of entry along the border and in more rural areas.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., voiced support for the bill, tweeting that “all of us on the northern border appreciate” Heitkamp’s leadership to “sensibly and securely protect our border.”
Heidi, all of us on the Northern Border appreciate your steady leadership on this…to sensibly and securely protect our border, while respecting our communities’ and our states’ interests. https://t.co/UzyOjKNzjJ
— Sen. Patrick Leahy (@SenatorLeahy) October 12, 2018
Asked for information about whether arrests in the report were made in Vermont or Swanton sector, CBP spokesperson Stephanie Malin said the agency was “not able to break the statistics down farther than what was released in the report.”
In April 2018, a CBP agent working in Derby was arrested by Vermont State Police for aggravated domestic assault.
Joseph Blecha, who had served 15-years as a Border Patrol agent and before that as a member of U.S. Army National Guard, assaulted his girlfriend, giving her a concussion, according to the police report of the incident. Blecha is currently awaiting trial.
Malin declined to comment on whether Blecha is still a CBP employee.
