Yuma Border Patrol ready for violence
BY JAMES GILBERT, SUN STAFF WRITER
The U.S. Border Patrol's Yuma sector has a response plan in place and is prepared to assist other Arizona border patrol sectors should the violence being caused by organized crime in Mexico spill over the border.
"Large scale incidents, whether they are specifically violent in nature, or the result of an emergency or natural disaster would be covered," said Ben Vik, a spokesman for the Yuma sector. "Under that plan we would work in conjunction with, and augment the efforts of the Tucson sector if any such incidents were to occur."
Law enforcement officials have been monitoring the organized crime violence that is wracking northern Mexico and also have a response plan in place should it escalate, the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector chief said Tuesday.
Chief Robert Gilbert said the patrol and other local, state and federal law enforcement agents started planning about 1 years ago, "and it's something that we continue to work with everybody's involvement pretty much."
Other agencies include the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the sheriffs' departments in Pima, Cochise and Santa Cruz counties.
"There's violence, it's occurring," Gilbert said at a media briefing on Tuesday. "To date it has not spilled across the border. Will it? We don't know. We're not going to take the chance of not being prepared if it does."
Vik added, "we all work together when large scale incidents occur. But the nature of the incident determines what agency takes the lead."
In the past year, narcotics traffickers have become increasing violent, leaving hundreds of people dead across northern Mexico, from Ciudad Juarez to Tijuana. Last week, 10 gunmen were killed in gun battles with state police in Nogales, Mexico, across the border from Nogales, Ariz.
The plan outlined by Gilbert calls for using the Tucson Sector headquarters as a command center with field commands in Douglas or Nogales, depending on where the violence happens, he said.
"We have a whole plan in place if violence spills over the border, what we're going to be able to do, how we're going to mitigate it, how we're going to insure that it doesn't hit into our communities, that if it spills over the border that it's only met with a law enforcement response, before it continues north," Gilbert said.
Gilbert said the old "mom and pop" drug and people smuggling groups are long gone.
"They're not on the border any more," Gilbert said. "The border is controlled by organized crime."
Vik said the Yuma sector's emergency response plan, just as the Tucson's sector plan, was created in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the National Incident Management System, which falls under the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"The Tucson sector has slightly different needs and contingencies to plan for then we do," Vik said. "Our plan would be similar, but specifically tailored for this sector's needs."
The 260-mile Tucson sector is the busiest in the Border Patrol for human and drug smuggling. But in the past year, a dramatic decrease in the number of illegal immigrant arrests was recorded. Gilbert said strategy adjustments, along with increases in manpower, added fencing and vehicle barriers and technology were keys to the 16 percent drop in arrests in the just-completed fiscal 2008.
--
Staff Writer James Gilbert contributed to this report.
http://www.yumasun.com/news/border_45494___article.html/violence_yuma.html
BY JAMES GILBERT, SUN STAFF WRITER
The U.S. Border Patrol's Yuma sector has a response plan in place and is prepared to assist other Arizona border patrol sectors should the violence being caused by organized crime in Mexico spill over the border.
"Large scale incidents, whether they are specifically violent in nature, or the result of an emergency or natural disaster would be covered," said Ben Vik, a spokesman for the Yuma sector. "Under that plan we would work in conjunction with, and augment the efforts of the Tucson sector if any such incidents were to occur."
Law enforcement officials have been monitoring the organized crime violence that is wracking northern Mexico and also have a response plan in place should it escalate, the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector chief said Tuesday.
Chief Robert Gilbert said the patrol and other local, state and federal law enforcement agents started planning about 1 years ago, "and it's something that we continue to work with everybody's involvement pretty much."
Other agencies include the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and the sheriffs' departments in Pima, Cochise and Santa Cruz counties.
"There's violence, it's occurring," Gilbert said at a media briefing on Tuesday. "To date it has not spilled across the border. Will it? We don't know. We're not going to take the chance of not being prepared if it does."
Vik added, "we all work together when large scale incidents occur. But the nature of the incident determines what agency takes the lead."
In the past year, narcotics traffickers have become increasing violent, leaving hundreds of people dead across northern Mexico, from Ciudad Juarez to Tijuana. Last week, 10 gunmen were killed in gun battles with state police in Nogales, Mexico, across the border from Nogales, Ariz.
The plan outlined by Gilbert calls for using the Tucson Sector headquarters as a command center with field commands in Douglas or Nogales, depending on where the violence happens, he said.
"We have a whole plan in place if violence spills over the border, what we're going to be able to do, how we're going to mitigate it, how we're going to insure that it doesn't hit into our communities, that if it spills over the border that it's only met with a law enforcement response, before it continues north," Gilbert said.
Gilbert said the old "mom and pop" drug and people smuggling groups are long gone.
"They're not on the border any more," Gilbert said. "The border is controlled by organized crime."
Vik said the Yuma sector's emergency response plan, just as the Tucson's sector plan, was created in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the National Incident Management System, which falls under the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"The Tucson sector has slightly different needs and contingencies to plan for then we do," Vik said. "Our plan would be similar, but specifically tailored for this sector's needs."
The 260-mile Tucson sector is the busiest in the Border Patrol for human and drug smuggling. But in the past year, a dramatic decrease in the number of illegal immigrant arrests was recorded. Gilbert said strategy adjustments, along with increases in manpower, added fencing and vehicle barriers and technology were keys to the 16 percent drop in arrests in the just-completed fiscal 2008.
--
Staff Writer James Gilbert contributed to this report.
http://www.yumasun.com/news/border_45494___article.html/violence_yuma.html