On my morning and afternoon commutes today, I heard a somewhat befuddling radio advertisement. It was a recruitment spot for the Border Patrol, and the major selling point seemed to be that by simply passing an exam and undergoing a 30 day training seminar, anyone could start a REWARDING CAREER in the border patrol.
Firstly, I understand that like any employer the border patrol is going to recruit, sure, makes sense. I disagree with their policies and their objectives, but none-the-less, they’re going to try to get new employees. What confuses me is the selling point being ease: are people attracted to low entry requirements really the folks we want to go handing that kind of authority? I’d say not.
If you’ve driven along the border recently, or really, if you’ve driven along a major highway within a hundred miles of the border recently, you’ve likely been subject to the random (and I’m sure 4th amendment compliant…right) stop-and-search by these guys. They do the whole “are you a US Citizen?” thing and have a dog sniff around your car without so much as suspicion, let alone cause or a warrant. They routinely detain people, and treat everyone as a criminal. Do we really want to go recruiting law enforcement officers who are drawn in by the low requirements? Further, does anyone think that a month-long seminar is sufficient to train a bunch of people about the relevant legal considerations? It sure took me more than a month to become competent enough to do my job properly (four years of college, three years in a different job), so I’m pretty sure it’s going to take longer than 30 days to get a border patrol agent up to speed. Unless you just want him to tase random motorists and try to keep brown people from picking fruit…that’s probably pretty easy.
