Manpower Issues...

Recently, CBP apprehended over twenty stowaways from China at the seaport in Seattle. They had come over in a container. While the container had been targeted for examination, due to the number of containers that have to be looked at, it would have been a few days before the can was inspected. This is pretty normal.

Don't you think we would like to do better, check more cargo, process shipments faster? It comes down to this, over the last several years CBP has been using high tech equipment to examine cargo, this was done to process cargo faster and more efficiently. Unfortunately, you have to have people to run the equipment. Now you hear more and more about radiation portal monitors. They are work great. The problem once again is that they need to be monitored and if they alert, the situation has to be resolved. This takes manpower. So instead of having Officers examine cargo, they are monitoring equipment. Doing this for three shifts a day, times the number of pieces of equipment that need to be monitored digs deeply into the resources of the Ports.

The long and short of it is this, Congress needs to allocate the funds to hire a lot more Officers to examine containers, utilize the equipment, and to monitor the equipment. This is just for the Cargo environment. We continue to lose some of the best employees to positions offering law enforcement retirement. It leaves CBP in a less than desirable position when it comes to trying to protect the country at the borders.

There does not appear to be a cavalry on the way.....

BT