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A Few Brief Words
By Dave Klecha | December 12, 2009
Let’s talk about vehicle searches, and those conducting them.
First, let me be clear. I am in no way attempting a cavalier dismissal of Dr. Peter Watts’ claims of mistreatment, though if you’re upset about his treatment, I’ll bet this is almost certainly going to read that way. I sympathize with him, I wish it had not happened, I hope he is cleared of all wrongdoing, and I hope this incident can be used to bring more scrutiny to security practices along the border and the laws that currently support those practices.
Now, vehicle searches. I did this job myself for a couple months outside of Abu Ghraib while working on the force protection detail there. From that experience, and the training behind it, I know one thing to be very likely true about Dr. Watts’ experience: if a subject of a search does anything but sit quietly by while the search is conducted, 99.9% of the time it will be construed as an attempt to distract the searcher from the search, which in turn will be construed as an effort to hide something. Since this is how I would have construed such an action, no matter how harmless or reasonable the words that Dr. Watts used, I can see how things may have escalated from there.
Let me be clear again: I do not have any reason to believe that Dr. Watts had anything whatsoever to hide.
From the accounts given so far, I’ll say that it seems like two things should have happened that did not: one is that Dr. Watts and his passenger should have been separated from the vehicle for the search so that they could search the vehicle without interruption. That was our operating routine in the vehicle inspections chute in Iraq. The other is that they should have been informed, clearly and concisely, what was happening. I could speculate why these two things might not have happened, but they would be baseless speculation, so I’ll refrain for the moment.
So let me be clear one more time: I do think there were steps that could have been taken by the Border Patrol to mitigate this situation long before it came to blows. And it was certainly their job to defuse the situation, rather than escalate it through the continuum of force. If they failed at that, then they failed in their job to protect.
Now, as far as the people conducting the search go: I’m sure there are few jobs that are more thankless than Border Patrol/TSA/etc. The only time anyone pays any attention to them is either when folks feel they’re getting hassled unnecessarily, or when they’re blamed for letting the bad guys slip through. I’m sure it’s got to be a massively frustrating and stressful job. That doesn’t excuse any abusive tactics that some may engage in while they think they’re doing the job, but it also doesn’t justify some (thankfully, a small minority) of the comments I’ve seen around the last 24 hours or so.
They didn’t join because they have an excess of testosterone. They don’t get upset because you are articulate, or speak in polysyllables. I’m betting that the vast, overwhelming majority of them don’t give a damn what you do, beyond how it impacts their job. They’re not jack-booted thug wannabes. Most of them are pursuing their careers for the same reason you are pursuing yours: they believe in what they’re doing. And they believe what they’re doing is essential to keeping you and everyone else safe.
They want to go home to their families at the end of the day. They’re not psychic, so they don’t know how awesome any given person they come in contact with on a given day actually is. And if you think that some snark or sarcasm is enough condescension to get them to fly off the handle, you might want to spend a day in their shoes. Perhaps you’ll want to think about just how condescending you’re being, when you so boldly proclaim that you know what they’re all like, or why they all joined up, or what all of them find offensive or disquieting, or that you pay their wages.
Bottom line: they don’t make policy. The execute it, within a rather narrow lane. You want things to change with how they do their job? Calling them a bunch of ‘roid-fueled jack-booted thugs, while possibly cathartic, won’t get it done. Talk to your lawmaker, assuming you’re in the US, and put the pressure on.
Topics: life | 4 Comments »
December 13th, 2009 at 7:40 am
Thanks Dave for this insight. It helps get a handle on the issue through all the noise. I hope many read it.
December 14th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Totally a minor point, but I always hate it when someone says they want special service because they pay my salary. Everybody else does too, but everybody else doesn’t pay my salary to suck up to “you”.
Cops and Fen will protect their own. The Dwarves are for the Dwarves, after all.
That said, I think the role of cop is a flawed one, and should be entirely renegotiated. But I suspect that my lawmakers can’t help that issue, and I’m not sure I want to get another degree just to be able to make my point on the topic.
And I agree with Merrie that Homo Sapiens are too scared.
December 14th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Our survival instincts may well doom our liberty, yet.
But yes, overall I would not mind a re-think on what position cops have in our society and how they’re able to express their power. I’m sure that a lot of bad ideas have been enshrined over time, and a general rethink is probably in order. Short, I should say, of a Nihilistic razing of the institution.
December 14th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Nihlism is my drug of choice.
Licensed defense/investigative mercenaries? Pay for Play neighborhood militias? That wouldn’t work at all, of course, but it would be HELLA KEWL!