The Government Accountability Office took a look at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency and found fewer than 1% of employees each year are arrested for corruption. More, however, are charged with various forms of misconduct. And a majority of cases are along the Southwest border.
“There were 2,170 reported incidents of arrests for acts of misconduct such as domestic violence or driving under the influence from fiscal year 2005 through fiscal year 2012, and a total of 144 current or former CBP employees were arrested or indicted for corruption-related activities, such as the smuggling of aliens and drugs, of whom 125 have been convicted as of October 2012,” the report summarizes.
But, as the Washington Post says, the GAO also found a “scary picture” when it comes to CBP’s employee screening. And Congress has its eyebrow raised.
“Yet, the report paints a scary picture about those who are corrupt and a somewhat less than flattering view of agency actions to prevent and uproot rotten eggs. And although the problem is small in terms of the number of employees involved, it is significant enough that House and Senate panels have repeatedly called CBP officials to Capitol Hill to discuss misconduct and the sometimes flawed efforts to stem it.”
The GAO says CBP is “the largest uniformed law enforcement agency in the United States,” with 21,400 border patrol agents and 20,000 customs officers.