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Border Patrol agents advised to release drunk drivers

PHOENIX (CBS5) -

13 Feb

A training memo for federal agents who patrol Arizona advises them they are under no obligation to detain an alcohol impaired driver and they face no liability by allowing them to continue driving.

The memo was shared exclusively with CBS5 Friday night. It was circulated among Customs and Border Patrol agents who work Arizona's Tucson sector. The memo gives agents three options of what they can do with a driver they suspect to be impaired:

Do not detain them
Detain the impaired individual at the request of a state or local law enforcement officer
Detain the impaired individual without a request from a state or local law enforcement officer

The memo also explains the ramifications of each option and what liability the agent could face. Only in the "do not detain them" option would the agent be free from any liability.

Border Patrol agents are not certified peace officers in Arizona, meaning they do not have the lawful authority to arrest someone suspected of breaking state law.
http://www.kpho.com/story/28108702/bodrder-patrol-agents-directed-to-release-drunk-drivers
 
They have bigger fish to fry?
...They should have a moral obligation to want to take drunk drivers off the road. How would they feel if they let a drunk driver go and he went off and killed some people (caused an accident).
 
Nebulous said:
They have bigger fish to fry?
...They should have a moral obligation to want to take drunk drivers off the road. How would they feel if they let a drunk driver go and he went off and killed some people (caused an accident).

Nebulous's right....worst case scenario: they let a drunk driver go, said driver proceeds to kill someone and people rail at CBP over it. At the very least, they should detain them until they're sober.
 
Webster said:
Nebulous said:
They have bigger fish to fry?
...They should have a moral obligation to want to take drunk drivers off the road.  How would they feel if they let a drunk driver go and he went off and killed some people (caused an accident).

Nebulous's right....worst case scenario: they let a drunk driver go, said driver proceeds to kill someone and people rail at CBP over it. At the very least, they should detain them until they're sober.

How hard is it to get local law enforcement on the scene, let them take over from there...
 
border patrol agents aren't local law enforcement...

to detain someone like that is illegal for them to do...
 
Nebulous said:
Webster said:
Nebulous said:
They have bigger fish to fry?
...They should have a moral obligation to want to take drunk drivers off the road.  How would they feel if they let a drunk driver go and he went off and killed some people (caused an accident).

Nebulous's right....worst case scenario: they let a drunk driver go, said driver proceeds to kill someone and people rail at CBP over it. At the very least, they should detain them until they're sober.

How hard is it to get local law enforcement on the scene, let them take over from there...
+freezy said:
border patrol agents aren't local law enforcement...

to detain someone like that is illegal for them to do...

Nebulous's got a point there, Freeze...technically, they can't detain them; however, if they're driving a motor vehicle, they can alert local authorities and act accordingly.
 
Webster said:
Nebulous said:
Webster said:
Nebulous said:
They have bigger fish to fry?
...They should have a moral obligation to want to take drunk drivers off the road.  How would they feel if they let a drunk driver go and he went off and killed some people (caused an accident).

Nebulous's right....worst case scenario: they let a drunk driver go, said driver proceeds to kill someone and people rail at CBP over it. At the very least, they should detain them until they're sober.

How hard is it to get local law enforcement on the scene, let them take over from there...
+freezy said:
border patrol agents aren't local law enforcement...

to detain someone like that is illegal for them to do...

Nebulous's got a point there, Freeze...technically, they can't detain them; however, if they're driving a motor vehicle, they can alert local authorities and act accordingly.

i agree that it should be like that...
 
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