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Border agency blocks release of independent report on use of force
Rachael Bale & Andrew Becker
Despite pledges from the Obama administration for greater transparency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has kept secret a potentially embarrassing independent report on how the agency deals with shootings and other violent incidents.
Members of Congress, immigrant groups and civil rights advocates have pushed for the agency to be more transparent and accountable on shootings and other uses of force against migrants and others. But the agency has repeatedly turned back calls to make the report public, including a recent request by The Center for Investigative Reporting under federal open records laws.
The Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington-based think tank and consultant, prepared the report last year following a spate of deadly shootings by Customs and Border Protection agents and officers. In the report, the consultants examined use-of-force policies and 67 specific shooting incidents.
Overall, Customs and Border Protection agents and officers have killed nearly 30 people since 2010.
Critics of the administration say the decision to block the release of the report – described as scathing by those who have seen it – is part of a pattern within the Obama administration to obscure how Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Border Patrol use deadly force.
On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties filed a lawsuit to force the report’s release. Mitra Ebadolahi, the lawsuit’s lead attorney, said the agency’s failure to respond to an earlier Freedom of Information Act request underscores its resistance to transparency and accountability.
Source: http://rinf.com/alt-news/breaking-news/border-agency-blocks-release-independent-report-use-force/
