Oscar
Charleston, SC
Male, 31
Spent a bit over four years (2006-2010) serving as a Border Patrol Agent in Tucson Sector, AZ: the busiest sector in the country. Worked numerous positions, and spent the last year and a half operating/instructing ground radar installations. Duties included: field patrols, transport, processing, control room duties, transportation check, checkpoint operations, static watch duties, etc.
Constantly. Needless to say in the desert it's not uncommon to find yourself dodging snakes, spiders and scorpions. On the TO Reservation where I worked they had free-roaming cattle and horses. Occasionally you'd get an angry bull which would try to charge Agents who were on foot. This was even mor exciting when you were on foot in the dark and could hear that sucker running. The TO Res. was also home to thousands of wild dogs (half dog/half coyote). We had several agents who were forced to shoot dogs which attacked them.
The main concern was hitting horses or cows on the highways. The TO Indians put up no fences or cattle protection. The cows would be in the middle of the highway. We could wreck 1-2 vehicles a month in this fashion. The TO's didn't mind because the government would pay out far more money for the lost cattle than the ranchers could earn by selling it. So, an agent hitting a cow on the road in the middle of the night meant a payout for the rancher - even though they took absolutely no measures to prevent this.
I did know one agent who rolled his truck, avoiding a horse, and was paralyzed from the neck down. That was a tragic waste.
Another spooky incident involved one of our helicopters spotting a mountain lion which was stalking an agent up in the mountains. The agent was lucky that the helicopter spotted it with their night vision. They originally called the agent and told him that his K9 unit was coming up behind him. Needless to say the agent wasn't a K9 handler, so...
So while I wouldn't say they were a constant "problem" it was simply part of the environment you operated in. One agent did find a gila monster in his truck one day. Those suckers can be vicious!
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Joining any specialty unit in the Border Patrol requires that you must have at least a year or two of field time. I worked with the Horse Patrol guys a lot, but I'm not sure if they were all previous horse riders. I'd think so, as it's not an easily learned skill. Also, be advised that the Horse Patrol is constantly on the verge of being cut out of the Border Patrol - as it is costly and time consuming to keep and maintain horses.
The Horse Patrol spends a lot of extra hours trailering and keeping up their horses. Sorry I can't be of more help on this question. I am comfortable suggesting that you should know how to ride a horse prior. Many stations do not have Horse Patrols - as they have been replaced by dirt bikes in many locations. However, stations like mine kept Horse Patrol for use near the mountains and certain areas where they were more useful than dirt bikes.
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This is an interesting question. I'll simply say this: if you have committed crimes, felonies, etc. in the past - do not pursue becoming a federal agent. First, they'll likely not hire you, secondly - you're not in the right mindset, nor of the moral character to be doing this line of work.
If this is a concern for anyone who is taking the polygraph test - you should already leave the application process. They are not the kind of people we need, nor will hire.
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It will come up in your 5-year investigations, yes...though it would depend entirely on the nature of the circumstances. A child involved can impact your ability to perform your job without bias, or may lead to financial vulnerability.
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Flight Attendant
How do you handle belligerent passengers?
Poet
Does being a professional poet pay the bills?
SWAT Team Commander (Retired)
How do you decide whether to try and kill a hostage taker?
That's a shockingly broad general law enforcement question. It would depend solely on the warrant and circumstances of the raid. If agents see something in plain sight in your house or yard..yes...or if they are hot pursuit of a suspect, yes. There are a few instances where this is legal - many others where it is not. It's too broad of a question to begin to answer.
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No. You could likely get rehired without a fuss, but you will go through most of the same stuff, and must attend the academy etc.
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It's pretty easy to pick them out. Many of the coyotes though are career coyotes. They've been doing this stuff for years, if not decades. We could very easily spot or figure out the coyotes if we caught them. However, they're normally pretty smart and would bail or abandon the group when they could tell agents were nearby. Illegals rarely 'turned in" coyotes, because they knew there could be repercussions for them later, back in Mexico etc.
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