Starting next year Border Patrol agents in the Tucson Sector will be part of a nationwide initiative meant to reduce the number of alcohol-related arrests within the agency.
The Border Patrol is averaging almost two-alcohol-related arrests per week, which is “alarming and detrimental” to the overall well-being of the workforce and cannot be ignored, said Michael Fisher, the top leader for the agency, in an October internal memo.
In the Tucson Sector, Chief Manuel Padilla said there were at least 10 alcohol-related arrests in fiscal year 2013 — which ended on Sept. 30 — down from 22 the previous year.
“If you look at the numbers, it’s less than one-fourth of one percent of the workforce,” Padilla said, “but one DUI is one too many.”
There are about 20,000 Border Patrol agents nationwide; 4,000 of them in the Tucson Sector.
Substance abuse, including alcohol misuse, is a difficult problem in police work, said John Violanti, a research professor with the University of Buffalo who studies police stress and alcohol-abuse issues.
“In general, police officers tend to cope with the stresses of their job with alcohol,” said the 23-year veteran with the New York State Police. And there’s a culture within that condones it.
The Michael V. Gallagher Project, named after a 32-year-old Tucson Border Patrol agent killed in 2010 by a drunken driver, consists of an eight-hour class combined with continuing information campaigns on the effects of alcohol misuse and related arrests.
Large sectors, such as Tucson’s, have two years for all agents to complete the training.
“I think it’s an issue because of the fact that you are law enforcement and because we lost an agent,” said Art Del Cueto, president of the local Border Patrol union.
“Awareness should be brought not just to the agents, but to society in general,” he said.
Padilla said the sector has been providing alcohol-related training under the ethics committee, an effort that was “kicked in high gear” in 2012 when almost two dozen agents were arrested for alcohol-related issues.
“A DUI is not good for anybody,” Padilla said. “There’s a lot of potential for huge consequences”— from personal injury to monetary loss— and it is completely preventable.
And it’s the responsibility of the agency’s leadership to provide the workforce with the tools and training necessary to raise awareness of the consequences, he said.
It varies case by case, Padilla said, but agents can be placed in a nonagent role or have their weapons and law-enforcement authority removed while their criminal case is pending .
The problem of alcohol abuse among law enforcement is not necessarily getting worse, said Violanti, the researcher. But police officers are finding themselves more in situations where alcohol is causing them legal or administrative problems.
Agencies also are more aware of this problem and cracking down on it.
“We are seeing more agencies taking early prevention programs rather than waiting for the problem to occur,” he said.
