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Considering career as federal LEO...Border patrol?

J

jr4317

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This is my first post on here, but a dilemma I have recently been having is whether or not to go into federal law enforcement. I am 22 and in my final year of college (degree in nutritional science), but I am having regrets of not going for something in a criminal justice related area. Homeland security (mainly ICE) has been of interest to me, but I know that it is harder to get positions in ICE without much background.

So I have been considering Border Patrol as a sort of "stepping stone" to get my feet wet in law enforcement for a few years, to then progress from there to another agency (plus CBP is understaffed so they have a lot of openings). I'm wondering if anyone has experience (good/bad) with CBP, and if this would be a good option, or if there is a better way to get involved (local and state cop positions don't interest me as much as federal level).

I want a career I will enjoy, not one that I will dislike going to (and its really hard to predict your future when you're 18, LOL).
 
Don't know about fed LE but I dated a woman that was a RD and jobs were kinda few and far between and the pay really didn't match the education needed to be one.
 
Recent NES practice implies we'll soon find a mysterious past post by this OP, clamoring about MKUltra or whining about how horrible federal LEOs are.

Until we do, good luck to you. +1 on military as a stepping stone; an MP/SP background would probably help with your mismatched degree, and you can even get that kind of training in the Air Force if you don't REALLY want to be in the military.

Kidding, zoomies. I luv ya.
 
Friend of mine works cbp in an intel unit. Loves it. There are a lot of specialized units to get into. Also you're in the fed leo system so lateral to another gig isn't as hard. Are you ready for Texas, California, or Arizona? Chances are you will end up there. Spanish proficiency is required to pass the academy. No harm in trying it out, go for it. Beats the hell out of the TSA or BOP!
 
Just for the record, the Border Patrol is no longer a 'stepping stone' thanks to idiots who put stuff on their resume that they didn't 'technically' do. I've brought it before the head Chief out of DC that the best way to help BP with retention is to offer a path to the 1811 slots. Make the BP a true stepping stone, while he agreed with me, he said to my face that it was unlikely to happen.

If you jump to another agency, it will be on the merits of your resume, not previous fed time. If I were starting over today with a college degree, I'd go HSI or ERO. HSI has the availability to do some really interesting work. There's a person at our office (or near by) that is an environmentalist. That person carved out a position where he/she gets to go after ivory imports as one of their main duties. It interests them and they are gung ho going into ships looking for the stuff where a regular person would just give it passing interest. Let's say you are a 'shoe' guy, you could concentrate on knock off imports of Nike Air Whatever. Anything that comes across the border, and I use that term loosely, is fair game. The main down side of HSI is they have kinda taken over the child porn cases, I've talked to people who have run those cases and it's hard on them, they normally only last a year or two before they get reassigned. At a small office, you'll probably have to do a stint dealing with it.

With HSI/ERO you won't spend your entire career on the border, but you may have to start there and spend a couple of years. Mobility within HSI is worldwide, I know HSI agents all over the world. But HSI doesn't get the respect other fed LEO's get. In my opinion, they haven't found something to be 'great' at yet like FBI/DEA/SS has.
 
Some FAMs I have spoken to left me with the impression that the career goal is moving to a position where they no longer ride the planes but are involved in aspects like training new recruits. It sounded like constant plane riding and sharing a hotel room with another FAM at out of town destinations, was a form of legalized hazing.
 
BP has an extremely high washout rate at their academy. Or, they did when I worked for another federal LE agency, and knew a few folks who left to get a higher pay grade, didn't make it, and came back.

I talked to an Arkansas state trooper who quit BP because even though GL-9 in San Diego was 30 percent more than he made as a trooper, the cost of living there was almost triple. He got a big pay raise by quitting and moving.

As a new BP agent, you won't be in Swansea sector, or Blaine WA. You'll be in Texas, Arizona, or San Diego. The working conditions are miserable, and the pay is below any equivalent series in other agencies.

You'll also be despised by pretty much everyone in the communities in which you live and/or work.
 
Chevy 2 65 said:
So, do all agents need to speak good Spanish?
Click to expand...

This one, I'd need someone newer than me to attest to. 'Back in the day', you had 6 months to learn 'passable' Spanish. We went through a cycle, thanks to GW, where you just had to memorize a script. I've heard we are finally going back to the old standard.

But basically no, you have to pass a test, that you can study for. But it will definitely save your ass. Remember the old video of the Texas LEO that gets jumped by 3 dudes? They basically say, right in front of him, "Let's F this guy up". You hear the LEO say, 'what you guys talking about' or something like that, and it was on.

There's a lot more to the job than just 'lower than normal' fed leo pay. You will see more dead people than a fireman/EMT, people who die from dehydration not an accident. You will be the person who catches someone who spent their entire family's life savings for the chance to come up here, it will be you who sends them home. You will find the rape trees. My personal low point, I caught a family of 4: Dad, mom and 2 girls, the oldest was 14. They had no money, didn't pay anything to the coyotes from Honduras or Guat to get to here. Neither of the two girls, under 14 again, would look at me, they just stood with their eyes looking at the ground. You tell me which one paid for the trip with their ass? Probably both of them. Nothing I could do to the father.

I think we lost more to those situations than pay, but the locations probably are a higher reason. I loved the remoteness. F the people who didn't like me, I am defending this country despite what people want to think.
 
desertr8der said:
Definitely a thankless job. You still work there?
Click to expand...

For the time being, I'm not at a border station anymore. I work an interior station, working with other .fed agencies as a force multiplier. Most .fed LEOs are more like detectives that never worked the street. They are smart and all, but lack 'street cred'. I bring that to the table when dealing with a certain aspect of society.
 
If you don't want to be in a shithole border town, try CBP officer. Same benefits, same retirement. Stationed, for the most part, in civilized areas. Hiring at a pretty good clip right now
 
You mention Border Patrol, so you probably want to move down south (I presume you're not itching to move to Jackman, ME or Derby, VT, or Pittsburg, NH). Have you considered getting a law degree and being a Federal clerk, prosecutor, or public defender in the border states? Food for thought. A law degree is also somewhat transportable if you attend a T14 school (or BU/BC and similar thereto) and can still get you into Federal service.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
jr4317 said:
This is my first post on here, but a dilemma I have recently been having is whether or not to go into federal law enforcement. I am 22 and in my final year of college (degree in nutritional science), but I am having regrets of not going for something in a criminal justice related area. Homeland security (mainly ICE) has been of interest to me, but I know that it is harder to get positions in ICE without much background.

So I have been considering Border Patrol as a sort of "stepping stone" to get my feet wet in law enforcement for a few years, to then progress from there to another agency (plus CBP is understaffed so they have a lot of openings). I'm wondering if anyone has experience (good/bad) with CBP, and if this would be a good option, or if there is a better way to get involved (local and state cop positions don't interest me as much as federal level).

I want a career I will enjoy, not one that I will dislike going to (and its really hard to predict your future when you're 18, LOL).
Click to expand...

I would not consider the Border Patrol a stepping stone, unless you are just checking the box for LEO time.

Lots of agencies are hiring, so keep your eyes open on usajobs website.

BP is what you make of it. The agency is struggling, but the work and experience, if you don’t slug and hide, is great. There are so many different types of units, experience and action can come quickly.

That said the agency is in the political cross fire, we are not liked, generally, even more so then other LEO outfits.

If you want an agency with career growth BP is great, but will require you to move a lot for that growth.

Location choices are not that great, moving as a GS12 and under is very difficult if you don’t have 10 plus years in.

Pay is good (overtime sucks).

In short:

Pros:

Lots of action
Lots of experience
Lots of different types of units
FED clock for retirement
LEO experience

Cons:

Shit locations
Hard to move as uniformed agent
Overtime sucks

Someone mentioned CBP Officer job. Way way different than BP. Biggest issue with CBP officer is LEO coverage. They are secondary enhanced not 6C. This does not transfer to any other agency outside CBP. (If you are thinking stepping stone)

There is a BP hiring forum out there.
 
JBear said:
I would not consider the Border Patrol a stepping stone, unless you are just checking the box for LEO time.

Lots of agencies are hiring, so keep your eyes open on usajobs website.

BP is what you make of it. The agency is struggling, but the work and experience, if you don’t slug and hide, is great. There are so many different types of units, experience and action can come quickly.

That said the agency is in the political cross fire, we are not liked, generally, even more so then other LEO outfits.

If you want an agency with career growth BP is great, but will require you to move a lot for that growth.

Location choices are not that great, moving as a GS12 and under is very difficult if you don’t have 10 plus years in.

Pay is good (overtime sucks).

In short:

Pros:

Lots of action
Lots of experience
Lots of different types of units
FED clock for retirement
LEO experience

Cons:

Shit locations
Hard to move as uniformed agent
Overtime sucks

Someone mentioned CBP Officer job. Way way different than BP. Biggest issue with CBP officer is LEO coverage. They are secondary enhanced not 6C. This does not transfer to any other agency outside CBP. (If you are thinking stepping stone)

There is a BP hiring forum out there.
Click to expand...

There is no 6c retirement. It is 12D and it does transfer over. 12D is 12D. We have had CBP officers transfer to HSI, ERO and their retirement carried over. Read the 12D statue, there is NO difference....
 
AFAIK It will count towards your total time but not towards your 20 needed LE time. This is based on friends who switched from CBPO to and 1811 .fed.
 
I'm a CBPO. We've had Border Patrol move from BP to CBPO for 2 years and back to BP with no break in 12 D coverage. We've also had CBPO's move to ERO with no break in coverage. This is right from OPM's website regarding who is entiltled to LEO benefits when computing an annuity. I'll try to find the specific section.

  • Law Enforcement Officer
  • Firefighter
  • Nuclear Materials Courier performed with the Department of Energy on or after October 1, 1977
  • Customs and Border Protection Officer on or after July 6, 2008
  • Member of the Capitol Police
  • Member of the Supreme Court Police
  • Congressional Employee
  • Air Traffic Controller
 

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