Canadian Border Agents, Unarmed; Runs Away

[Moonclips]

Well, these goes to show the foolhardiness of being unarmed and unable to defend ones' selves:
===============================================
Wednesday, January 25, 2006; Posted: 9:57 a.m. EST (14:57 GMT)

BLAINE, Washington (AP) -- A high-speed chase that ended in gunfire closed the U.S.-Canadian border crossing near here for hours Tuesday, authorities said. Two men sought in a California homicide were arrested after one of them was shot and wounded.

The crossing is one of the busiest on the U.S. northern border. Traffic was diverted to the Pacific Highway crossing about a mile to the east as police investigated.

An unspecified number of Canadian border agents, who are unarmed, left their posts during the incident because they were concerned about their safety, said Paula Shore, a spokeswoman for the Canada Border Services Agency. Managers took over and security was not compromised, she said.

Earlier, the Whatcom County sheriff's office had received a tip that two men sought in the California case could be headed to the area, Sheriff Bill Elfo said.

A car carrying two men matching the description was seen about six miles south of the border on Interstate 5. When a sheriff's deputy tried to stop the car, the occupants sped off, reaching speeds of 100 mph, Elfo said.

At some point, a Customs and Border Protection agent fired his gun, striking one of the men, Elfo told The Seattle Times.

The chase ended just a few feet from the border when a deputy blocked the suspects' car with his squad car, Elfo said. One man bolted, but authorities quickly caught him.

Lt. Mark Gagan of the Richmond, California, police confirmed that Ishtiaq Hussain, 38, and Jose Antonio Barajas, 22, were arrested after approaching the border and failing to stop. He also confirmed that Hussain had been shot and wounded. His medical condition was not available Tuesday evening.

Authorities in Richmond, California, were working to extradite the suspects. Both were sought in the Saturday shooting death of a 43-year-old man there.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 

[Polishrifleman]

Not to bash our friends to the North as I have to deal with them on occasion I thought this was great. It's the first link to come up from an msn web search when you type in "Canadian Border Patrol".

 

[Dr.Rob]

Has met a mountie or two that would scare the stink off.. well you get my meaning.

Canucks are tough.

Perhaps it's time to man the border with Hockey players... drop a puck near escaping suspect and watch the sparks fly.

 

[Old Fuff]

I'd say Dr.Rob has a good point...

And Canada is about to have a new government with a different attitude when it comes to controling the border. I expect things will be getting better.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Just saying that confusing actual Canadian cops with say... TSA screeners is dubious.

 

[Lucky]

New gov't made arming the border patrol a campaign promise. This will only make that promise more important.

Aiui border agents have been given full arrest powers recently, so they could arrest on reasonable grounds for summary offences. I guess they couldn't do this earlier. But they were given the powers, but not given arms to defend themselves.

Hell yea they should run away, no-one should die because of politicians and bureaucrat's mistakes.

 

[Sactown]

Dang, no guns? They shoulda used harsh language.

 

[gezzer]

I would not bash the border guards in fact I think they did the right thing. It proves they are intellegent, run away when you are not armed. Mabey thier .gov should arm them Duh. :banghead:

 

[Drizzt]

Tories support armed border guards
By AMY CARMICHAEL

VANCOUVER (CP) - The Conservative justice critic says the party will stand behind its promise to give guns to Canada's border guards a day after two murder suspects from California made a run for the border before they were stopped in a shootout.

"It's simply a practical matter of how soon these officers can be trained and the firearms issued to them," said Vic Toews, the Conservative MP who served as justice critic in Opposition.

"That's our commitment and I trust our minister will do exactly that."

Toews said in an interview Wednesday he was bothered by news that about 20 Canadian border guards left their posts as the gunmen approached the border.

"I think it does nothing for our national image. I find it very disturbing that our officers felt compelled to leave because of this threat to their personal safety," he said from his Manitoba riding of Provencher.

"I understand their concerns very well and don't fault them. What surprises me is that the former government refused to properly equip our officers."

He said he doesn't know what the time line will be.

The move would not require legislation. It would be done by an order in council, which the union representing the guards fully supports.

"The issue won't be then a policy matter that needs to be worked out," said Toews.

British Columbia's solicitor general is onside.

"I think they need to be armed," John Les said outside a cabinet meeting at the provincial legislature in Victoria. "We sometimes have some not very nice people who want to try to get into our country."

The unarmed Canadian border guards left their posts at four crossings along the B.C. border on Tuesday when they heard the murder suspects were coming their way.

A spokeswoman for the Canada Border Services Agency said the guards have the legal right to refuse to work if they believe they are in imminent danger. Guards who leave their posts are replaced by supervisors.

The two men were apprehended at the Peace Arch crossing on the American side of the border by U.S. law enforcement officers after a high-speed chase down Interstate 5 in Washington state.

One of the suspects was injured in the shootout with police. Both men are in federal custody awaiting extradition from Washington to California.

The shootout and police investigation closed the border crossing between Surrey, B.C., and Blaine, Wash., for hours on Tuesday.

A vice president for the Customs Excise Union, which represents border guards, was pleased that Toews said the Tories would keep their election promise.

"We will never work in a safe environment," said Steve Pellerin-Fowlie, who said about 20 guards were involved in the incident. "What we've been calling for for years is the tools that will provide the maximum amount of safety possible."

The Tories outlined in their platform promises to arm border guards and double staff at 139 locations where officers work alone.

Pellerin-Fowlie said that guards became resigned to the fact that the weren't going to get the protection of firearms under the Liberal government.

"We have to protect ourselves. Under the labour code, any Canadian has the right to refuse dangerous work," he said.

"That information became better known among our members and over the past few months they have increasingly exercised their rights under the law."

There have been a dozen work refusals by guards across the country in the past year.

As it stands, border guards are supposed to allow anyone suspected of being armed and dangerous into Canada and then call police.

"We are supposed to withdraw because we're not armed," said Pellerin-Fowlie. "In many locations, that simply means the individual has gained entry because the response times are too long, hours, if at all."

There has been a debate in Vancouver about what law enforcement officers should have guns after guards on the public transit system were trained and equipped with firearms last year. Concerns were raised that adding guns to the mix would escalate violence.

Toews says it doesn't. As attorney general of Manitoba, Toews oversaw the arming of Natural Resources officers.

"It enhanced their effectiveness as peace officers," he said.

He envisions peace officers working together with RCMP and in exceptional circumstances with border guards.

He noted that in many rural areas, border guards work alone and RCMP offices are miles away.

"On Nov. 6, we had a person cross into Canada in my riding by simply pointing a gun at a lone official who was there, an unarmed woman. She stepped back and let the individual cross the border."

The man was eventually captured, but not by Canadian authorities. He wasn't caught until he tried to return back the U.S. on a bus, long after he had got rid of his gun north of the border, said Toews.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/01/25/1410687-cp.html

 

[Sleeping Dog]

Dang, no guns? They shoulda used harsh language.

The Canadian border agents may someday be allowed to use guns. But harsh language? Never.

 

[Creeping Incrementalism]

They could try flame units.

http://www.foxhome.com/alienlegacy/html/aliens/characters/2cha_frost.html

 

[1911Tuner]

Border Guards

The Canandian government (Not the good people of Canada) should get a clue. An unarmed "guard' is like an attack dog without teeth. Ain't nobody gonna take him seriously if they've got mayhem in mind. (Something that the
city government of Chicago needs to consider as well, since they won't authorize their retired cops to carry any more...or at least that's the rumor.
That's the ticket! Put a man in the street for 25 or 30 years to do his job and make enemies along the way...and then disarm him so that when he comes to town, he's at the mercy of a few of'em.)

Let's keep our fingers crossed that the our good neighbors to the north will get a better shake come election time. It'll help them as their political blissninnies try to send them spiraling toward the Utopia that Great Britain has become...and it'll help us keep our borders more secure.

 

[HankB]

If I were somehow assigned to border security duty, military sentry duty, or anything else of a similar nature, and my commanders required that I perform that duty while unarmed, or with a fake or unloaded gun, I assure you, my #1 priority would be to get the H-E-double hockey sticks out of Dodge at the first sign of danger.

I don't condemn the guys who ran at all - 100% of the fault lies with the decision-makers above them.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Let's keep our fingers crossed that the our good neighbors to the north will get a better shake come election time. It'll help them as their political blissninnies try to send them spiraling toward the Utopia that Great Britain has become...and it'll help us keep our borders more secure.

Things seem to have gone well in their elections. Hopefully some clearer heads will move in now.
It's very tight though, just barely a majority so it may flounder for a while.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/24/ap/world/mainD8FB2LC0B.shtml

 

[Smythe77]

At least the above news cast was correct this time. I have seen it of where the also included Detroit & one must admit that is a bit east of B.C. Cdn.

Still the Cdn Border Guards have been complaining about not being trained properly & supplied with f/arms. Not going to be as easy as one thinks for many reasons & I will not go into details as to long. Other then to say I saw how long it took the presently trained RCMP with their 38Spl revolvers make the slow change & so much training & ammo over to the present S&W 9X19 semi-auto which was not a few hrs or part of a day!!!!!!!

Still these Border Guards did the correct thing by taking coverage & that is exactly what an Ameican Police Officer would do if he did not have a f/arm & even with a f/arm as he would be up against two that might be carry h/guns, till back-up arrived.