#16 | Posted by donnerboy at 2026-01-26 12:53 PM

When I went into the Border Patrol in 1992, minimum requirements were 4 years of a combination of pertinent education or qualifying experience. The Border Patrol Academy was 17 weeks. Following academy graduation was 6 months of structured field training including 1 day per week of classroom post-academy training reinforcing law, operations, and Spanish. A Conduct and Efficiency (C&E) evaluation was done every two weeks to track trainees' performance and progress. A final examination was given at the 10 month mark, after which you still had to complete two more months riding with experienced agents until the probationary year was completed. My academy class entered with 50 students, I don't remember the exact number but just over 30 of us completed the probationary year. That was about average, I think somewhere between 60-70% was the norm.

By the time I was a Field Training Officer in 1996, prior experience requirements were already being reduced and background checks sped up to comply with hiring mandates. By the time I became a Supervisor in 1998, incident rates were rising including allegations of excessive force, rights violations, and internal policy violations. Then following 9/11 and the creation of DHS, we were taken out of DOJ, which at least made an effort to investigate and take enforcement actions, and made part of the DHS/ICE. And the agency just spiraled into a disorganized mess. I resigned in 2007, probably 5 years later than I should have.

I can't imagine being a federal government employee right now. The use of the term "Mayhem" in the title line is appropriate. It's no longer government of the people, for the people, by the people. It's government controlling the people, to lying to the people, spiting the people. To the point of the post, this is just another sampling of what this administration is trying to do, destroy the basic framework of law and right that have made this country great for 250 years. There's no longer separation of powers. There's no longer states' rights. The Bill of Rights is on fire. What we have are the self-serving whims of a greedy tyrant and the sycophants fighting for crumbs from his table.

#26 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS

Yes, we did box. Part of a very physically demanding defensive tactics program. I wonder how much DT training today's ICE agents are getting. The purpose of a DT program isn't to teach agents to beat the hell out of people, it's to give them a toolbox of options prior to going to deadly force. All I see out of ICE in MN is either using chemical irritants or going to the gun. A trained group of officers should have had Alex Pretti controlled, handcuffed, and secured in about 30 seconds.

#28 | Posted by C0RI0LANUS

Oh yeah, the boxing was more for fitness and getting people in the mindset to take a punch and continue fighting. Actual defensive/control tactics were based on pain compliance with minimal injury, pressure point strikes to stun and disable, and joint lock holds to control. Solo or with a partner or team. The goal was to get a subject handcuffed and controlled as swiftly as possible, for your safety and theirs. Op plans were about stealth and surprise, getting in position without being detected, and making the arrest(s) quickly before the subject(s) had time to react. We usually only worked in very small teams. Pairs, 3-4 at most.

I don't know exactly how much the Border Patrol has changed in the almost 20 years I've been out, but I do believe a contributing factor to the problems in MN are from using people to do a job they're not accustomed to doing. How many agents do they have in Minneapolis, 400-600? Those agents aren't all local. probably very few are. I'm guessing they have agents detailed in from stations all over the country. They don't know the area, they don't know a lot of the people they're working with, they're not accustomed to the kind of work they're assigned, many may not want to be there in the first place, no wonder the whole operation is disorganized.