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News from the Department of Homeland Security OIG
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In response to a request from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs for information on assaults on CBP and ICE law enforcement officers, we determined that, from fiscal years 2010 to 2017, the number of assaults against CBP law enforcement officers decreased from 1,089 to 856. During the same time period, assaults of ICE law enforcement officers remained the same at 48. However, the data does not show a clear trend over that time period and the number of assaults varied widely from year to year. Our analysis also shows that, for a number of reasons, the data is unreliable and does not accurately reflect whether assaults have increased or decreased. For example, although both components introduced new reporting systems in FY 2016, law enforcement officers continue to use informal methods instead to document assaults and remain unfamiliar with these reporting systems. Further, the officers do not always report acts of physical resistance or attempted assaults, even when required to do so. In addition, the definition of assault differs for CBP and ICE. We also uncovered issues with the training of law enforcement officers. Specifically, CBP and ICE differ in their provision of refresher training to mitigate and prevent assaults, particularly in defensive tactics, and neither component is fully training law enforcement officers to defend themselves against assaults. Without reliable data and adequate training, ICE and CBP may not be doing enough to mitigate and prevent assaults on law enforcement officers.
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