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Border Patrol accountability sought by Arizona residents

Claudine LoMonaco
Tucson Citizen
Jul. 12, 2006 12:00 AM


It is the largest law enforcement agency in southern Arizona, and some say that unlike local police departments, the U.S. Border Patrol is accountable to no one in the community.

The Arizona Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Human Rights in 2005 found that complaints against the federal agency go unanswered so often, many border residents have largely given up on the process.

Pima County residents Mark Meszaros and Rick and Carol Morgan have been waiting for two months for a promised investigation into why a Border Patrol agent threw down tire spikes on a dangerous mountain highway that caused them to lose control of their motorcycles.

Michael Nicley, chief of the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, declined to be interviewed for this article, but a spokesman said the agency takes complaints seriously.

"We're very committed to the people we protect," Senior Patrol Agent Gustavo Soto said. "We'll go through a process where phone calls will be made and the situation will be dealt with."

Meszaros and the Morgans say they want to know when.

"(We) could have died out there that night," said Meszaros, 54, a Vietnam veteran and retired postal worker from Green Valley. "I support the mission of the Border Patrol, but what that agent did was reckless and negligent, and he should be punished. I don't want this happening to anyone else."

On May 13, Meszaros and the Morgans were traveling north on Arizona 83, near a dangerous stretch called dead man's curve. The trio say their two bikes hit something metal and then both lost control.

They thought it was a freak accident until the next morning when Rick Morgan inspected his bike and found a spike in the flat tire. Meszaros found three spikes. A pick-up driver that was behind them found another.

The Morgans and Meszaros took the spikes to the Sonoita Border Patrol station to file a complaint, and an agent acknowledged the spikes belonged to the agency and promised an investigation.

Soto confirmed last week that a supervisor from the Sonoita station was internally investigating the incident to see if policy had been followed. Because it is an ongoing investigation, he said he could not discuss details.

Officials at the state Department of Public Safety and the Tucson Police Department say they would have handled the investigation very differently. Both say such an allegation would merit an independent investigation by their offices of professional standards.

The incident comes at a time when the Border Patrol's Tucson sector, already with more than 2,400 agents, may double in the next two years. President Bush has called for hiring 6,000 more agents by 2008 with 2,500 slated for Arizona.

The Border Patrol's growing presence has some residents demanding greater accountability from the agency that has become an increasing part of daily life.