Thread: Texas sheriffs give input on border violence plan

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_11966625

Texas sheriffs give input on border violence plan
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN / Associated Press Writer
Posted: 03/21/2009 09:24:31 AM MDT

McALLEN, Texas -- Local law enforcement agencies along the U.S.-Mexico border are finally getting a chance to provide input to a federal plan developed in case Mexican drug cartel violence spills across the border.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano dispatched Assistant Secretary for State and Local Law Enforcement Edmund "Ted" Sexton -a former sheriff himself - for a two-week series of meetings with sheriffs and police chiefs from Brownsville to San Diego.

When it was reported in January that the outgoing Bush administration had a contingency plan in the event of a spillover of the drug cartel violence, it came as a surprise to state and local officials along the border.

"The first time I found out the federal government even had a plan I read it in the newspaper," El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles said Friday. "To this day I still haven't seen this plan."

On Thursday, Napolitano said the plan developed under the previous administration lacked local input.

"That plan was prepared but did not have input from the state and local law enforcement officials who actually police the border area," Napolitano said. "So I've sent Ted Sexton from the department down to the border - he's there now - to go through that plan and make sure we have their input."

Wiles, who met with Sexton a day earlier, said Sexton promised to send him a copy of the plan.

Wiles said he told Sexton that El Paso is a safe city and nothing has changed there in spite of the dizzying body count across the river in Juarez, Mexico. Last year drug-related violence claimed 6,290 lives in Juarez. ( that total is all mexico, report got it wrong)

The Juarez violence is "drawing national attention to issues we've been dealing with for years," Wiles said.

While the federal government is responsible for border security, Wiles said he told Sexton his concern was that his agency have the necessary resources to support the federal agencies when needed without neglecting its own responsibilities.

For example, when someone is caught at the international bridge with a baggie of marijuana, the amount is not enough to trigger federal prosecution so they call local law enforcement, which pulls deputies out of neighborhoods, he said.

"We asked for some consistent funding to provide additional officers, officers on overtime and equipment," Wiles said.

A week earlier, Sexton spent three hours on the other side of Texas with Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino.

Trevino said he tried to send one clear message back to Napolitano.

"There's absolutely no need to send federal troops to the border for enforcement action," Trevino said. Drug cartel violence has not spilled into the United States, he said.

Trevino said Gov. Rick Perry's request last month for 1,000 more troops for the Texas-Mexico border was "uncalled for."

Perry wants the troops to fill gaps that the state has been supplementing, and spokeswoman Katherine Cesinger defended his request Friday as a reasonable one. The governor is still waiting for an official response from Washington, she said.

Cesinger called Sexton's visit to gather local input is "a step in the right direction."

But Trevino does not think it is time for troops.
"We must exhaust all federal, state, county and municipal assets before we ever think of bringing the military down here," Trevino said.

Trevino said the most likely scenario he sees now for spillover would be if cartel targets sneaked into the United States for refuge and their pursuers were able to find them.

Overall, Trevino said he sensed a clear change in the desire for communication with local law enforcement from Homeland Security. Sexton provided Trevino with a draft of the federal contingency plan and Trevino said he believes input from him and other border sheriffs will be incorporated.

"I'm extremely encouraged," Trevino said

Sexton moved on to Arizona Friday for more meetings, Homeland Security spokeswoman Sara Kuban said.

"There's absolutely no need to send federal troops to the border for enforcement action," Trevino said. Drug cartel violence has not spilled into the United States, he said.

Incredible, when even the MSM is reporting on the violence in our country.