CBP Use of Force Statistics

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is charged with enforcing the nation’s laws while protecting the civil rights and civil liberties of every individual with whom we interact. CBP’s authority to enforce the law, even to the point of lethal force, appropriately bears the burden of accountability, which includes integrity and transparency.

These data reflect individual uses of force, not incidents, by CBP law enforcement personnel to include U.S. Border Patrol agents, CBP officers, and air and marine interdiction agents. There may be multiple uses of force applied during an incident.

CBP uses of force in FY16 were 29% higher than FY15.  However, much of the change was due to an increase in the reporting of incidents wherein a less-lethal device was used against multiple subjects.  For example, a single utilization of a device such as a Pepperball Launching System (PLS) for area saturation against 15 individuals is counted as 15 total uses of force in one incident.  Uses of force involving a PLS increased 248% in FY16, from 56 to 195, a difference of 139 uses of force.  This was the largest contributing factor behind the overall increase in use of force from 756 to 978.  Coinciding with the use of force increase was a combined 16% increase in apprehensions/total inadmissables; AMO (+9%), USBP (+23%), and OFO (+8%).  Also of note is assaults on CBP law enforcement personnel increased 23% during the same time period (477 in FY15 to 585 in FY16).

Over the previous five fiscal years, uses of force involving firearms dropped from a high of 58 in 2012 to a low of 27 in 2016, a 53% decrease.

During FY 2016, the U.S. Border Patrol recorded 415,816 apprehensions, which includes unaccompanied children and families, and CBP officers stopped 274,821 inadmissible individuals from entering the United States through the nation’s ports of entry.

Below are CBP use of force statistics including FY 2016 (October 1, 2015 –September 30, 2016).  Official end of fiscal year tables were prepared on October 4, 2016; any uses of force entered after this date for the time period are not reflected in these tables.

Year-to-date tables were prepared on March 8, 2017; any uses of force entered after this date for the time period are not reflected in these tables.

For reporting purposes, CBP categorizes use of force as “firearm,”  “less-lethal device,” or “other less-lethal force.” A CBP law enforcement officer’s use of a baton, electronic control weapon, or other less-lethal device is reflected in the “Less-Lethal Device” column below. The “Other” column includes less-lethal uses of force, such as offensive driving techniques, physical strike, or applications of force other than a firearm or less-lethal device.

Footnote: Acronyms used in the tables below:

• AMO: Air and Marine Operations
• OFO: Office of Field Operations
• USBP: U.S. Border Patrol
• FY: Fiscal Year
• FYTD: Fiscal Year to Date

Data sources:  Use of Force Reporting System (UFRS) and Assaults and Use of Force Reporting System (AUFRS)

Prior-Year Use of Force Statistics

Fiscal Year Use of Force Statistics

* SOG (formerly BORTAC) refers to the Special Operations Group based out of El Paso, Texas.

Assault Statistics

*An incident occurred on February 14, 2017 in the Rio Grande Valley Sector in which seven Border Patrol Agents were assaulted by six subjects utilizing three different types of projectiles, including rocks, bottles, and logs, for a total of 126 assaults. There were 12 uses of force (six by Pepperball® Launching System and six by FN 303®—a compressed air launcher) in response to the assaults.