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OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
~5o~~~gND 56~'J~
Department of Homeland Sec u ri ty
AUG 1 3 1 0 1 4
MEMORANDUM FOR: The Honorable Jeh Johnson
Sec retary
FROM: John Roth ~~~~
Inspec tor General
SUBJECT: Inv esti gati on of Alc an Boy Sc ou t Enc ou nter
The Offi c e of Inspec tor General (OIG) and Cu stoms and Border Protec ti on (CBP), Offi c e
of Internal Affai rs (IA), are c ondu c ti ng an i nv esti gati on i nto an allegati on that a CBP
Offi c er (CBPO) drew and poi nted a fi rearm at a Boy Sc ou t whi le c ondu c ti ng an
i nspec ti on at the Alc an Port of Entry (POE), Alaska. Thi s report c ov ers fi eldwork
performed from Ju ly 25, 20 1 4 throu gh Au gu st 8, 20 1 4.
A Boy Sc ou t Sc ou tmaster, trav eli ng wi th hi s Boy Sc ou t troop throu gh the Alc an POE,
alleged that an u nknown CBPO (CBPO 1 ) poi nted a fi rearm at an u nnamed Boy Sc ou t
(Boy Sc ou t 1 ). As noted below, based u pon the i nv esti gati on to date, whi c h i s
su bstanti ally c ompleted, the allegati on appears to be u nsu bstanti ated.
Agents from OIG and CBP IA trav eled to mu lti ple states, i nc lu di ng Alaska, i n su pport of
thi s i nv esti gati on. Agents rev i ewed the POE sec u ri ty v i deo of the enc ou nter; c ondu c ted
CBP poli c y researc h; and i nterv i ewed the Sc ou tmaster, the Boy Sc ou ts of Ameri c a
Exec u ti v e Staff, all adu lts that were part of the Boy Sc ou t grou p i nv olv ed i n the
enc ou nter, CBP leadershi p, and the CBPOs i nv olv ed i n the enc ou nter.
Ti meli ne of the enc ou nter:
At 8:50 p.m., Ju ly 7, 20 1 4, a grou p of Boy Sc ou ts and thei r adu lt c haperones
arri v ed at the Alc an POE i n fou r v ehi c les.
Du ri ng the pri mary i nspec ti on proc ess, a Boy Sc ou t (Boy Sc ou t 2) took pi c tu res of
the POE. A CBPO (CBPO 2), CBP, Alc an, Alaska, i nstru c ted Boy Sc ou t 2 to delete
the pi c tu res and to show hi m that the photos were deleted. After Boy Sc ou t 2
deleted the last photograph, CBPO 2 saw another photograph of a hand holdi ng
what appeared to be mari ju ana. Boy Sc ou t 2 admi tted that i t was hi s hand i n the
photograph holdi ng a mari ju ana bu d/flower. CBPO 2 su bsequ ently searc hed the
v ehi c le whi le the oc c u pants wai ted i n the POE offi c e and the rest of the grou p
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OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
o~~~9ND S~~J~
Department of Homeland Sec u ri ty
wai ted i n th ei r res pec ti v e v eh i c les . Du ri ng th e s earc h , CBPO 2 i ns tru c ted th e
dri v ers and oc c u pants of th e oth er th ree v eh i c les to remai n i n th ei r v eh i c les , and
th at th e fai lu re to do s o wou ld res u lt i n b ei ng detai ned.
Wh i le CBPO 2 s earc h ed th e v eh i c le, CBPO 1 loc ated and ob tai ned Boy Sc ou t 2's
b ag . Ini ti ally th e b ag was b eli ev ed to b e i n a roof s torag e c ontai ner on a
s eparate v eh i c le, s o Boy Sc ou t 1 c li mb ed on th e v eh i c le to ob tai n th e b ag wh i le
CBPO 1 watc h ed. Th e b ag was ev entu ally loc ated i ns i de a di fferent v eh i c le and
CBPO 1 s u b s equ ently s earc h ed th e b ag . Noth i ng of ev i denti ary v alu e was fou nd
i n th e s earc h of th e v eh i c le or b ag .
CBPO 2 releas ed th e g rou p at 9:39 p.m., Ju ly 7, 2014, 49 mi nu tes after arri v i ng at
th e POE.
Th e Sc ou tmas ter retu rned to th e POE offi c e s h ortly after b ei ng releas ed and
as ked for as s i s tanc e i n fi x i ng a flat ti re. CBPO 2 h elped fi x th e ti re, b u t
rec ommended th at th e Sc ou tmas ter v i s i t a mec h ani c i n Border Ci ty, Alas ka,
approx i mately th ree mi les away, for a more permanent repai r. CBPO 2 lent th e
Sc ou tmas ter h i s pers onal ti re patc h ki t and as ked th at h e leav e i t wi th th e
mec h ani c , wh i c h th e Sc ou tmas ter di d.
Inv es ti g ati v e fi ndi ng s reg ardi ng th e enc ou nter:
On Ju ly 30, 2014, th e Sc ou tmas ter told ag ents th at h e di d not wi tnes s any CBPO
wi th draw a fi rearm, b u t th at h e was told b y Boy Sc ou ts th at th ey wi tnes s ed
CBPO 1 wi th draw a fi rearm and poi nt i t at a Boy Sc ou t wh i le th e Boy Sc ou t was
on top of th e v eh i c le. Th e Sc ou tmas ter refu s ed to i denti fy th e Boy Sc ou ts ;
h owev er, i t was later determi ned th at th e s c ou ts wh o were alleg ed to h av e s een
th e weapon were Boy Sc ou t 1 and anoth er Boy Sc ou t (Boy Sc ou t 3) . Th e
Sc ou tmas ter als o refu s ed to as s i s t arrang i ng i nterv i ews of Boy Sc ou t 1 and Boy
Sc ou t 3.
Interv i ews of th e oth er adu lts on th e tri p i denti fi ed Boy Sc ou t 1 and Boy Sc ou t 3
as th e Boy Sc ou ts wh o c lai med th ey s aw a CBPO draw a fi rearm. No one oth er
th an Boy Sc ou t 1 and Boy Sc ou t 3 alleg ed to h av e s een a weapon. Th e dri v er of
th e v eh i c le c arryi ng Boy Sc ou t 2 (wh o was taki ng ph otog raph s ) s tated th at CBPO
2 i ns tru c ted th e b oy not to take pi c tu res and th at ev ery pi c tu re was a $10, 000
fi ne.
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~~~~ OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
~'~~~ Department of Homeland Sec u ri ty
Agents attempted to i ntervi ew Boy Sc ou t 1 and Boy Sc ou t 3 on mu lti ple
oc c asi ons, bu t nei th er fami ly responded. A Boy Sc ou t ex ec u ti ve attempted to
fac i li tate th e i ntervi ews of Boy Sc ou t 1 and Boy Sc ou t 3, bu t was u nable to gai n
c ooperati on from ei th er fami ly .
A revi ew of th e POE sec u ri ty vi deo gave no i ndi c ati on th at a CBPO wi th drew a
fi rearm du ri ng th e enc ou nter. CBPO 1 stepped ou t of th e frame onc e for 13
sec onds; du ri ng th i s ti me, Boy Sc ou t 1 i ni ti ally c li mbed on top of th e veh i c le.
However, th ere were no vi su al i ndi c ati ons from any one else i n th e fi eld of vi ew
to i ndi c ate th at CBPO 1 wi th drew a fi rearm. Fu rth ermore, Boy Sc ou t 1, wh o told
oth er members of h i s grou p th at h e saw CBPO 1 poi nt a fi rearm at h i m, appears
to h ave h ad h i s bac k to CBPO 1 du ri ng th e enti re 13 sec onds. CBPO 1 c ame bac k
i nto frame wh i le Boy Sc ou t 1 was sti ll on top of th e veh i c le and di d not appear to
be reac ti ng to Boy Sc ou t 1 i n a defensi ve manner.
CBPO 1 and CBPO 2 were i ntervi ewed and deni ed drawi ng a weapon at any poi nt
du ri ng th e enc ou nter.
Th e Sc ou tmaster stated th at th e sc ou t wh o h ad th e fi rearm poi nted at h i m (Boy
Sc ou t 1) h eard a " c li c k" and tu rned arou nd to observe a CBPO poi nti ng a fi rearm
at h i m. Th e vi deo revi ew noted th at Boy Sc ou t 1 di d not appear to tu rn arou nd
du ri ng th e peri od i n wh i c h CBPO 1 stepped ou t of frame. Du ri ng CBPO 1's
i ntervi ew, CBPO 1 demonstrated th e u se of h i s h olster and agents noted th at th e
h olster i s nearly i nau di ble.
Th e Sc ou tmaster stated th at a CBPO th reatened a fi ne and jai l ti me for
ph otograph i ng at th e POE. CBPO 1 and CBPO 2 deni ed th i s.
CBPO 1 and CBPO 2 both stated th at th e POE i s marked wi th a si gn noti ng th at
ph otograph s at th e POE are not allowed. Agents obtai ned ph otograph s of th e
si gn, wh i c h say s " NOTICE NO PHOTOGRAPHY BEYOND THIS POINT." Th e si gn i s
posted on th e ex teri or of th e POE bu i ldi ng and fac es th e entry i nspec ti on lane,
servi ng as noti c e for travelers enteri ng th e i nspec ti on lanes.
Th e POE i s Federal property su bjec t to General Servi c es Admi ni strati on (GSA)
ru les governi ng c ondu c t on su c h property . See 41 C.F.R. su bpart C, Condu c t on
Federal Property . GSA's ru les gi ve au th ori ty to agenc i es oc c u py i ng Federal
property and also govern c ondu c t by any person enteri ng su c h property .
Spec i fi c ally , ph otograph y for non- c ommerc i al pu rposes i s only permi tted wi th
th e permi ssi on of th e oc c u py i ng agenc y , see 41 C.F.R. 102- 74.420, and any
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OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
o~~t9ND 56~'J~ Department of Homeland Sec u ri ty
person enteri ng Federal property mu st "c omply w i th offi c i al si g ns of a
proh i b i tory, reg u latory or di rec tory natu re and w i th th e law fu l di rec ti on of
Federal poli c e offi c ers...." 41 C.F.R. 102-74.385. Th u s, CBP h as th e au th ori ty to
proh i b i t ph otog raph y w i th i n th e POE and to post si g ns ac c ordi ng ly, and anyone
enteri ng th e POE mu st c omply w i th CBP's proh i b i ti ons, u nless g ranted
permi ssi on oth erw i se b y CBP.
CBPO 2 stated th at h e i nstru c ted th e dri v ers of th e oth er v eh i c les to remai n i n
th ei r v eh i c les b ec au se th e Boy Sc ou ts h ad ex i ted th e v eh i c les and w ere th row i ng
i tems at one anoth er; CBPO 2 sai d th at h e b eli ev ed th at th e si tu ati on w as
b ec omi ng an offi c er safety c onc ern.
Conc lu si on:
All i nv esti g ati v e leads h av e b een pu rsu ed and ex h au sted. Based u pon th e
i nv esti g ati on to date, OIG does not b eli ev e any CBP personnel ac ted
i nappropri ately. Th e alleg ati on appears to b e u nsu b stanti ated.
Costs:
Betw een Ju ly 25, 2014 and Au g u st 11, 2014, DHS OIG h as spent a total of
$19, 224.49 i nv esti g ati ng th i s enc ou nter. OIG does not h av e th e c ost fi g u res for
CBP IA, b u t i t i s li k ely c omparab le.
c c : Th e Honorab le Gi l K erli k ow sk i , Commi ssi oner
U .S. Cu stoms and Border Protec ti on
Th e Honorab le Th omas R. Carper
Th e Honorab le Tom Cob u rn, M.D.
Th e Honorab le Mary L. Landri eu
Th e Honorak i le Dan Coats
Th e Honorab le Patri c k J. Leah y
Th e Honorab le Ch arles Grassley
Th e Honorab le Mi c h ael Mc Cau l
Th e Honorab le Benni e G. Th ompson
Th e Honorab le Joh n Carter
Th e Honorab le Dav i d Pri c e
Th e Honorab le Darrell E. Issa
Th e Honorab le Eli j ah Cu mmi ng s
Th e Honorab le Bob Goodlatte
Th e Honorab le Joh n Conyers, Jr.