More money, manpower raises Border Patrol activity on North Olympic Peninsula
By Paige Dickerson and Jim Casey, Peninsula Daily News
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"Just as with anything, if you have more manpower, of course you will expect more results, like any job," said Michael Bermudez, spokesman for Border Patrol's Blaine sector, of which the North Olympic Peninsula is part.
The Border Patrol has increased its highway checkpoints and has more agents active on the streets in recent weeks.
Checkpoints have included one at U.S. Highway 101 at Milepost 198 between Forks and Beaver, and another on state Highway 104 near the Hood Canal Bridge.
Joseph Giuliano, the Border Patrol's deputy chief agent, said that a place chosen as a checkpoint location — but not yet used — is on Highway 101 south of Discovery Bay in Jefferson County.
Agents are looking for terrorists and illegal immigrants, Bermudez has said.
They also arrest people who have outstanding warrants.
Border Patrol agents are usually restricted to public areas — so they may be on the streets near homes, but they cannot go into homes unless in hot pursuit, Bermudez said.
More funding
The increased activity is a byproduct of more funding through the Department of Homeland Security that has come through in the last several years, Bermudez said.
"Our actions are based on the increase in manpower, as well as funding for this area," he said
"Therefore, as manpower increases, and more funding comes in, we are able to conduct more operations."
Bermudez said Friday he didn't know the amount of funding the Blaine sector receives.
He declined to reveal how many agents have been assigned to the four Border Patrol stations in the sector — Blaine, Lynden, Bellingham and Port Angeles — but said the agency had shifted officers from the Southwest to the nation's northern border.
Out of the Border Patrol's 16,371 agents nationwide, 1,470 have been deployed on the Canadian border from Washington state to Maine.
That force will grow to 2,200 by 2010, he said.
Port Angeles as yet hasn't received a new Border Patrol headquarters, he said, and agents now take their orders from the agency office in the recently renamed Richard B. Anderson Federal Building in downtown Port Angeles.
However, "there will be new infrastructure going up in that area," Bermudez said.
New space sought
The Border Patrol in September 2007 said it was seeking to lease space to accommodate an increase from five to 50 employees.
That announcement said the agency would move to new quarters this December.
Phone calls asking for information from the Department of Homeland Security were not returned.
The Border Patrol is the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency within Homeland Security.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Jim Casey can be reached at 360-417-3538 or at jim.casey@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: September 06. 2008 9:00PM