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Border Patrol Council - Local 1613 (San Diego, CA)

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DISCIPLINE INDEX

Last Updated: February 20, 2008

The National Border Patrol Council - Local 1613 Executive Officers regularly engage in settlement discussions with U.S. Border Patrol, San Diego Sector management in an attempt to resolve pending arbitrations. Out of all the cases below, the only case we were unable to resolve was related to "TravelGate", which went to arbitration because Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Labor and Employee Relations (LER) Division did not allow Border Patrol management in San Diego Sector to enter into settlement discussions with Local 1613 officials. It should be important to note that CBP LER is now preventing any future settlement discussions like those cited below. This will undoubtedly result in a waste of taxpayers funds, which could be better used to secure the border. Local 1613 is currently reviewing the LER kingdom and preparing to expose this waste of taxpayer funds.

We recognize that successful settlement discussions are only possible if reasonable parties are on both sides of the table. Since we had reasonable parties on both sides of the table, we were extremely successful in resolving 99% of our arbitrations in previous years without going to arbitration. In 2006, the efforts of those representatives listed above saved tax payers approximately $220,000.00 in arbitration fees alone. The total cost to taxpayers would be much higher due to the cost of travel, lodging, and per diem for agency representatives. Finally, we want to thank all of the representatives who initially represented the agents in the cases listed below because those representatives gave us a solid foundation to work from during discussions.

DATE		CHARGES	PROPOSED	DISPOSITION	RC
03/06		I. On-duty Conduct Unbecoming a Border Patrol Agent	5 Days	Reduced to Letter of Reprimand (LOR)	R
11/05	1	I. Failure to Properly Safeguard Government Issued Badge and Credentials	1 Day	Reduced to a LOR	R
	2	I. Failure to Properly Safeguard Government Equipment	2 Days	Reduced to a LOR.	R
10/05		I. Improper Retention of Cash Received While on Official Travel (TravelGate - 15 Agents in SDC)	30 Days	Two agents completely exonerated. With regards to the 13 other agents, the arbitrator directed the Agency to reduce all of them to a LOR.	A
09/05	1	I. Failure to Comply with Policies Governing the Use of Issued Travel-Card	5 Days	Reduced to 1 day. Agent reimbursed 4 days of pay.	S
	2	I. Failure to Exercise Due Care in the Operation of a GOV	5 Days	Reduced to 1 day. Agent reimbursed 4 days of pay.	S
	3	I. Insubordination - Failure to Obey a Supervisor's Direct Order	1 Day	Case dismissed. Agent reimbursed 1 day of pay.	S
	4	I. Failure to Comply with Agency Policies	5 Days	Reduced to a LOR. Agent reimbursed with 5 days of pay.	S
	5	I. Failure to Exercise Proper Caution in the Operation of a GOV... II. Failure to Report Vehicle Damage. III. Lack of Candor	3 Days	Charges II and III dismissed. Penalty sustained.	S
	6	I. Off-Duty Conduct Unbecoming a SPA - Wet Reckless	5 Days	Sustained (5 Days is the minimum for DUI related)	W
	7	I. Failure to Exercise Proper Caution While Handling Agency Approved Firearm	14 Days	Sustained (14 Days is the minimum for A/D where potential harm to public exists)	W
	8	I. Off-Duty Conduct Unbecoming a SPA - DUI	5 Days	Sustained (5 Days is the minimum for DUI related)	W
	9	I. Negligence Resulting in the Loss of Gov't Issued Property	7 Days	Sustained (Several Priors)	W
	10	I. Failure to Properly Report Incident to Supervisor	5 Days	Sustained (Agent left no contact information)	W
	11	I. Conduct Unbecoming a SPA	4 Days	Sustained (Agent created nexus by presenting his badge to the PD)	W
	12	I. Off-duty Unbecoming a SPA (DUI related)	5 Days	Sustained (5 Days is the minimum for DUI related)	W
07/05	1	I. Negligent Operation of a GOV	1 Day	Reduced to a LOR. Agent reimbursed 1 day of pay.	S
	2	I. Inappropriate Conduct Towards a Supervisor and Co-workers	2 Days	Reduced to a LOR. Agent reimbursed 2 days of pay.	S
	3	I. Failure to Safeguard BPA Badge and Travel Card	1 Day	Case dismissed. Agent reimbursed 1 day of pay.	S
	4	I. Unauthorized Use of Government Procured Rental Vehicle	3 Days	Case dismissed. Agent reimbursed 3 days of pay.	S
	5	I. Failure to Properly Safeguard Service Issued Badge and Failure to Timely Report the Loss.	2 Days	Case dismissed. Agent reimbursed 2 days of pay.	S
	6	I. Inattention to Duty Resulting in Damage to Civilian Vehicle. II. Failure to Follow Supervisory Instructions.	2 Days	Case dismissed. Agent reimbursed 2 days of pay.	S
	7	I. Failure to Comply with Personal Radiation Detector Policy and Procedures	1 Day	Reduced to a LOR. Agent reimbursed 1 day of pay.	S
	8	I. Non-compliance with Personal Radiation Detector Policy and Procedures	1 Day	Case dismissed. Agent reimbursed with 1 day of pay.	S
	9	I. Failure to Comply with Personal Radiation Detector...	1 Day	Case dismissed. Agent reimbursed with 1 day of pay.	S
	10	I. Non-compliance with Personal Radiation Detector Policy...	1 Day	Case sustained.	W
	11	I. Failure to Properly Safeguard Government Issued Property	2 Days	Reduced to a LOR. Agent reimbursed 2 days of pay.	S
	12	I. On-duty Conduct Unbecoming a BPA	1 Day	Case dismissed. No reimbursement since case was mitigated to LOR after Union's response.	S
	13	I. Failure to Safeguard Gov't Property	1 Day	Sustained	W
	14	I. Failure to Follow Supervisor Instructions	1 Day	Sustained	W
	15	I. Failure to Comply with Station Processing Procedures	7 Days	Sustained	W
06/05	1	I. Disruptive Behavior II. Failure to Immediately Report Incident	1 Day	Charge II dismissed. Reduced to a LOR. Agent reimbursed 1 day of pay.	S
	2	I. Failure to Call In or Report For Assigned Shift II. Inaccurate Reporting of Hours Claimed On Time and Attendance Report. III. Inappropriate Claims on Travel Voucher IV. Conduct Unbecoming A BPA	10 Days	Charges II, III, and IV dismissed. Reduced to a 3-day suspension. Agent reimbursed 7 days of pay.	S
	3	I. Failure to Exercise Due Care in the Operation of a Service Vehicle... II. Inattention to Duty	1 Day	Charge II dismissed. Penalty sustained.	S
	4	I. Failure to Exercise Proper Caution While Operating a GOV...	2 Days	Reduced to a LOR. Agent reimbursed 2 days of pay. All reference to failing to terminate pursuit and unproven pursuit violation removed from case/file.	S
	5	I. Disruptive Behavior II. Failure to Immediately Report Incident	2 Days	Charge II dismissed. Reduced to a LOR. Agent reimbursed 2 days of pay. Various unproven allegations removed from case/file.	S
	6	I. Conduct Unbecoming a SPA	2 Days	Reduced to a LOR. Agent reimbursed 2 days of pay. Agency will reconcile UCMC policies with relevant Agency policies to protect agents from liability. Agency will provide agents with a copy of the reconciled policy and training prior to assigning agents to UCMC or initiating future disciplinary actions related to an alleged violation of UCMC policies.	S
	7	I. Failure to Exercise Due Care of a Service Vehicle...	2 Days	Reduced to a LOR. Agent reimbursed 2 days of pay. Agency will provide reflective markings along dangerous curves where accident took place.	S
	8	I. Failure to Call in or Report for Assigned Shift resulting in AWOL	2 Days	Charge changed to: Failure to Call in or Report for Assigned Shift. Reduced to a LOR. Agent reimbursed 2 days of pay.	S
	9	I. Noncompliance with Service Arrest Policy II. Failure to Contact Supervisor	2 Days	Case dismissed. Agent reimbursed 2 days of pay.	S
	10	I. Negligent Operation of a GOV...	1 Day	Reduced to a LOR. Additional stipulations not cited for privacy.	S
06/04		I. Improper Retention of Promotional Benefits While on Official Travel (TravelGate - 10 Agents in SDC)	30 Days	After written and oral response by the Union, cases were dismissed. No pay lost.	R
05/04		I. Improper Retention of Cash Received While on Official Travel (TravelGate - 2 Agents in SDC)	Termination	During the oral response, the Union presented solid evidence to support the agents' innocence. Consequently, the Cases were Dismissed.	R

Explanation of Dispositions:

► LOR: Letter of Reprimand

► Case Dismissed: All references to the incident, proposals, etc. will be removed from the agent's OPF and the case will be considered closed.

► Prior to DHS, there was a two year reckoning period and after the two year period, the priors were removed from the employee's personnel folder. However, under the unilaterally implemented DHS policy concerning disciplines, all priors will be maintained indefinitely to be used in future actions. There still remains a question whether or not this policy will apply to Letters of Reprimand and until the Union hears otherwise, we will continue to operate with the belief that a LOR will remain in the agent's file for the remainder of the agent's career.

Resolution Codes (RC): These codes identify the stage of the process where the case was resolved.

A:	Arbitration
R:	Response (oral/written) by the Union and/or discussions w/SDC prior to requesting arbitration.
S:	Settlement discussions between Local 1613 Executive Officers and SDC staff and/or their delegates, after requesting arbitration.
W:	Withdrawn (Arbitration request withdrawn by the Union)

NOTE: U.S. Border Patrol, San Diego Sector recently began proposing a minimum of five day suspension for employee's involved in a DUI related incident. The previous time proposed for these types of cases was a minimum of a one day suspension. After lengthy debate amongst the current Executive Board, we agreed to accept a minimum five day suspension with the understanding that San Diego Sector must be consistent with the application of discipline in these types of cases.

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