U.S. Customsrontline and Border Protection H Vol 6, Issue 1 CBP gets America Back to Business PAGE 9 Vol 6, Issue 1 CONTENTS H COVER STORY 9 Business Unusual When Mother Nature strikes or other major events disrupt normal border operations, CBP’s business recovery program keeps traffic flowing and protects the U.S. economy. 9 H FEATURES 18 Riding Shotgun in the Arizona Skies Specially trained Border Patrol agents and CBP officers accompany Air and Marine pilots as supplemental air crew members. 22 Transformation at Land Border Ports of Entry 18 CBP’s land border ports of entry now benefit from improved technologies and resource optimization. 22 H DEPARTMENTS H ON THE COVER 2 CBP In Photos 36 CBP History The Ambassador Bridge, connecting Detroit with Windsor, Canada, is North 4 Around the Agency 40 Border Busts America’s busiest commercial international border crossing. During fiscal year 2012, 28 In Focus 42 Resources an average of $136 million of cargo CBP In The Spotlight crossed the bridge into the U.S. each 34 day or $5.7 million of cargo each hour. Cover photo by Lisa Przybyla CELEBRATING THE CAREER OF DAVID V. AGUILAR 2 H CBP IN PHOTOS H ACTING COMMISSIONER RETIRES AFTER 34 YEARS OF DISTINGUISHED SERVICE Frontline VOL 6, ISSUE 1 SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY Janet Napolitano ACTING COMMISSIONER, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION THOMAS S. WINKOWSKI ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS Melanie Roe EDITOR Laurel Smith MANAGING EDITOR Jason McCammack CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Susan Holliday Marcy Mason PRODUCTION MANAGER Tracie Parker PHOTOGRAPHERS James R. Tourtellotte Donna Burton Josh Denmark DESIGN Richard Rabil Julie Hoyt Dorman The Secretary of Homeland Security has determined that publication of this periodical is necessary in the transaction of public business by CBP. photo by Donna Burton Address letters and contributions to: MAIL: U.S. Customs and Border Protection 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Room 4.5D Washington, DC 20229 E-MAIL: [email protected] FAX: 202.344.1393 CBP Website address: www.cbp.gov Distribution: Do you want to add or delete your name from the distribution list? Have you changed your address? Please call 202.344.1310 or fax changes to 202.344.1787. 2 H CBP IN PHOTOS H Frontline H VOL 6, ISSUE 1 3 Faster, Better, Cheaper CBP now posting seizure and forfeiture notices online photo by James Tourtellotte photo by James ustoms and Border Protection is posting seizure and forfeiture notices online thanks to a new rule that went into effect Jan. 29. CThe agency said the online postings give the public quicker access to those notices and reduce government costs. When CBP seizes certain property in violation of law valued at $500,000 or less, it may forego judicial involvement and proceed administratively. Before property is forfeited, CBP must notify any interested parties and offer them the opportunity to contest the forfeiture. New forfeiture notices are posted online every Friday morning. CBP publishes notices based on appraised value. For H Advertising confiscated counterfeit property appraised at more than $5,000, CBP wristwatches online instead of in is required to publish administrative seizure newspapers will save CBP millions in H Currency, counterfeit goods and dangerous toys are commonly forfeited items. and forfeiture notices for 30 consecutive newspaper advertising dollars. days on www.forfeiture.gov. CBP also must post a notice for 30 consecutive days at the customhouse or sector office near any required for print. Online publishing also ‘Prohibited items seizure locations for property appraised at saves advertising costs for the federal $5,000 or less and the notice will also appear government and the American taxpayer. on www.forfeiture.gov. The forfeiture website is administered are destroyed by CBP. The change resulted after Paul Behe, a by the Department of Justice. The site supervisory CBP paralegal specialist based lists pending notices of civil and criminal in Cleveland, came up with the idea, which forfeiture actions in various district courts Usually, we don’t was selected as a finalist for President Barack and federal government agencies. Obama’s 2010 Securing Americans Value So far in 2013, counterfeit goods top give anything back.’ and Efficiency Award. CBP’s list of forfeited items. Coming in second Behe had suggested advertising property is prohibited items, then vehicles, general seized by CBP—such as counterfeit watches merchandise and currency. Prohibited items —Martha Ligus, CBP Fines, and purses—online instead of in newspapers. include dangerous toys, cars that don’t meet U.S. This major initiative was led by the Office safety standards and illegal medications. Penalties and Forfeitures Division of Field Operations coordinated with the “Prohibited items are destroyed by Office of International Trade and the Office CBP. Usually, we don’t give anything of Information and Technology to modify back,” said Martha Ligus, chief for CBP’s private charities and elsewhere if such regulations and the Seized Asset and Case Oversight and Uniformity Branch of the donations are given permission by the Tracking System, send legal notices and notify Fines, Penalties and Forfeitures Division. intellectual property rights owners. We do the public via newspapers, mailings and “Some of the prohibited items we keep sell cars to the general public at auctions postings at the ports of entry and sector offices. for training purposes. Items within the or we destroy them depending on the Internet forfeiture postings are listed general merchandise category, such as condition of the vehicle.” for 30 days instead of the 21 days formerly tennis shoes and the like, are donated to —Jim Burns 4 H AROUND THE AGENCY H AROUND THE AGENCY Cashing the Check ith a penchant for numbers and a keen focus on the bottom line, the Office of Strategic Integration helps WU.S. Customs and Border Protection move toward a new organizational model to improve and integrate operations, reduce costs and promote culture change. Former CBP Deputy Commissioner David V. Aguilar articulated the need for cost savings and improved efficiency when he introduced CBP’s Office of Strategic Integration in January 2011 as CBP faced reduced budgets for the first time. “Doing more with less has long been the mantra of federal agencies facing budgetary challenges,” said Office of H Strategic Integration Acting Executive The Office of Strategic Integration helps CBP build toward a new organizational model to improve and integrate operations, reduce costs and promote culture change. Director Charles “Pat” Keith. “But given the size and complexity of our vital homeland security mission, CBP cannot truly weather budgetary shortfalls without an innovative each other. If mission support personnel in a project charter, which defines project approach to some of our most basic and and processes from multiple offices in one outcomes first. Certain deliverables, such essential business processes.” geographic location can integrate their work, as service agreements and performance Doing things the way they’ve noteworthy results will follow. metrics, are always included. Keith describes always been done is a strong force in any OSI’s first responsibility is to guide his hallmark goal as “cashing the check,” organization. CBP’s current and forecasted the integration of mission support work. which means showing senior leaders real, budget reductions have brought a new reality Integration coordinates mission support quantifiable results through integration. that is working against organizational inertia. tasks and processes across organizational “These are real dollars that can be CBP’s offices of Program Development, lines to reduce work duplication and redirected toward the frontline mission,” Policy and Planning, Administration and eliminate barriers to communications, said Keith. others address our budget issues by creating cooperation and entrepreneurship. More Integration results can include: new processes, insights and synergy for CBP. importantly, mission support integration reducing or eliminating work duplication; The Office of Strategic Integration, or OSI, is focuses on creating value by enabling a more precisely defined set of roles and capitalizing on those efforts. frontline organizations to do their jobs responsibilities across organizational lines; better. To create that value, frontline a flatter organization; greater emphasis on Strategic Integration 101 and mission support personnel have mission-support careers and better career Mission support is rich with integration to work together. In doing so, mission progression; agreed-upon quality standards possibilities. Hundreds of mission support support moves from being a service for mission-support products and services; personnel throughout CBP perform work provider to a business partner with an and a significant increase in the value that that is absolutely essential to CBP’s success. increased focus on mission success. mission support brings to the CBP mission. OSI found that, in a given location, the OSI approaches every project using an A partnership between mission support and mission support tasks of the offices of integration methodology that adheres to frontline organizations also allows frontline Field Operations, Border Patrol and Air industry best practices and capitalizes on personnel to focus more on their mission, and Marine are very similar, yet often the CBP’s diverse expertise. OSI schedules an which results in greater frontline capacity offices do not