U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Office of Public Affairs
WEB CONTENT – Use of Force Webpage

CBP Use of Force
UOF stats topline
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.
Since Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske’s Senate confirmation in March 2014, CBP has
implemented and continues to implement significant policy, procedural, training and
programmatic reforms that have equipped CBP law enforcement personnel to carry out their
duties more safely and effectively. Reforms have also improved CBP’s ability to investigate and
review use of force incidents to determine whether the application of force is consistent with the
law and policy.
At the Commissioner’s direction, CBP published its use of force policy in May 2014 and use of
force statistics October 2015. Furthering the Commissioner’s intent regarding transparency, CBP
will update the UOF data on a monthly basis, which includes a breakdown by Sector, Field
Office and Air and Marine region.
This data reflects individual applications of force, not incidents, by U.S. Border Patrol agents,
CBP officers, and air interdiction agents. There may be multiple uses of force applied during an
incident.
Use of Force applications declined more than 26 percent in Fiscal Year 2015, when compared to
FY 2014. This reduction is especially significant, considering that assaults against agents and
officers have essentially remained steady. During FY 2015, the U.S. Border Patrol recorded
337,117 apprehensions, which includes unaccompanied children and families, and CBP officers
stopped 225,342 inadmissible individuals from entering the United States through the nation’s
ports of entry.
Below is a breakdown of CBP use of force statistics for Fiscal Years 2015 (October 2014 to
September 2015) and FY2016 year to date (October 1, 2015 – February 29, 2016).
For reporting purposes, CBP categorizes use of force as either “firearm,” or “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.
This data reflects on-duty incidents.

 CBP USE OF FORCE (FY 2016 Year to Date: October 1, 2015 - February 29, 2016)

AMO
OFO
USBP
Total

Firearm
0
3
4
7

Less Lethal Device
4
14
167
185

Other
0
7
82
89

AMO: Air and Marine Operations, OFO: Office of Field Operations, USBP: U.S. Border Patrol
CBP USE OF FORCE (FY 2015)

AMO
OFO
USBP
Total

Firearm
3
2
23
28

Less Lethal Device
18
57
415
490

Other
3
14
221
238

 USBP USE OF FORCE (FY 2016 Year to Date: October 1, 2015 - February 29, 2016)
Note: BORTAC refers to USBP’s border tactical teams that may not be assigned to a Sector.

Big Bend Sector
Blaine Sector
BORTAC
Del Rio Sector
Detroit Sector
El Centro Sector
El Paso Sector
Grand Forks Sector
Havre Sector
Houlton Sector
Laredo Sector
Ramey Sector
Rio Grande Valley Sector
San Diego Sector
Spokane Sector
Swanton Sector
Tucson Sector
Yuma Sector
USBP Total

Firearm
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
0
0
2
0
4

Less Lethal Device
2
0
0
2
1
59
21
0
0
0
16
0
19
17
0
0
30
0
167

Other
1
0
0
0
0
6
4
4
0
1
7
0
23
7
0
0
26
3
82

 USBP USE OF FORCE (FY2015)
Note: BORTAC refers to USBP’s border tactical teams that may not be assigned to a Sector.

Big Bend Sector
Blaine Sector
BORTAC
Del Rio Sector
Detroit Sector
El Centro Sector
El Paso Sector
Grand Forks Sector
Havre Sector
Houlton Sector
Laredo Sector
Ramey Sector
Rio Grande Valley Sector
San Diego Sector
Spokane Sector
Swanton Sector
Tucson Sector
Yuma Sector
USBP Total

Firearm
5
1
1
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
3
6
0
0
3
0
23

Less Lethal Device
6
1
1
5
5
57
36
3
1
1
45
1
100
71
0
1
70
11
415

Other
1
0
3
0
2
11
3
4
0
0
12
0
84
12
0
0
87
2
221

 USE OF FORCE BY FISCAL YEAR
Fiscal Years 2011 - 2015
FY 2011
1179

FY 2012
932

FY 2013
1215

FY 2014
1037

FY 2015
756

Note: A previous edition of this webpage cited a total of 768 use of force incidents in Fiscal Year
2015. The number has been updated to 756 based on the integration of two data systems used to
track use of force statistics.
USE OF FORCE BREAKDOWN BY FISCAL YEAR
Fiscal Years 2011 - 2015

Firearm
Less Lethal

FY 11
60
1119

FY 12
58
874

FY 13
48
1167

FY14
29
1008

FY15
28
728

 ASSAULTS ON OFFICERS AND AGENTS
Fiscal Years 2011 - 2016 Year to Date: October 1, 2015 to February 29, 2016
This data reflects the total number of assaults against a CBP officer or agent reported in a given
year.

Assaults

FY 11
675

FY 12
555

FY 13
468

FY14
373

FY15
390

FY 16
176

ASSAULT STATISTICS
Comparisons below reflect Fiscal Year 2016 (October 1, 2015 - February 29, 2016) compared to
the same time period for Fiscal Year 2015. Fiscal Year 2016 includes one additional day due to
leap year.

AMO
OFO
USBP
Total

FY 2015
7
5
187
199

Tags:
Statistics Leadership

FY 2016
8
20
148
176

% Change
14%
300%
-21%
-12%