| | |  Americas & Beyond | October 2008 
Operation Safe Crossing: Joint Law Enforcement Effort
 John Scorza - Navy Compass
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| | After only a few minutes of being set up on Oct. 17 for a weekend patrol, border shore patrol personnel turned away four Sailors without their military IDs. | | |
Once a month, Sailors and Marines assigned to Navy Border Shore Patrol team up with the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) to conduct “Operation Safe Crossing” at the Mexican border to help prevent minors and unauthorized military personnel from crossing into Mexico.
“The mission of Operation Safe Crossing is to deter personnel who are going to Mexico that are not authorized,” said Chief Master-at-Arms (SW) Todd Bruce, border and shore patrol leading chief petty officer.
Under Navy Region Southwest’s Mexico liberty policy and Marine Corps Order P1050.3H, service members E-3 and below are restricted from crossing into Mexico without written permission and a liberty partner who is more than 18 years old. All Sailors and Marines, regardless of rank, must also show the Border Shore Patrol their military I.D.
“Sailors think that it’s ok to go over there without a request chit when in fact, if something were to happen over in Mexico, it would create a problem if the command doesn’t know where they are,” Bruce said. “They could wind up in a gutter, or in a jail for that matter, and in some cases because of no fault of their own.”
After only a few minutes of being set up on Oct. 17 for a weekend patrol, border shore patrol personnel turned away four Sailors without their military IDs.
“Sailors try and come across the border with one person having a New York ID and one with an Alabama ID and try to say they’re not in the military,” said Bruce. “We’ve heard it all out here. Everything from ‘Oh, we’re models visiting San Diego,’ or ‘We work on base, but we’re not in the military.’ These types of lies never work.
“Going through the proper channels is the best way to visit Mexico,” Bruce added. “It gives the command an idea of where you’re at in the event of a problem, recall, or if force protection conditions heighten; commands will contact us and let us know who is in Mexico. At that point, we will do everything we can to get them back on U.S. soil safely.”
The SDPD also appreciates the military’s cooperation.
“The partnership we have with the military is great because it’s important to have (their) presence down here,” said Sgt. Patti Clayton, SDPD border issue expert. “Presence alone is a deterrent for some people.
Clayton added that this presence deters a lot of unauthorized military personnel from going into Mexico before they become victims. “It also helps because people returning northbound from Mexico a lot of times have alcohol related incidents. Coming down here and setting up a checking point helps to decrease a lot of the incidents.”
“We are not here to (bust) anyone. We’re here to make sure no one gets (in trouble) in Mexico and winds up in some jail or an institution that they really don’t want to be in,” said Bruce. “Jails over in Mexico are nothing like jails in the U.S. Jails here are like the Marriott compared to the jails over there (in Mexico). Their jails have no bedding; just concrete bunks which most of the time are shared by two or three people.
“We have arrangements with Mexico that if they have a military ID and present themselves as military, Mexican police will give personnel a chance to call us and assist them. Military personnel will also be separated into cells in the event of an arrest.”
If a Sailor or Marine is caught disobeying these orders by Bruce and his team, he or she is placed under military apprehension and held until a service member, rank E-6 or above, can pick them up. A Marine’s unit may also issue verbal orders to report back to his or her command immediately.
For additional information on NRSW leave and liberty policy, visit https://www.cnic.navy.mil/cnrsw/About/RegionalPolicies/Instructions/index.htm |
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