Border Officers' Bullets Draw Fire
75 groups oppose hollow-point ammunition used by law officers and Homeland Security agencies, including the Border Patrol. Foes say it is unnecessarily lethal.
LUKE TURF
Tucson Citizen
June 19, 2003
A Pima County sheriff's deputy says a hollow-point bullet he used to kill a robbery suspect saved his and his partner's lives several years ago.
The ammunition worked as it was supposed to, which has made it controversial for decades.
When a Washington, D.C.-based legal support group learned that several Department of Homeland Security agencies, including the U.S. Border Patrol, were seeking more supplies of the rounds, it started a campaign against their use.
Local human rights group Derechos Humanos is one of 75 groups signed onto the campaign.
Critics of "controlled expansion bullets" contend the hollow-point bullets - used by the Border Patrol since the 1970s - are unnecessarily lethal.
"We don't think that (hollow points) are necessary; they cause massive injuries," said Donald Kerwin, executive director of Washington, D.C.- based Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. "We were shocked to find that they're standard issue for the Border Patrol and other immigration agents."
Besides Border Patrol, many law enforcement agencies use hollow-point bullets. Military personnel generally use full-metal-jacket bullets.
Hollow points are designed so the tip expands when they hit their target, dispensing all their energy into the target.
Tucson Police Department officers and Pima County Sheriff's Department deputies, who work in predominantly urban settings, use hollow points because they are less likely to rip through a human body or, say, the wall of a building, and hit an innocent bystander.
But CLINIC's Kerwin argued the Border Patrol does not need the bullets along the mainly rural U.S.-Mexico border.
CLINIC, a legal support system for nonprofit Catholic agencies that represent low-income immigrants, wants Department of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge to stop the Border Patrol from using the ammunition. Ridge's department oversees the Border Patrol.
Kerwin said "it's no surprise" a Border Patrol agent killed a man outside Douglas recently, because the hollow-point bullets are more dangerous.
But an independent law enforcement expert in Long Beach, Calif., Anthony Paul, said no one bullet is more or less dangerous than another.
"They're both going to kill you," Paul said.
Pima County Sheriff's Department range master Sgt. Thayer Thacker said hollow-point bullets are more deadly. He knows firsthand. In 1997, using hollow-point bullets, he shot and killed an 18-year-old armed robber.
"Basically it causes more tissue damage, more blood loss, which means the person stops doing whatever they were doing, in theory," Thacker said. "We hit the guy twice and he stopped his hostile action immediately."
The Border Patrol and Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement are among the Homeland SecurityDepartment agencies seeking bids for 225 million rounds of ammunition, most likely hollow-point bullets, said Homeland Security contract specialist Paul Shannon.
Officials from the Border Patrol referred questions to the Homeland Security's National Firearms Unit, which referred questions to ICE.
A spokesman for ICE, Greg Palmore, said hollow points meet all Department of Justice use-of-force policies.
"Overall, any handgun can cause a fatality," he said.
"It's the classic law enforcement ammo," said Homeland Security's Shannon.
Kerwin said CLINIC has long wanted Border Patrol to stop using hollow points.
Shannon estimates the 225 million rounds of .40-caliber bullets would last about five years. Though the solicitation doesn't specifically seek hollow points, Shannon said they're asking manufacturers to submit the "best quality bullet."
Two Arizona congressmen are split on the issue.
U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., has signed the letter being circulated by U.S. Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif. The letter essentially asks the Border Patrol to stop using the hollow points.
"It's full deadly force with the hollow point. They explode inside of you; that's the point," Grijalva said. "I can't connect the argument that they're safer because they don't go through people."
U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R.-Ariz., didn't sign the letter, said Neena Moorjani, his press secretary. Instead, he issued this statement: "It is appropriate that law enforcement officers make the decision about how best to protect the lives of their officers and least threaten individuals."
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/local/6_19_03ammo_flap.html
75 groups oppose hollow-point ammunition used by law officers and Homeland Security agencies, including the Border Patrol. Foes say it is unnecessarily lethal.
LUKE TURF
Tucson Citizen
June 19, 2003
A Pima County sheriff's deputy says a hollow-point bullet he used to kill a robbery suspect saved his and his partner's lives several years ago.
The ammunition worked as it was supposed to, which has made it controversial for decades.
When a Washington, D.C.-based legal support group learned that several Department of Homeland Security agencies, including the U.S. Border Patrol, were seeking more supplies of the rounds, it started a campaign against their use.
Local human rights group Derechos Humanos is one of 75 groups signed onto the campaign.
Critics of "controlled expansion bullets" contend the hollow-point bullets - used by the Border Patrol since the 1970s - are unnecessarily lethal.
"We don't think that (hollow points) are necessary; they cause massive injuries," said Donald Kerwin, executive director of Washington, D.C.- based Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc. "We were shocked to find that they're standard issue for the Border Patrol and other immigration agents."
Besides Border Patrol, many law enforcement agencies use hollow-point bullets. Military personnel generally use full-metal-jacket bullets.
Hollow points are designed so the tip expands when they hit their target, dispensing all their energy into the target.
Tucson Police Department officers and Pima County Sheriff's Department deputies, who work in predominantly urban settings, use hollow points because they are less likely to rip through a human body or, say, the wall of a building, and hit an innocent bystander.
But CLINIC's Kerwin argued the Border Patrol does not need the bullets along the mainly rural U.S.-Mexico border.
CLINIC, a legal support system for nonprofit Catholic agencies that represent low-income immigrants, wants Department of Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge to stop the Border Patrol from using the ammunition. Ridge's department oversees the Border Patrol.
Kerwin said "it's no surprise" a Border Patrol agent killed a man outside Douglas recently, because the hollow-point bullets are more dangerous.
But an independent law enforcement expert in Long Beach, Calif., Anthony Paul, said no one bullet is more or less dangerous than another.
"They're both going to kill you," Paul said.
Pima County Sheriff's Department range master Sgt. Thayer Thacker said hollow-point bullets are more deadly. He knows firsthand. In 1997, using hollow-point bullets, he shot and killed an 18-year-old armed robber.
"Basically it causes more tissue damage, more blood loss, which means the person stops doing whatever they were doing, in theory," Thacker said. "We hit the guy twice and he stopped his hostile action immediately."
The Border Patrol and Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement are among the Homeland SecurityDepartment agencies seeking bids for 225 million rounds of ammunition, most likely hollow-point bullets, said Homeland Security contract specialist Paul Shannon.
Officials from the Border Patrol referred questions to the Homeland Security's National Firearms Unit, which referred questions to ICE.
A spokesman for ICE, Greg Palmore, said hollow points meet all Department of Justice use-of-force policies.
"Overall, any handgun can cause a fatality," he said.
"It's the classic law enforcement ammo," said Homeland Security's Shannon.
Kerwin said CLINIC has long wanted Border Patrol to stop using hollow points.
Shannon estimates the 225 million rounds of .40-caliber bullets would last about five years. Though the solicitation doesn't specifically seek hollow points, Shannon said they're asking manufacturers to submit the "best quality bullet."
Two Arizona congressmen are split on the issue.
U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., has signed the letter being circulated by U.S. Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif. The letter essentially asks the Border Patrol to stop using the hollow points.
"It's full deadly force with the hollow point. They explode inside of you; that's the point," Grijalva said. "I can't connect the argument that they're safer because they don't go through people."
U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R.-Ariz., didn't sign the letter, said Neena Moorjani, his press secretary. Instead, he issued this statement: "It is appropriate that law enforcement officers make the decision about how best to protect the lives of their officers and least threaten individuals."
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/local/6_19_03ammo_flap.html
:banghead:
