Members,
As a reminder, if an investigator comes to your home or reaches out to you (ON or OFF DUTY), it is important that you make an informed decision regarding your rights and responsibilities before giving a statement. It is important you ask the investigator to:
1) identify themselves and the law enforcement agency or department they work for;
2) inform you of the subject matter of the investigation; and
3) inform you whether you are a witness or the subject of the investigation.
Asking these questions is critical to determining whether you are required to answer their questions and/or cooperate with their investigation.
If the investigators work for the Agency, either DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) or CBP Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), you may be required to speak with them as a condition of your employment. If the investigators are from an outside federal agency (FBI, DEA, ATF, DOL/OPM, etc) or local/state law enforcement agency who are conducting a criminal investigation, you retain your Constitutional rights including your Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and cannot be required to provide them a statement as a condition of your employment.
If you are contacted by DHS OIG or CBP OPR investigators, those Agency investigators have the authority to conduct criminal and administrative investigations. If they are conducting an administrative investigation, both DHS OIG and CBP OPR investigators have been delegated the authority by U.S. Border Patrol to direct or order you to give a compelled statement as a condition of your employment. However, once you have been ordered or compelled to give a statement, any information you provide may only be used against you for administrative proceedings to determine whether you or someone else violated policy requiring disciplinary action. Be advised; before providing the Agency investigators a compelled statement, you may invoke your right to representation and ask for a Union representative.
However, if DHS OIG or CBP OPR investigators inform you that you are the subject or a witness to a criminal investigation, we strongly recommend contact the PORAC Legal Defense Fund in order to consult with an attorney, free of charge, before making the decision to speak with the investigators because any statements you make may be used against you or someone else as evidence in a criminal prosecution. Similarly, if you are contacted by investigators from an outside federal, state or local law enforcement agency who are conducting a criminal investigation, we also recommend that you contact the PORAC Legal Defense Fund to consult with an attorney, free of charge, before making the decision to speak with the investigators because any statements you make may be used against you or someone else as evidence in a criminal prosecution.
PORAC: 888-556-5631