NDD.023.a07

WHEREAS, border zones are the principal arrival point for most illicit drugs and other dangerous contraband into the United States and represent key transit points for the movement of illegal drug proceeds (National Drug Intelligence Center, 2007 National Drug Threat Assessment); and

WHEREAS, the United Nations Security Council has noted the close connection between international terrorism and transnational organized crime, illicit drugs, money laundering, illegal arms trafficking, and illegal movement of potentially deadly materials and the need to enhance coordination (UN Security Council Resolution 1373 [2001]); and

WHEREAS, the southern border of the United States is a region particularly vulnerable to cross-border criminal enterprises and related violence, an area that has recently experienced a surge in brutality by drug and human smuggling, and by trafficking organizations along the Southwest border (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Fact Sheet, March 1, 2006); and

WHEREAS, during Fiscal Year 2005 there were more than 750 assaults against border patrol agents, an increase of 108 percent from the previous year (U.S. Customs and Border Protection Today, June/July 2006); and

WHEREAS, in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2007, which began October 1 and ended December 31, Yuma sector border patrol agents have been the victims of border violence 86 times a 59 percent increase compared to 51 incidents during the same period in FY 2006 (U.S. Customs and Border Protection new release, January 17, 2007); now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED that the International Association of Chiefs of Police duly assembled at its 114th Annual Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, encourages Congress to fund sufficient northern and southern border security measures, to include increased use of surveillance cameras and other appropriate means to improve the apprehension of drug smugglers, illegal aliens, and terrorists, among others, and to increase Border Patrol Officer safety