Police Road Blocks

Could use some window tint enforcement, exterior light check, insurance card check, and weapon confiscation here if they are really doing some road blocks and checking.
Haven't seen any checkpoints on STT in a long time.

I've been stopped at the check point 3 times at Tan Tan Terrace. 3rd time was yesterday. They checked reg, insurance and license. It was amazing to see how many people were lacking their paperwork.

Tan Tan Terrace - STX? AGreed haven't seen any road blocks in STT in years.

Police told me they are stopping every 6th car no matter what. looking for lic. insurance card, reg. and smells. he said either alcohol or and i quote him "funny smelling perfume" . and he said they will be out all weekend long. so ladies watch your "perfume" lol

They did this a year or two ago. They set up outside of Red Hook and stopped virtually everyone leaving Red Hook after dinner time. A guy who had just moved here who ended up in jail over night. He left island as soon as he got out...

The question is: Why do they advertise this and only do it sporadically? Shouldn't they be enforcing the law every day?

As an aside: There was a discussion on Sam Topp's show this morning about a band from Haiti playing in the village on St John. People are crying foul because Homeland Security is set up and "some of the people from St Thomas couldn't prove they are documented." Shouldn't they be looking for those guys every day, too?

EE, all they'd have to do is go to Nadir by the old gas station in the morning & pick up a bunch of illegals.

Egg-zactly...

EE, all they'd have to do is go to Nadir by the old gas station in the morning & pick up a bunch of illegals.

But then where do you find laborers willing to work for $10/hr. who can`t speak English & don`t want to work in the first place??

Oh, and Sam Topp was talking a couple of weeks ago about being stopped at a road block & checked for insurance, etc. so I guess they are randomly checking here also.

my neighbor was stopped yesterday she said she saw them counting cars so they are pulling over every 6th car. she said they were very nice to her. she just had a copy of her registration because she does not want the original in car in case stolen, but they told her in nice way he understood but you have to have your original.

sure they will be out full force over the 4th.

where are the road blocks? STT or STX?

Both.

They're definitely not working to get dui's on stx. They're usually done by 8 a few times them been up til 10 or 11. But that's just when most are starting drinking. So I really think this is more about proof of ins, registration, tinting, seatbelts, etc...

Homeland security doesn't have the kind of manpower that you're thinkin it does for getting illegals. If someone calls it in, I'm sure they'll send someone out though. Just call ICE on your island. We don't have border patrol on these islands so no we don't have the manpower to just search for illegals every day.

There is Border Patrol on the islands - I know because I interviewed for a job with them before I left island in 2007. They are just focused at the shipping ports and airports inspecting things there.

Actually there's not. They did think about bring them here but have not as yet. They are in PR but not in the usvi. If you've see any they're just here on detail from PR. I know they come and work on stx with CPB at the airport from time to time but its just short details.

CBP IS border patrol. From the CBP website - "Within the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, protects our nation’s borders from terrorism, human and drug smuggling, illegal migration, and agricultural pests while simultaneously facilitating the flow of legitimate travel and trade."

And you are correct - they have their Field Office in Puerto Rico but they have employees that regularly work the ports in St. Thomas, Cruz Bay and the STX airport. In my interview at their offices at the STX airport I was told there would be times that I would have to work STT as well as go from the airport on STX to the shipping dock on STX. The position I interviewed for was for additional staff. Alot can change in a year and a half, but according to their website they still maintain a presence at those ports.

OMG, okay I don't mean to be mean but CBP is NOT Border Patrol. Border patrol is under CBP, But is not border patrol. Most CBP agents have very little immigration experience, especially here. CBP blue uniforms and are really mostly customs agents and that is mostly what they do. Border Patrol wears the green uniforms and mostly works between the ports of entry like our borders catching illegals.

My husband was in Border Patrol for almost 10 years. CBP is not border patrol at all. CBP IMO has the very boring job, collecting taxes.

You interviewed with CBP and went to their office on stx there main offices are in PR. So you are correct in that CBP officers are in the VI but not Border Patrol Agents.

I see CBP [ whoever they work for] on the docks on the East End - Frenchtown - Crown Bay - all the time in the blue uniforms - whatever the function I have no idea but they are out of an office and doing ?something?

CBP works the docks, checks passenger and cargo ships coming in doing immigrations and customs work. I'm not familiar enough with stt to know what kind of ships come in to each one of those locations.

Well if nothing else Betty inspired me to learn something. I did some looking on-line - beyond the quote from the CBP website - and found this on http://forums.officers.com. While they are under the same department/govt agency - they have different functions, in the mainland especially, it seems. No offense was meant to anyone - but I don't think it really deserved such a fervent reply.

"CBP Officers take care of the ports of entry, sea ports and airports. Both immigration and customs matters dealing with anyone or anything that wants to enter the country the "right way". During those duties they of course find contraband, dope labeled as coffee and people with false papers claiming that the documents are good. They are the guys in blue that you see at airports inspecting baggage and cargo from international flights and asking people for passports and such. Very broad picture, they do other things but that is the jist of it.

But the MAIN difference that we like everyone getting straight is the names. Yes, we are bot technically Customs and Border Protection (CBP) but it irks the heck out of Border Patrol Agents when the media puts out an article about a "Border Agent" and it turns out it was a CBPO."

No worries Linda,
I don`t think Betty meant anything negative in her response,just telling it as she believes(right or wrong,I wouldn`t know the difference in this case,so I donot have an opinion here)!
Ah, some even get hot with you here for incorrect spelling or Syntax errors(talk about anal...).
Anyway,feel free to speak your mind (& face the music,good or awful!)

"Any fool can use a gun"<<<BruceLee

"Any fool can use spell checker" <<<Dun

I didn't mean anything negative until you said...

"but I don't think it really deserved such a fervent reply"

Trust me if you had made that mistake in your interview my fervent reply would have seem very very minor. No department wants totally mistaken. Each is proud of what they do for the most part. People on the interior of the us rarely get to see these guys in action. Like I said my husband used to do BP before we relocated here, but I also grew up on a border town and have a lot of respect for what these guys do on a daily basis. You wouldn't call a police man a fire man and insist you were right because you've been on an interview.

Frankly I don't think my reply was any more fervent then your reply insisting CBP was BP.

I'm gonna have another Chocolate Colata!

Linda, please drink it fervently. You must learn not to mix up the CBP with the BP. Naughty girl. Shame on you.