Page 11 - Customs Today Winter1984-OCR

Commissioner
How do you feel about that
comment, Mark, that frequent travelers would grow used to the
system and would learn how to cheat it?
Inspector Eisenhauer:
I think our presence and the fact that we
inspect at random will act as a deterrent. Commissioner:
Do any of you ever change the system and do a 100-percent in spection? Of course, I know you do in Miami.
Inspector Casale:
If a flight arrives with a low passenger count, we do a 100-percent inspection. We can do a pretty through job on everyone, then.
Commissioner:
What about Kennedy?
Inspector Henry:
It hasn't been done much since the Red/
Green system was started, only occasionally now.
Commissioner:
What about Houston?
Inspector Cook:
We have done it occasionally but found it
unproductive. Commissioner:
How do passengers react to the Red/Green systems?
Inspector Cook:
Those who have been through Customs
before certainly give it favorable comment. And the comments in the press have been very good.
Inspector Henry:
The people using JFK seem to like it, too.
Inspector Bauman:
It's the same in Miami. We have received
very favorable comments from everyone. People are naturally interested in getting through Cus
toms as quickly as possible, especially the fre
quent travelers who go through Customs all the time.
Commissioner:
Well, I've enjoyed meeting and
talking with you men very much. It's
always good to hear about these
things from the people who are ac
tually on the line, so to speak. I'm
encouraged that my philosophy on law enforcement has been adopted
by inspectors, and I want you to know you have my full support.
Inspector Bauman:
That's very encouraging, Commissioner.
I think the best thing that has happened to in
spectors since you came to Customs has been the increased emphasis on law enforcement. And I
think every inspector knows he has your support.
Discussing law enforcement with the Commissioner, Inspector Vincent Hauk from JFK International Air port in New York notes that Red/Green has enabled plainclothes Customs officers at busy JFK to be quite
successful in making major narcotics seizures. He adds that inspectors assigned to the rapid-processing
green area speed inspections for families and others with no problems, and that other inspectors working
the red lanes are free to deal with time-consuming problems and law enforcement matters.
Discussing the use of roving inspectors at international
airports using Red/Green, Commissioner von Raab noted that the use of roving inspectors might cause
other inspectors in primary and secondary inspection
areas to relax their enforcement efforts. Replying to
this, Inspector Bob Bauman from Miami Interna
tional Airport said that may be true in the case of
obvious drug couriers. He explained that inspectors in
both primary and secondary lanes would expect their
roving counterparts to find obvious lawbreakers, but that any traveler who beat the profile system would be
likely to be apprehended in a secondary lane.
John Casale from Miami International Airport tells the Commissioner that roving inspectors in uniform
there sometimes get bogged down in details when travelers ask for directions. He says inspectors in
uniform at Miami need to keep reminding themselves that they need to remain alert for smugglers as well as
help travelers with routine matters.
Mark Eisenhauer from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago says roving inspectors there work with en
forcement teams in the busy carousel area most of the time but also work in the secondary area when needed
for enforcement work. Eisenhauer added that when
flights from the Orient land at O 'Hare, he and his co workers find it a good idea to open up an extra red line
because many travelers from the Orient will declare $3,000 worth of merchandise when they are actually carrying far more than that.
When Commissioner von Raab asked what the in
spectors thought the next step in air traveler processing
might be to improve Red/Green procedures, Inspector
John Henry from JFK International Airport in New York told him, "I think it's too early to say that
Red/Green is the final solution. We're going through
an evolutionary period right now, and I think we've
discovered some good and bad things about Red/
Green. " When the Commissioner asked about the
bad, Henry said it seemed thai Customs was gelling
away from baggage examination and getting more in volved with profile selectivity. He explained that
might condition passengers to think that if they looked innocent they can walk right through Customs. Wrap
ping up the round table discussion, Commissioner von Raab thanked participants for their time and reminded them that when it came to law enforcement they had
his full support.
CUSTOMS TODAY / WINTER 1984