# Keeping US borders safe **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 7, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335 "2005-06-07T19:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/121 "2005-06-09T02:13:13Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > A CPIC (Canadian Police Information Centre) search turns up a full arrest record and any scheduled court appearances. The same search would also have have revealed that he was forbidden to possess weapons as a condition of probation. > > _snip_ > > Long enough for a CPIC search to determine that he was evading justice in Canada. So… you know… not necessarily any longer than it took. > > _snip_ > There was plenty of information that was (or _should have been_) available to them, that was trivially easy for the RCMP or the CBSA to supply. You might want to inform the Mounties of these wonderful tools, doubtless they would find them useful. I Googled “RCMP border patrol” and the first hit was [this website](http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/qc/detach/valley_e.htm), the homepage of a RCMP detachment in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Quebec, on the Canada/US border. Fortuitously enough, it includes a phone number, so I gave them a call. After getting the Mountie who answered to switch from French to English, I asked him my question. “If a person was passing across the border who was scheduled to appear in a Canadian court, say for assault, next week, would there be any way for the Mounties questioning the man to know that?” The answer was "No, such information is in the court’s systems, but not in the RCMP’s. " He went on to explain that there are RCMP liaisons stationed in the courts that could deliver a specific request for information to the courts and then have them look it up, but this was a process that took a bit of time, not a quick check that could be done at the border. So, we’re back where we started. Even if the US Border Patrol had called the RCMP, the RCMP couldn’t have given them any reason to hold the man, unless they detained him for several days to give them time to run down the court records. Are you claiming that the mere posession of a selection of legal objects is enough justification for holding him for those several days? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/122 "2005-06-09T02:59:23Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > There is not one sliver of doubt in my mind (and I doubt there is much in the minds of anyone who has a: read these boards with more than a cursory glance and b: has a little bit of intelligence) that were that scenario to play out, Elvis would be leading the charge in the pit to condemn the abuse of power by said border guards. No doubt at all. Now now, **Weirddave** …are you going to add to the discussion or just continue being snarky? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/123 "2005-06-09T03:08:38Z")
As I said, my personal experience indicates otherwise. The VPD ascertained my status w/r/t the CJ system in a few minutes. Checking to make sure that this is not a trick of memory, I looked around a bit: [quote] The CPIC database is a compilation of police information and court decisions. Information collected in the CPIC database includes individuals who: [ul][li]have a criminal record for any Criminal Code or other Federal [/li]Statute offence and/or[li]have been judged not criminally responsible for an offence because of mental disorder and/or[_]have federal and/or provincial charges pending and/or[_]are on probation or subject to a Prohibition Order.[/ul][/li][/quote] [(PDF link)](http://www.volunteer.ca/volunteer/pdf/PRCBrochureEng.pdf)This can be reconciled with what the gendarme told you in that the database may not include the specifics of the court date. CPIC is accessible by all Canadian law enforcement. > [@](#): > > Even if the US Border Patrol had called the RCMP, the RCMP couldn’t have given them any reason to hold the man, unless they detained him for several days to give them time to run down the court records. Are you claiming that the mere posession of a selection of legal objects is enough justification for holding him for those several days? No, but he didn’t “mere possession of a selection of legal objects.” Despres was under a [Prohibition order](http://www.nfa.ca/legal/actsregs/c68/bilmc68r.html).“Prohibited weapons” include: > [@](#): > > Former Prohibited Weapons Order, No.1 > > 1. Any device designed to be used for the purpose of injuring, immobilizing or otherwise incapacitating any person by the discharge therefrom of > (a) tear gas, Mace or other gas, or > (b) any liquid, spray, powder or other substance that is capable of injuring, immobilizing or otherwise incapacitating any person. > > Former Prohibited Weapons Order, No.8 > 15. The device known as “Brass Knuckles” and any similar device consisting of a band of metal with one or more finger holes designed to fit over the fingers of the hand. Prohibition order aside, he was in possession of a _banned weapon_. Brass knuckles are illegal in Canada. Period. If they were concerned by the bloody chainsaw and all, he could have been arrested on the spot. Even leaving aside communicating with other authorities to confirm illegal behaviour, what about a psych evaluation? The guy was armed to the teeth, bloodied up, and exhibited signs of being [delusional](http://nb.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=nb-minto20050608). > [@](#): > > The court documents also reveal that Despres told the officials he worked for President George Bush. He later told the judge he worked for NASA. He tended to talk to himself for hours. I have a hard time believing that he came across as sane in his two-hour interview. This sounds like someone who might pose a threat to themselves or others. He must’ve had a huge honkin’ SEP field around him that day. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/124 "2005-06-09T04:26:18Z")
Larry, I read your PDF link, and it doesn’t say what you are representing it to say at all. It’s all about Police Record Checks for hiring purposes, while it does indicate that the CPIC database is as you’ve represented it, nowhere does it say that it is a centrally located database accessible at a single point. I very much get the impression from that pamphlet that it’s a collection of databases, all of which are checked in the process of running a formal police record check. It even says that one would bring in the application and submit it for processing. Dude, that’s not a comprehensive quickly searchable database at all. However, I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you call the RCMP and ask them if they have the capabilities you’re assigning to them yourself and see what they say, then report back here. In your case it’s a local call, mine was international! ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/125 "2005-06-09T05:08:11Z")
After reading this thread and having thought about this for quite a bit today after I saw this article in the newspaper I guess my confusion about the actions of the Border Patrol has to do with the brass knuckles. Someone stated they are illiegal in Canada. Am I to assume they are legal in the U.S.? I’ve always been under the impression they are. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/126 "2005-06-09T05:16:50Z")
O.K. I should have done the Google search first. This website [–here--](http://www.selfdefenseproducts.com/misc.htm) sells these items but indicates that they can’t be shipped to California, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York and Illinois. [I assume they are illegal there.] They also suggest that you should check with the local District Attorney’s office about whether they are legal in your jurisdiction. So while everything he was carrying was legal apparently he was carrying one item that was illegal in the country he was coming from and in large regions of the country he was entering. Shouldn’t that have tipped somebody off that he might need closer scrutiny? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/127 "2005-06-09T05:23:11Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > I very much get the impression from that pamphlet that it’s a collection of databases, all of which are checked in the process of running a formal police record check. It even says that one would bring in the application and submit it for processing. Dude, that’s not a comprehensive quickly searchable database at all. I’m familiar with CPIC. Way back in the eighties, my parents’ drunken cop friends would access it through my home computer for the general entertainment and nosiness of all concerned. Great fun. It really is an instantly accessible comprehensive database, Dave. That business of application forms is for non-law-enforcement folks wanting record checks. It’s a [single database](http://www.psepc-sppcc.gc.ca/publications/news/20020205_e.asp). > [@](#): > > “These changes to CPIC will give every police force in Canada around the clock, instant access to information about sex offenders who are registered in the Sex Offender Category.” > > Police, through a name search can access the special category on the database, as well as other criminal history and police information already contained in CPIC. Provinces that wish to have sex offenders register will be able to enter that information on the SOC so that the information is shared with all police forces across the country. You log on and you’ve got a nice little search engine to work with. It’s neat. And instant. Some cars are equipped with mobile access. Most cars have to call in their queries over the radio. Anyone with authorization and access to the internet or a modem can make queries. Instantly. Who has authorization, besides the RCMP? Oh, [look.](http://www.johnhoward.ab.ca/PUB/A5.htm#Q1) > [@](#): > > Agencies authorized in the Young Offenders Act > Canadian Pacific Railway Police > Citizenship and Immigration Canada > Correctional Service of Canada > Department of Agriculture > Federal and Provincial Ministries of Environment > Insurance crime prevention bureaus > Parks Canada > Provincial correctional services > Provincial court services > Provincial securities commissions > Canada Customs and Revenue Agency > **United States Customs, United States Immigration and individual state police departments**. Well, lookee there. No need to even make a call. No waiting for paperwork. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/128 "2005-06-09T05:37:20Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > No need to even make a call. No waiting for paperwork. On reflection, it seems likely that U.S. Customs might have limited access to CPIC – they may have had to coordinate with Canadian authorities to get the full record. Still – a quick phone call. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/129 "2005-06-09T08:57:38Z")
Okay. [More information.](http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/06/09/congressman_questioning_a_bizarre_border_crossing/) U.S. Customs did talk to the R.C.M.P. – and did learn that Despres was due in court that day to face charges for assault and threatening. Jayson Ahern of U.S. Customs says that the R.C.M.P. said that they couldn’t take action yet because, hey, it was early and he still might show up in court. According to the extradition documents, a failure-to-appear warrant was issued at 10:00am, and Despres was released at 10:30am. Ahern says that Despres was released at 9:30am. What we have here is a failure to communicate. Calais police “determined that his weapons were legal.” (In Maine.) You have a guy who you _know_ has a court date in a matter of hours for a violent crime. He is clearly delusional, carrying weapons and wearing armour, and claims to be a Marine who works for George Bush and is waiting to be picked up by a helicopter. I think everyone involved knew he wasn’t planning on making his court appearance. If the R.C.M.P. shrugged it off, _they_ should get the blame. But with the information available, it would have been possible to keep him from entering the U.S. without abridging his rights. He was still in Canada. If the RCMP knew that he was carrying brass knuckles, he could have been [arrested and charged](http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-46/SOR-98-462/82866.html#rid-83005), and a violent offender would have stayed in Canada to face justice, instead of being allowed to roam freely through the United States. Oh yeah, and he’d have been knicked for the double murder in less time, as a bonus. Your not comfortable with an extending the interview long enough for the warrant to come through? Fine – but I never screamed human-rights abuses in the instances when I spent _twice_ as long going through customs. I grumbled about it, yeah, but whaddya gonna do if they’re not totally comfortable with you for one reason or another? They had plenty of questions they could have asked him. But you know he’s planning on fleeing his court date, and you _ought_ to know that people can be arrested for possessing brass knuckles in Canada. You’ve got an easy out, unless you really _want_ a guy on the run from the law to take refuge in your country and start threatening and assaulting U.S. citizens. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/130 "2005-06-09T09:06:44Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > {Looking at your location} Oh, yeah, of course you’d think so, Mister Concealed Carry State. You know this applies to 46 (is it 47 now?) states, in one form or another, right? You, sir, must have a magnificently lavish vagina. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/131 "2005-06-09T12:41:39Z")
**Larry Mudd** , thanks for the info. If only others would contribute as much to the board as you have. **wring** (and others), no, he was \*not \* carrying only legal items with him, got it? > [@Weirddave](#): > > were that scenario to play out, Elvis would be leading the charge in the pit to condemn the abuse of power by said border guards. No doubt at all. What a sad, twisted lie. There’s no point in getting angry at a kid who doesn’t know any better yet, though. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/132 "2005-06-09T17:13:02Z")
what was illlegal? the brass knuckles appear to have been legal in the US, granted they weren’t in CA where he’d _been_, but the US guards aren’t responsible for enforcing Canadian laws. The guards state they checked ‘everything they could’ and didn’t find anything. They detained him for 2 hours. There are limits to how long a citizen in the US can be detained before it becomes custodial (ie an arrest). ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/133 "2005-06-09T18:25:10Z")
There was an [interesting article](http://www.canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050609/TTNEWS11/206090523/-1/TTFRONTPAGE) in my local paper today, but I’m not positive if it can be accessed without a subscription. Here are some excerpts (I’ve omitted details of the crimes he’s committed since links have already been posted). > [@AP Canadaeast News Service](#): > > BOSTON - A lawyer who served as special agent with several U.S. federal agencies says American border guards dropped the ball when they let Minto double-murder suspect Gregory Allan Despres into the United States. > > “I just looked at this and said I can’t believe they let this guy go,” says Joseph R. Gutheinz Jr., a Texas attorney who teaches criminal justice. > > On April 25, Despres arrived at the Canada-U.S. border crossing at Calais, Maine-St. Stephen, carrying a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained with what appeared to be blood. > > “As soon as they saw the chainsaw, the brass knuckles and this guy was telling them he was a Marine, it should have raised red flags. I’ve never seen a Marine that looked like that,” Gutheinz said, noting Despres’ mohawk haircut. > > U.S. customs agents confiscated the weapons and fingerprinted Despres, 22. Then they let him into the United States. > > Documents unsealed at the United States District Court in Boston this week contain previously unreleased details of the killings and say Despres told U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in Calais that he was a U.S. Marine lieutenant. > > It’s illegal to falsely misrepresent oneself as a military officer or make false statements to law enforcement officials, Gutheinz said. > > Gutheinz, who is a retired senior special agent with NASA’s criminal investigations division, whose interest in the case was piqued by a report Despres also claimed to be an employee of the space agency, says border guards should have asked more questions. > > If border guards had determined any of his claims to be false, Gutheinz said, they could have arrested Despres on the spot. > > “They could have asked: where are you assigned, to what unit? Then they could have easily made some phone calls to verify.” > \ ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/134 "2005-06-09T19:14:25Z")
> [@wring](#): > > what was illlegal? the brass knuckles appear to have been legal in the US, granted they weren’t in CA where he’d _been_, but the US guards aren’t responsible for enforcing Canadian laws. Ah, right. U.S. law starts at Customs. :smack: I still don’t think it would have been untoward to hold onto him for another hour or so. They knew he was fleeing a court appearance – why didn’t they talk to him about that? Apparently, he told Border Security that the work he was doing for George Bush was [“wet work.”](http://canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050510/TSNEWS14/305100175&SearchID=73210655835055) > [@](#): > > A man accused of slaying an elderly Minto couple told American Customs officers he was an off-duty assassin before being allowed to cross the border, says a Charlotte County man who was seeking entry into Maine at the same time. > > “That’s the reason I remember him. He said he was an assassin,” Eddie Young, of Pennfield, said Monday. > > Mr. Young, who works in the aquaculture industry, said he was in the U.S. Customs office in Calais, Me., on Monday, April 25. He said he sat next to a man with a Mohawk hairstyle, wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying brass knuckles, swords and a chainsaw. U.S. Customs spokeswoman Janet Rapaport was unfazed by this. She says she doesn’t know if he said that, but even if he did… > [@](#): > > “He said a lot of things. . . the point is he co-operated in that there was no violent encounter with him concerning the weapons and we checked to see if there were any outstanding warrants or any other history on him and there wasn’t any cause for us to hold him,” Ms. Rapaport said in an interview last week from her office in New York City. She seems to be defensively talking out of her ass: > [@](#): > > “Our concerns were, who is this guy? Is there anything outstanding? A warrant? Any criminal history? There was nothing there so that’s the best I can do.” No warrant – until a half-hour before or after he was allowed into the U.S., depending on who you talk to. Nothing outstanding? Nothing except the court appearance for a violent crime that he was supposed to be at. No, no criminal history. Except for the latest incident of attacking someone with a knife, on top of a long history of violent and threatening behavior. Oh, so he was carrying a bloody chainsaw and a sack of weapons, was wearing a bullet-proof-vest, said it was his job to kill people for the President, had a history of assault and threats of murder, and was manifestly on the run from Canadian authorities. No cause for concern there. Mustn’t hold him up. He’s got places to go. People to do. Godspeed, Assassin-to-the-President. _wink_ ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/135 "2005-06-09T22:25:45Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > {Looking at your location} Oh, yeah, of course you’d think so, Mister Concealed Carry State. Nope, they’s plenty o’ good reasons for somebody to be carrying a bloody chainsaw around. Like the guy musta \*needed \* killin’, mebbe. Maybe **UncleBeer** can offer another perfectly innocent rationalization, in the name of the right to bear arms (and to automatically tell Elvis he’s wrong, no matter what :rolleyes:). **Lord Ashtar** is not yet that good, obviously. Good thing you have so much paint on that brush that you’re able to paint as far up from Texas to Michigan as well, another ‘Concealed Carry State’ - and a red one last election as well. Having a gun doesn’t make you a gun nut, neither does desiring to conceal it legally on your person for whatever personal reason of protection; to qualify for Rabid 2nd Amendment Screamer status, you have to be _crazy_. And the right to bear arms and probable cause are in fact TWO separate amendments. You had me agreeing w/ you, **EL1ves** , until you went off and got snarky about something unrelated and unsupporting. I think I’m starting to understand what ‘strawman’ means. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/136 "2005-06-09T23:41:20Z")
Hey Larry, I’m curious as to why you’re not reserving some of your vitriol for the RCMP. He had to talk to them before getting to the U.S. side, didn’t he? Why didn’t they arrest him? After all, he was carrying a weapon that’s illegal in Soviet Canuckistan (;)), and was about to miss a court case in their jurisdiction. Furthermore, he was fleeing a crime committed in their country. Shouldn’t everything you’ve just said apply to the Mounties as well? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/137 "2005-06-09T23:58:24Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > Hey Larry, I’m curious as to why you’re not reserving some of your vitriol for the RCMP. I don’t know that I’m being particularly vitriolic toward anyone. Just countering your argument that everything that could be done _was_ done, and this played out in a reasonable way. As for the RCMP’s shared responsibility, I’ve pointed that out more than once: > [@](#): > > There was plenty of information that was (or _should have been_) available to them, that was trivially easy for the RCMP or the CBSA to supply. If they didn’t ask, they didn’t perform their due diligence. If they couldn’t ask, or the Canadian authorities weren’t forthcoming with the information, then _they_ should be pilloried. > [@](#): > > I think everyone involved knew he wasn’t planning on making his court appearance. If the R.C.M.P. shrugged it off, _they_ should get the blame. Fair is fair. > [@Weirddave](#): > > He had to talk to them before getting to the U.S. side, didn’t he? In a word: “No.” There is no requirement to talk to the RCMP before you leave Canada. Where did you pick up that idea? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/138 "2005-06-10T03:09:02Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > After all, he was carrying a weapon that’s illegal in Soviet Canuckistan (;)) Hey, waitaminute! Are you [channelling Despres](http://www.canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050428/DGEBRIEF/304280137&SearchID=73206852974076)? 😛 > [@](#): > > Mattapoisett police Sgt. Jason King was also involved in Despres’s arrest. > > In his supplemental report, he wrote that Despres said he was in the U.S. Marines and that his lieutenant would clear up the matter. > > “Mr. Despres stated that he was wanted in Russia for a homicide and stated that he is to serve a 10-year sentence,” King wrote. Also note in that article that the clothes he was described as wearing during his interview with Customs were observed to be stained with (what one assumes is) blood when he was arrested. I’d bet my eye teeth that the blood is matched to Fulton and Decaire, and not picked up Stateside. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/139 "2005-06-10T17:39:45Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Also note in that article that the clothes he was described as wearing during his interview with Customs were observed to be stained with (what one assumes is) blood when he was arrested. > . while that may be probable, the article actually states > [@](#): > > Officer Mcilamil and myself observed several red/brown stains and droplets on the blue hooded sweatshirt and green flak jacket . Droplets on a blue hooded sweatshirt and green flak jacket, several red/brown stains. and that was **after** they’d been aware of a murder and would presumably be looking for it. There’s no claim that the stains were easily observable, so I wouldn’t fault the original guards for missing them. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335/140 "2005-06-10T19:01:27Z")
Pardon me if I am unswayed by the suggestion that a heavily-armed, delusional man with a known history of violent offenses involving weapons should not naturally be scrutinized at the border closely as, say, someone with a twenty-year-old record for possession of marijuana is, _as a matter of routine._ “He’s wearing a flak jacket and prepared for something that requires a small offensive arsenal, pepper spray and restraint devices? Carrying a bloody chainsaw? Clearly out of your mind? Running from prosecution in Canada for threatening to kill someone after assaulting them with a knife? Giving obviously false statements to border security? Never mind that, we’ve got Deadheads to strip-search. No time to notice little details like blood on the clothes he’s wearing.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-us-borders-safe/307335.md?page=8)