Question About Cbp Officer

[Line of Duty]

OK, I currently work for the V.A. Police, I am a GS-5, Step 1 and I am receiving special salary pay under 5 U.S.C. 5305. I have the opportunity to accept the CBP Officer position as a GS-5. The problem is that the GS-5 for CBP pays substantially less than GS-5 for the V.A. Police. My question is will CBP match my salary with the V.A. Police?

Also, when I applied for CBP back in 2003 I was only qualified for GS-5, therefore my conditional offer of employment has me down as GS-5. Since then I have worked for TSA and the V.A. Police, so can I get hired as a GS-7 at this point?

[Valor55]

Good questions all worth asking of your background investigator. We can make guesses here but only the agency will know for sure.

[Swat1]

Your' background investigator, won't know anything about pay grades. He will be a contract investigator who probably doesn't know much about the human resources aspect of the agency.

It is the GENERAL policy of CBP and ICE to salary match. What this will mean is they will start you as a GS-5 and increase your step to whatever would match your current salary or would be the nearest to matching it, erring in your favor.

As far as starting out as a GS-7, probably not, if you have an offer in hand which says GS-5, you will be stuck with that most likely. You can always contact HR and see if they will up it, but have low expectations.

Swat1*

[tunlrat]

Yes definitely TRY & contact someone in DC HR to negotiate a rate increase to a 7. They'll always try & save $$ & have you come in as a 5. They may tell you that it'll only take a year to go up a GS level (which is true) but why wait? Make sure you do this BEFORE you accept a POE location & a FLETC date. Several more dollars going into your account via direct deposit can make a big difference; especially in the beginning.

Remember the squeaky wheel gets the grease! ;)

[chewy]

The good thing if you take a GS-5 CBP Officer is that within four years you will automatically be a GS-11. We have a journeyman 11, for now. They are really pushing the paybanding and it looks like it might actually happen so that would suck for our pay but we still get much better pay than VA Police and our OT is double time which definatly helps.

[CBPO Ryan]

You may start at a 7 get in writing if you do. On each year anniversary after that you will go to GS 7, GS 9, GS 11. Once you reach 11 you will go up one step a year until you reach 11 steps 3 I think then you increase in step ever two to three years. Remember we are not covered by 6C LEO retirement system. We retire after 30 years and we are NOT on the GS LEO PAY SCALE. GS LEO pay scale is generally one step higher for exp. GS LEO would be a 5 step 2, a 7 step 2 etc. CBP Officer is a good job we have tremendous authority at the Port and while working. We have almost none off duty away from the Port, but who wants to arrest or work off duty. If you are looking for a traditional police officer job it may not be for you. At some ports and locations managements restricts you from enforcing the DUI laws of your state and arresting for local non-NCIC warrants it can be frustrating at times. At my Port we for the most part we can enforce state laws for DUI and arrest for State warrants in additional to the over 400 laws we enforce for over 40 other agencies.

The pay is good over time is paid at DOUBLE time, Sunday pay is time and ½ night shift Dif is 20% / swings shift Dif is 15%. You can work up to $30,000 in premium pay each fiscal year. (Premium pay is the total overtime + holiday pay + Shift differential pay) You probably wont cap out (reach $ 30,000) until you become a GS 11

[MrMisterSU]

How do you enforce DUI's at the ports?
Do some officers run traffic on roads owned/operated by the ports?
(Just wondering).

[chewy]

How do you enforce DUI's at the ports?
Do some officers run traffic on roads owned/operated by the ports?
(Just wondering).

We don't in Detroit. CBP doesn't do DUI's however some ports have good working relationships with their local/state police and will call them in to take care of it. We also have Border Patrol to...well... patrol, when there not busy with other things. We, in Detroit, have to let the drunk drive away because DPD won't come down, the county won't come down and the State is always "too busy" to deal with drunks. I know other ports, even in MI, call the locals to help out in this. The CG had similar issues years ago were they didn't do anything but get them a cab but then one day they let a drunk go and he came back for his truck and boat and ended up killing a family of four. The CG started making us turn them over to family or local police, or if none of them were available, to arrest them federally. I figure it's only a matter of time until someone here drives away and kills some senator’s family member then it will be all OUR fault for not taking action (that the govn't won't let us do in the first place).

Ryan, I have to correct you about the off duty thing. We have regular arrest authority away from the border just like any officer and can arrest/detain for locals if we witness a misdemeanor or if we have probable cause that a felony has been, will be, or is being committed. Now whether CBP will make your life miserable for doing anything LE away from work is another matter but we do have the authority. But like you said, who wants to when their off duty unless someone’s life is in danger.?

[MrMisterSU]

This job slightly intrigues me. :-)

[JudgeDredd]

My letter was for a 7. Do you guys know if they bring in non-g-employees at (or as close to) what they are already making? Right now, with the FPS contractor, I'm around an 11. By the way, this was in todays edition of USAToday in the CA section, thought you might find it interesting (Yet more proof that CA is nuts)
... Mission Viejo - Some friends and family of a 20-year-old man fatally shot by an off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer last week said they're angry that police haven't arrested the shooter. Douglas Bates, who checks passports at Los Angeles International Airport, fired one shot at Bassim Chmait on Feb. 5 after he encountered a group of young men. Police said they have no grounds for an arrest.

[JudgeDredd]

BTW, aren't the border crossings federal property? I would think that FPMR (Federal Property Mgmt. Rules) under 41CFR would/could apply. This contains a specific prohibition about drunk driving. I might be wrong, but it's sounds like your'e using the Assimluative Crimes Act for the arrest. One of the compounds that we provide force protection for has our guys doing primary duty at vehicle inspection and ID checks. One of the things that they look for when dealing with the driver is intoxication. Just curious.

[coyote135]

I think it would be better to qualify this arrest powers discussion....Authority is one thing. Authorized by the agency is COMPLETELY different, especially for CBP.