KARLSTAD — The U.S. Border Patrol is getting out of its border stations and into local communities in an effort to tighten security at the northern border.

The strategy is part of a greater emphasis on cooperation with local law enforcement since the Sept. 11 attacks. Some agents now spend half of their time assisting sheriffs and police. More agents now live and work in towns that can be miles from the border.

Getting agents out of border stations and into communities has been critical for building relationships with local law enforcement, farmers and other residents, said Austin Skero chief of the Border Patrol’s Grand Forks, N.D., office.

Skero’s office covers 861 miles of border from Montana to Michigan with about 200 agents. That’s up from 30 before 9/11.

The feds and local law enforcement near the Canadian border didn’t talk much before 9/11. Pennington County Sheriff Ray Kuznia used to call the Border Patrol only when he had an immigration case. Now, his seven-person office has them on speed dial.

When Kuznia sought help recently on a missing person search, federal officers brought in a helicopter.

 

If he needs surveillance photos, he can ask for a flyover by the patrol’s unmanned aircraft. In return, Kuznia’s deputies provide Border Patrol agents with any information they think might be useful.

The Border Patrol provides welcome backup for small departments that might have one investigator on duty at a given time, Kuznia said.

“That extra person watching your back is very important,” the sheriff said.

Hector Regalado, who spent 14 years on the southern border at some of the patrol’s busiest stations, now lives in Karlstad, along with two other agents responsible for four counties in northwestern Minnesota. He said they split their time between working the border and backing up local law enforcement.

Their job isn’t about waiting for people who cross the U.S.-Canadian border illegally. Agents spend more time looking for people who cross the southern border illegally and head way north to take jobs.

“We’re out looking in the communities. And that’s why those partnerships are so vital,” Regalado said.

The collaboration is paying off with better intelligence about border activity, Skero said.

“We measure our success by the level of situational awareness that we can gain and maintain along the border to establish lower levels of risk,” he said. “It’s not necessarily about the numbers of people you’re catching. It’s about, is the border safe?”