Second, Border Patrol agents are responsible for securing the U.S.  border between ports of entry and responding to cross-border threats. CBP Staffing Levels for Law Enforcement Officer Positions

In recent years, CBP has not been able to attain statutorily-established  minimum staffing levels for its Border Patrol agent positions or meet its  staffing targets for other law enforcement officer positions. CBP Has Increased Its Participation in Recruitment Events and Standardized Its Recruiter Training

CBP has increased its emphasis on recruitment and increased the  number of recruitment events it has participated in since fiscal year  2015. CBP officials stated  that a goal of this training, among other things, is to ensure that recruiters  provide standardized, accurate information to all potential applicants. However, as AMO has  only recently started using these incentives, it is too early to gauge  whether it will be effective in increasing staffing levels at these hard-to-fill  locations. Applications for Law Enforcement Positions Have Tripled since Fiscal Year 2013

As a result of its efforts, CBP has experienced an increase in the number  of applications it received for law enforcement officer positions across all  three operational components from fiscal years 2013 through 2017. The Accenture contract is intended to enhance CBP’s recruitment efforts  by improving its marketing strategy and utilizing new ways to capture and  analyze data to better inform recruitment efforts, according to CBP  officials. Time-to-Hire. Specifically, the Secret Service’s hiring process comprises  roughly the same number of hiring steps and also includes a polygraph  examination—one of the more challenging and time-consuming steps in  the process—as well as a written assessment, background investigation,  medical examination, and interview. Specifically, the total number of  CBP officers and Border Patrol agents that entered on duty in the first half  of fiscal year 2018 increased by roughly 50 percent and 83 percent,  respectively, when compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year. We discuss this issue later in this report. Certain Factors Affect CBP’s Hiring Process for Law Enforcement Positions

While CBP has reduced its time-to-hire and made efforts to improve its  hiring process for law enforcement officers, CBP officials have noted that  the hiring process remains lengthy, which they said directly affected the  agency’s ability to recruit and hire for law enforcement positions. CBP  officials also stated that their ability to further improve CBP’s time-to-hire  and increase law enforcement hires is affected by hiring process steps  that can be challenging and time-consuming for applicants to complete as  well as CBP’s reliance on applicants to promptly complete certain aspects  of the process. As noted above, in fiscal year 2017, it took an average of 274 days for  Border Patrol agent applicants and more than 300 days for CBP officer  applicants to complete all hiring steps and enter on duty. CBP Has Enhanced Its Retention Efforts, but Does Not Systematically Collect and Analyze Data on Departing Law Enforcement Personnel

		CBP’s Retention of Law Enforcement Officers Varies by Position

From fiscal years 2013 through 2017, CBP’s annual rates of attrition  varied across its five law enforcement officer positions. In fact, OFO ended fiscal year 2017 more than 1,100 CBP officers below  its annual staffing target (see fig. As a result, CBP officer staffing  levels in these locations have consistently remained below authorized  targets. CBP Has Taken Steps to Address Retention Challenges

All three CBP operational components have taken steps to retain qualified  law enforcement personnel by offering opportunities for employees to  relocate to more desirable locations and pursuing the use of financial  incentives, special salary rates, and other payments and allowances. Relocation Opportunities. Taking steps to ensure that the agency’s  operational components are systematically collecting and analyzing  complete and accurate information on all departing law enforcement  officers—including the factors that influenced their decision to separate— would better position CBP to understand its retention challenges and take  appropriate action to address them.
Why GAO Did This Study

CBP is responsible for securing U.S. borders and employs nearly 45,000 law enforcement officers across its three operational components at and between U.S. ports of entry, in the air and maritime environment, and at certain overseas locations. In recent years, CBP has not attained target staffing levels for its law enforcement positions, citing high attrition rates in some locations, a protracted hiring process, and competition from other law enforcement agencies. GAO was asked to review CBP's efforts to recruit, hire, and retain law enforcement personnel.
This report examines CBP's efforts to (1) recruit qualified law enforcement officers, (2) more efficiently hire law enforcement applicants, and (3) retain law enforcement officers. GAO analyzed CBP data on recruitment, hiring, and retention from FY 2013 through 2017, as well as selected data for the first two quarters of FY 2018. GAO also reviewed CBP strategies and the recent contract it awarded to augment its recruiting and hiring activities and interviewed officials from CBP and three other selected law enforcement agencies.

What GAO Found

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) increased its emphasis on recruitment by establishing a central recruitment office and increasing its participation in recruitment events, among other things. As a result, the number of applications it received for law enforcement positions across its operational components—the Office of Field Operations, U.S. Border Patrol, and Air and Marine Operations—from fiscal years (FY) 2013 through 2017 more than tripled. Also, in November 2017, CBP hired a contractor to more effectively target potential applicants and better utilize data to enhance CBP's recruitment efforts. However, it is too early to gauge whether the contractor will be effective in helping CBP to achieve its goal to recruit and hire more law enforcement officers.
CBP improved its hiring process as demonstrated by two key metrics—reducing its time-to-hire and increasing the percentage of applicants that are hired. As shown in the table, CBP's time-to-hire has decreased since FY 2015. CBP officials stated these improvements, paired with increases in applications, have resulted in more hires. For example, the number of Border Patrol agents hired in the first half of FY 2018 increased by about 83 percent when compared to the same period for FY 2017. However, the hiring process remains lengthy—for example, in FY 2017 it took more than 300 days, on average, for CBP officer applicants to complete the process. Certain factors contribute to the lengthy time-to-hire, including process steps that can be challenging and time-consuming for applicants to complete—such as the polygraph exam—as well as CBP's reliance on applicants to promptly complete certain aspects of the process—such as submitting their background investigation form.
CBP enhanced its efforts to address retention challenges. However, staffing levels for law enforcement positions consistently remained below target levels. For example, CBP ended FY 2017 more than 1,100 CBP officers below its target staffing level. Officials cited employees' inability to relocate to more desirable locations as a key retention challenge. CBP has offered some relocation opportunities to law enforcement personnel and has recently pursued the use of financial incentives and other payments to supplement salaries, especially for those staffed to remote or hard-to-fill locations. However, CBP does not have a formal process for capturing information on all departing employees, such as an exit survey. Ensuring that operational components are systematically collecting and analyzing such information would better position CBP to understand its retention challenges and take appropriate action to address them.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that CBP systematically collect and analyze data on departing law enforcement officers and use this information to inform retention efforts. DHS concurred with this recommendation.