On May 11, 2105 all DHS employees were sent the following message regarding Police Week 2015...
From: Office of the Secretary
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2015 11:49 AM
Subject: Message from the Secretary
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2015 11:49 AM
Subject: Message from the Secretary
May 11, 2015
Dear Colleagues,
This is National Police Week. This week we honor the sacrifice and commitment of men and women in law enforcement. We pay a special tribute to those in law enforcement who have given their lives in the line of duty, and we offer our support to their families.
This past year our Department lost two Border Patrol Agents in the line of duty -- Alexander Giannini and Tyler Robledo. This week Agents Giannini’s and Robledo’s names will be added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. I am also mindful of Border Patrol Agent Javier Vega Jr, who last August was killed during a robbery while fishing with his family in Texas.
Wherever you are this week, I encourage you to honor those who have chosen the law enforcement profession.
Sincerely,
Jeh Charles Johnson
Secretary of Homeland Security
One Local 1613 member responded...
Mr. Secretary,
Merely being “mindful” of Border
Patrol Agent Javier Vega Jr. is not enough. He died trying to effect the
arrest of two illegal aliens who were committing armed robbery against himself
and family members. The fact that he was off-duty does not negate the
fact that he was duly exercising his law enforcement authority. It is
tragic and does not reflect well upon this agency or its’ senior leadership
that we have failed to declare this death as “line of duty.” It certainly
contributes to the rapidly declining morale of a department that already has
abysmal morale. If you truly want to improve employee confidence in our
leadership, act now and declare this death line of duty. It is certainly
low hanging fruit. Until someone changes the way DHS treats its’
workforce, we will continue to have low morale…and we will continue to talk
about that low morale, as will congress. How an agency treats a fallen
hero and the surviving family goes a long way towards how employees feel about
the agency and its’ leadership.
Joshua Wilson
Border Patrol Agent
SDC/BLV
