FEWER PEOPLE SEARCHED BY CUSTOMS IN PAST YEAR The U.S. Customs Service dramatically reduced the number of people searched at the nation's borders last year, while simultaneously increasing its seizures of drugs, including heroin, cocaine and ecstasy. Customs officials hailed the new statistics released yesterday as proof of the effectiveness of their stricter oversight of the personal searches done by inspectors. The new policies were implemented over the past two years in the wake of complaints by African Americans and other minorities who said Customs Service inspectors disproportionately singled them out for searches. A General Accounting Office report released earlier this year confirmed those sentiments. It found that African American women were nearly twice as likely to be strip-searched on suspicion of smuggling drugs as white men and women and three times as likely as African American men. The GAO report capped two years of criticism by minority women in Chicago and elsewhere who have complained of being subjected to humiliating treatment at the nation's international airports. In some instances, women complained of cavity searches and of being forced to take laxatives by customs inspectors in search of illegal drugs. In response to those concerns, Customs Service Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly initiated reforms to tighten oversight of the searches--changes that have resulted not only in far fewer people being searched but also in the seizure of more contraband. "We're not declaring victory, we're not saying the battle is over, but we're pleased," Kelly said. "The biggest change has been the accountability and oversight." To reduce the number of unwarranted searches and detentions, Kelly required inspectors to consult with local Justice Department lawyers when detaining a passenger for more than eight hours. Also, the agency overhauled its search handbook, required a supervisor's approval for most pat-down personal searches and eliminated the use of historical factors that raise the possibility of a search. Instead, the agency uses six broad criteria to support search decisions. In addition, the Customs Service now keeps close track of the race and gender of those singled out for searches. The data are sent daily to the agency's top officials. The results have been striking. In the fiscal year that ended in September, 9,008 arriving commercial air passengers were searched by customs inspectors, a steep reduction from the 23,108 who were searched the previous year, according to customs statistics. As searches decreased, the seizures of heroin, cocaine and ecstasy increased from 533 to 665 between fiscal 1999 and 2000. Overall, drug seizures increased from 1,164 to 1,174 during the same period. Throughout its history, the Customs Service has had far-reaching authority to detain travelers and administer searches if inspectors suspect them of smuggling drugs or other contraband. Large numbers of smugglers swallow drug-filled balloons or otherwise hide drugs to bring them into the country. That, coupled with the growing number of passengers who pass through customs each year, has increased the pressure on the agency. But that pressure often prompted inspectors to haphazardly decide which travelers would be searched, Kelly said. In the past six years, 34 lawsuits have been brought against the Customs Service, said agency spokesmen. The agency lost one in which a plaintiff was awarded $500,000. Four were settled for amounts ranging from $2,000 to $100,000, and the others either are pending or have been dismissed. "We have this very powerful authority," Kelly said. "But we did not think about it enough."
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