Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST)
- Under the Department of Homeland Security, the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) gathers officers from several different law enforcement agencies under one umbrella to help combat existing and emerging transnational criminal organizations that pose threats locally and internationally.
- While BEST is a primarily American operation, both Canada and Mexico have participating law enforcement agencies.
- For example, Mexico's Secretariat de Seguridad Publica (SSP), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) work alongside American law enforcement agencies/officers.
- BEST was created on a smaller scale in 2005 and slowly grew from 2006-2011.
- By 2012, the official Jaime Zapata BEST Act signed into law and was named in memory of Jaime Zapata, a Homeland Security Special Agent who died helping a BEST in Mexico.
- Since 2019 there were 69 BEST teams located around the US.
Citation
Jaime Zapata Border Enforcement Security Task Force Act, 112-205, 112th Congress, (2012). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-112publ205/html/PLAW-112publ205.htm
Further Readings
For more information about BEST: https://www.ice.gov/features/best
& https://www.ice.gov/partnerships-centers/best
For testimonies of BEST operations: https://www.dhs.gov/keywords/border-enforcement-security-task-force
Overlapping Topics
Military, Defence, and Peacekeeping
Policy Sub-Topic
Policy Type
Legislation