How a truck running the border got as far as central Vancouver.
CBSA officers not allowed to chase vehicles
A dramatic weekend pursuit through Vancouver has highlighted a potentially dangerous quirk of border security: Canadian border guards are not allowed to chase vehicles that blow through crossings.
“Our officers want to do the job; they are very frustrated by not being allowed to chase people running through the border,” said Jean-Pierre Fortin, president of the Customs and Immigration Union.
On Saturday, a pickup truck sped through a Vancouver-area border crossing and was able to penetrate more than 50 kilometres into Canada before hitting a storefront in the city’s west end.
The incident began at the Peace Arch point of entry, Canada’s third-busiest border crossing. Before 8 a.m., the pickup was seen speeding through a checkpoint.
Canadian Border Service Agency officials wear service firearms and are equipped with cruisers capable of high-speed pursuit. Nevertheless, as per CBSA protocol, in these instances, their agents are only authorized to radio ahead to police. “We could have easily picked up the truck,” said Fortin.
Surrey RCMP, who patrol the area surrounding Peace Arch, have experience in dealing with border-runners from the American side. In 2016, a co-ordinated Surrey RCMP pursuit helped rein in an erratic Volkswagen that had plowed through Peace Arch checkpoints.
Nevertheless, the pickup was able to evade the Mounties. After receiving a call from CBSA at 7:45 a.m., Surrey RCMP put out patrols for the truck. When the patrols turned up nothing, Vancouver Police were informed at 8:20 a.m. to be on alert.
The pickup was able to speed through the jurisdictions for the Delta Police Department and Richmond RCMP until Vancouver Police identified the vehicle around 8:30 a.m. After the driver did not pull over, officers pursued him five kilometres west until its collision in Kitsilano.
Similar incidents are relatively common at Canada’s 117 land border crossings.
“There are regular occurrences of drivers accelerating away from primary inspection,” reads a 2017 Canadian Border Services Agency briefing document obtained by the National Post.
According to Fortin, the epicentre has been the point of entry near Cornwall, Ont. Vehicles are known to bypass the customs station up to several times a day and, unlike in Vancouver, they’re not always caught.