Border Patrol gets first female leader in its 94-year history
Carla Provost, who served as acting chief of the Border Patrol for more than a year, on Thursday was named the first woman to lead the agency in its 94-year history.
Provost, a former police officer in Kansas, joined the agency 23 years ago as an agent in Douglas, Ariz., rising through the ranks to become a supervisor in Yuma and El Paso. She also served as deputy assistant commissioner of Internal Affairs, which included overseeing compliance with Customs and Border Protection programs and policies involving corruption, misconduct or mismanagement. She became deputy chief of the Border Patrol in 2016.
"There is no one more suited to lead the Border Patrol," Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan said in making the announcement.
Provost, who becomes Border Patrol’s 18th chief, answered questions from the Los Angeles Times about herself and the agency. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q:
Why did you join Border Patrol? A:
My senior year of college, I had an internship with the Topeka Police Department. One of my parents’ friends was the head homicide detective there, so I got to see a lot more than most interns do. That led to me staying in Kansas after graduation and joining the Riley County Police Department.
I loved working with a local police department, but as a 20something-year-old, I had always thought about what we perceived as the”sexy jobs" — the FBI, DEA, U.S. Marshals. Fortunately, when I was an intern in Topeka, I had the op- portunity to meet with one of the Marshals and really began considering a career outside local law enforcement.
I went to the (Border Patrol) Academy and then to Douglas, Ariz., in May of 1995, and after a year on the ground there, I swore I would never leave the Border Patrol. I ended up spending 11 { years in Douglas. Maybe not a prime location, but the work is amazing.
Q:
Despite recruitment efforts at Border Patrol, women make up only 5 percent of about 20,000 agents, among the lowest percentages for federal law enforcement agencies. What challenges do you see in
attracting more women to the job? A:
Our biggest challenge is that our environment is much different than any other federal law enforcement agency. The vast majority of our jobs are in smaller border towns, not in major metropolitan areas. The majority of our agents — 16,000 of them, at least — are along the Southwest border, living in small communities. While many of our areas have experienced significant growth and investment, such as south Texas, many are still very remote, such as Del Rio, Nogales, Yuma and Calexico.