CCTV at Peach Arch Pedestrian Crossing - March 15, 2019 [Rod O'Dell (CBP); Tyler Hawkins (RCMP)]
PDFRod,
My name is Tyler Hawkins and I work in the High Risk Offender Unit with Burnaby RCMP. I've been in contact with Officer Ginnefer Shaw via phone and email relating to a Canadian Citizen who claimed credible fear at the Blaine Peach Arch pedestrian crossing on March 15, 2019 at 2019hrs. Officer Shaw provided me with the information that the male in question, Patrick Henry FOX, AKA Richard RIESS - 1973/11/24, had been taken into secondary inspection and then into custody. He was transported to NWDC at 0032hrs on March 16, 2019, arriving at 0308hrs.
I am submitting charges against FOX/RIESS as he has breached numerous conditions by not only being close to the US border, but by leaving the Province of BC, to name a few. Officer Shaw provided me with your name as someone who would be able to facilitate my request of obtaining CCTV of FOX/RIESS attempting to cross into the US.
Thank you,
Cst. Hawkins
High Risk Offender Unit
Bumaby RCMP
And that would be Peace Arch as opposed to Peach Arch. Sorry.
Hello Tyler:
Sorry to be slow in responding - I am just back in after out of office for the past two weeks. CBP will need a written request from you on agency letterhead specifically listing what is requested; how the video will be used; and if the video will be shared with any entity outside your immediate operations.
Please limit your request as tightly as possible. Video releases have to be redacted to protect identity of CBP officers and members of the traveling public. Looking at the incident with Fox/Reiss, I suspect there is quite a lot of footage, from pedestrian primary to secondary and detention. If there is a lot of footage requested, it can be several months before our lab in San Francisco is able to process for release.
Regards,
Rod O'Dell
Senior Paralegal Specialist
FOIA Officer
Area Port of Blaine
V1
Rod,
Thanks for the reply, sorry for not responding back sooner. I would be looking for CCTV which shows RIESS/FOX arriving at the US pedestrian primary, specifically footage where his face can be somewhat identified. FOX has been back in Canada since April 4 and has been in custody since. His next court appearance for trial is August 12, and V2 tasked me with obtaining more evidence to support that RIESS/FOX actually crossed the border and was in the United States. Anything to substantiate this would be ideal.
I will email you a scanned written request outlining what we would be looking for.
Additionally, would you be able to provide me the phone number and email address for Jeffrey OBRIST? He was the officer who dealt with RIESS/FOX in person.
Thanks,
Tyler
Hello Tyler:
Please send me a formal request on your agency's letterhead, per below. If you can broaden your request to say "information confirming Reiss/Fox entry into the U.S." or something like that, I can include arrival records that are not video that can confirm his border crossing. That will give us the opportunity to limit the amount of video that has to be processed for release which will greatly speed up getting our response to you. Also, non-video systems can also confirm his arrival and detention and do not require processing at the CBP lab in order to be released.
Regards,
Rod O'Dell
Senior Paralegal Specialist
FOIA Officer
Area Port of Blaine
V1