Rise in Assaults on Officers Worries Border Patrol
By Stephen Barr

Assaults against Border Patrol officers appear to be on the increase -- from gunshots fired to rocks thrown.

"Let me tell you, rockings are serious," said Michael Chertoff , secretary of homeland security. "You can get serious injuries when a rock . . . hits a Border Patrol agent."

According to David V. Aguilar , the Border Patrol chief, there were 374 assaults against officers in fiscal 2004 and 778 assaults in fiscal 2005. Since Oct. 1, the start of the fiscal year, there have been 192.

More than 80 of those assaults have been in the San Diego area. Officers also were shot at three days in a row in late January near Laredo, Tex. "Luckily, none of our officers were hit," Aguilar said.