Originally Posted by Alan2005

There's a difference between an ordinary person and an agent of state acting in a professional capacity paid for out of the public purse. Especially one in a position of authority.

Originally Posted by Almost Canadian

You have their number, why do you need to know their name? How will hvaving their name make them more accountable to you? What about their blood type, do you want that as well?

Originally Posted by Almost Canadian

You have their number, why do you need to know their name? How will hvaving their name make them more accountable to you? What about their blood type, do you want that as well?

Originally Posted by Former Lancastrian

I have indicated and given you one example of our officers being targeted. I believe the number of incidents compared to the number officers makes these a rare occurrence. Understandably, they are distressing to the officers concerns, but realistically what would an atack on a CBSA officer outside of their employment actually achieve? I suspect nothing but a court date for the offender, and certainly nothing different than what would have been achieved doing the same thing while the officer was on duty.

There have been others but not all make the media as at least CBSA wish to keep these facts in house so to speak. If an employee stated he/she was followed home last night do you really expect that to appear in the Globe & Mail or other media outlet? Maybe thats why you wont find them on Google. I don't believe the CBSA would be able to hide every incident of this type. If an officer made a statement, I'd expect there to be a report somewhere and a request for Police to ascertain whether thewre is indeed a threat to the officer. If there's no paperwork, why bother reporting it if it's not recorded anywhere.

Over dramatic or emphasising a point? Aren't the two a difference of opinion depending on which side of the fence one is on?

Did you read all of my replies in this particular thread? Yes. Would you like me to re-quote them and respond to each one?

An officer can give you a false name or display a false name or badge number so again we are back at square one. That contravenes the CBSA Code of Conduct section 7.1, and I think would be a disciplinary offence, as stated by a previous poster. Are you actively suggesting breaching your employer's CoC?

An officer is obliged to give you the badge identifier so if you dont write it down and forget the sequence then whos fault is that? I'm sure the sufferers of Dyscalculia (number blindness) is more common than dyslexia apparently. Maybe we should sue for discrimination? I've got lots of things running through my mind when reaching the immigration desk than to remember which pocket I've put my pen and paper in. Though I suspect you probably don't worry about badges as you'l just walk up and say "Hi Joe/Jane Jan/Jakob (delete as applicable) to the officer on duty and show him/her your documents.

Airports are not Govt offices so we do not display Govt ID cards that we are issued with. We display an Airport Pass with a photo on it and a unique number which can also be used to identify us. So if the airport pass displays your name, why can't your CBSA ID badge? I know the airport isn't government offices, but you're still required to carry your ID and produce on request. I believe that to include requests made by members of the public when asked.

Im fine if the Agency want to make us more like WalMart greeters at the borders perhaps you will then get WalMart type service. Hell I will even go and get you a baggage cart if you ever pass through my airport. I'm not asking for WalMart style greeters, though I suspect some CBSA employees would fail the application as they don't have any customer service skills it seems. What I want is the courtesy of knowing whom I'm dealing with as a person, after all, you my passport isn't just a number but my name too.

As for getting WalMart style service, I find WalMart greeters extremely helpful and mostly professional, and hope I would be as helpful in my job as they are. They do occasionally have their share of idiots, but so does every profession, including mine. Don't bother getting me a trolley though. I'd much prefer you do the job you're being paid to do. All I'm asking is that you don't look and act like robots, otherwise you may as well be replaced by one with a lie detector built in.
And for those who just dont get it I wore my name tag on Thursday. I did not walk off the job or withdraw my services. I also completed a shift without a single passenger asking me for ID of any sort nor needing to know my name or asking how to pronounce my last name. The previous day I wore my badge number with the same results. See, you wore your name tag without any problems. I rest my case, or I would if it hadn't got lost in transit.

Ps BTW if a traveller has trouble remembering a 5 number sequence then they are going to be well and truly ****ed remembering some of our Polish officers or Ukranian names. I can just see the letter of complaint now Officer I cant spell it or pronounce it but it had a couple of Zs in the name.

Originally Posted by Jsmth321

I dont fully understand why wearing a name badge is an issue? Every city I have lived in and every city police officer I have met have always worn a name badge, so why can't border guards.

As far as I can recall their US counterparts wear name badges as well.

Originally Posted by Jingsamichty

Most humans relate to others by way of names, not numbers. A BSO is a service function, therefore public relations should be an important part of the job.

Having a name will make it a more human interaction... otherwise just replace them with retina and passport scanning machines, with a program for random secondary investigation.

Originally Posted by Alan2005

I'd don't actually care that much; but I can definitely see that a name is more humanizing than a number. This isn't like the prison service, or the police; these people are 99% of the time dealing with ordinary members of the public who are tired and stressed after long journeys.

The way I see it is hat if the majority of the public want them to wear name tags then they should be made wear them. It should not up to them to decide; if they don't like it they can find another job. And if any of them gives a false name or number then they should be prosecuted in the same way we would be if we did that to them.