Patrick J Simmons
Director, Non-Intrusive Inspection & Radiation Detection Division 
Cargo & Conveyance Security
Office of Field Operations
U.S. Customs & Border Protection

Director Simmons started his career at John F Kennedy (JFK) Airport in 1990 as a U.S. Customs Inspector.  He served on several enforcement teams including the Passenger Enforcement Roving Team (PERT) and the Cargo Enforcement Team (CET).  While serving as a U.S. Customs Inspector, Director Simmons received awards for affecting numerous significant narcotics seizures leading to arrests and convictions.  Transferred to the Port of Orlando, Florida in 1993 Simmons started the first narcotics team in the passenger environment at that location.  Due to the immediate success in Orlando, Simmons was asked to replicate the same strategy at the Port of Tampa, Florida.  The team in Tampa realized the same successes as did Orlando.  In 1995, Simmons lead the U.S. Customs Team tasked with initiating U.S. Customs operations at the newly established Port of Entry in Sanford, Florida.  This was the first foreign owned airport in the United States, exposing Simmons to a great deal of international negotiations.

In January of 2003, Simmons was assigned the Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) Office at Customs Headquarters, Washington, D.C. as a Program Officer.  His first assignment was to secure the rail border crossings on our shared Northern and Southern Borders.  Simmons worked directly with the chosen vender to ensure the user requirements were strictly adhered to.  As a Program Officer, Simmons had direct oversight of all deployment activity.  Customs and Border Protection (CBP) now scans 100 percent of the rail cargo crossing the southern border and approximately 95 percent crossing our shared border with Canada utilizing 22 Rail Gamma-Ray systems.   

Promoted to the position of Supervisory Program Manger, in 2004, Simmons now had the oversight of the Non- Intrusive Inspection staff and an inventory of over 100 large scale Gamma and X- Ray systems deployed to the field.  While serving in this position the NII inventory doubled in size and Mission.

In 2006, Simmons was asked to accept a position at the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) also in Washington, D.C. as the first, Deputy Assistant Director, for the CBP Mission Office.  Accepting this challenge, Simmons had line authority over a $350 million budget and complete oversight of the CBP’s Radiation Detection Program (RPMP).  This program is responsible for the deployment and operation of radiation detection equipment at CBP’s 327 Ports of Entry.  To date CBP has deployed of 1,200 Radiation Portal Monitors (RPM) to our Ports of Entry. 

On July 16th 2007, Simmons was promoted to the position of Director, Non-Intrusive Inspection Division (NII), for Customs and Border Protection.  Currently, Simmons oversees the test and evaluation, procurement and deployment priories for the Office of Field Operations with regard to all technology used by CBP Officers in the field.  The NII Director is responsible for CBP’s NII inventory of over 230 large scale Gamma and X-Ray imaging systems and a large inventory of small scale technology as well as our expanding radiation detection equipment programs.   

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