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Mississippi legislature votes to give attorney general his own “strike forces”
Washington Post ^ | February 27, 2014 | Radley Balko

Posted on 02/28/2014 10:20:29 AM PST by Altariel

A troubling bill (PDF) that passed the Mississippi legislature last month would give the state’s attorney general three paramilitary-style “strike forces” to use around the state at his discretion.

The bill is being pushed by Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, who told the Associated Press, “These elite forces will respond to a specific high-crime area and hit gangs and drug dealers where they live. Give law enforcement the authority and the resources they need, and they will get the job done.”

But it’s far from clear that the state really needs more strike forces with which to hit people. Mississippi already has several federally funded multi-jurisdictional drug and gang task forces. The Mississippi Highway Patrol, which serves the entire state, has a SWAT team and a Special Operations Group consisting of 80 police officers for incidents for which the SWAT team isn’t sufficient. Most sheriff’s departments in the state have SWAT teams, as does just about every town with more than a half dozen stoplights, including Clinton, Pearl, Tupelo and Horn Lake. Even the Mississippi Alcohol Beverage Control agency has its own SWAT team. If you’re lucky, even your town’s mayor might strap on a gun and join the occasional SWAT raid.

So if you live in Olive Branch or Southaven, you’re covered not only by your town’s own SWAT team, but also the county SWAT team, the state police SWAT team, a multi-jurisdictional narcotics task force, a fugitive unit, the state Alcohol Beverage Control SWAT team and federal SWAT teams from the field offices of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (at least — possibly others).

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: confrontationwatch; donutwatch; feos; militarizedpolice; mississippi; swat; swatteam
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1 posted on 02/28/2014 10:20:29 AM PST by Altariel
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To: Altariel

http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2014/pdf/HB/0700-0799/HB0749PS.pdf


2 posted on 02/28/2014 10:21:00 AM PST by Altariel ("Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!")
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To: Altariel

Gee, I feel safer already. /sarc


3 posted on 02/28/2014 10:25:24 AM PST by Pecos (The Chicago Way: Kill the Constitution, one step at a time.)
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To: Altariel

Special Operations Group? Isn’t that the idea behind SPECIAL WEAPONS AND TACTICS (SWAT)?


4 posted on 02/28/2014 10:28:13 AM PST by Antihero101607
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To: Altariel; WKB; Black Agnes; Malichi; WXRGina; duffee; LibLieSlayer; DrewsMum; Tupelo; mstar; ...

Magnolia State Ping
5 posted on 02/28/2014 10:28:14 AM PST by onyx (Please Support Free Republic - Donate Monthly! If you want on Sarah Palin's Ping List, Let Me know!)
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To: Altariel

So we are turning the police into the military....we just aren’t going to call them that?


6 posted on 02/28/2014 10:28:43 AM PST by VanDeKoik
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To: Altariel

Empire building. The more subordinates, the more he can claim he needs more money to fund his operation. Total BS!!!


7 posted on 02/28/2014 10:29:40 AM PST by Glennb51
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To: Pecos

This is one of those mother-in-law going over a cliff on your new Harley. I know, I changed it a little.

The only democrat elected statewide in Mississippi is the Attorney General. That swat team may be necessary to protect him from the voters.


8 posted on 02/28/2014 10:30:22 AM PST by billhilly
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To: Altariel

The current administration may indeed use such a force as intended, against gangs or organized crime. But a future administration may use it against the Tea Party or other political “enemies”.


9 posted on 02/28/2014 10:32:22 AM PST by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed & water the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS NOW & FOREVER!)
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To: VanDeKoik

Worse. At least the military is mostly professional, has a well defined ROI and reporting structure. These clowns will likely shoot the place up only to discover they had the wrong address.Not surprisingly no one will be available to take responsibility.


10 posted on 02/28/2014 10:33:29 AM PST by 556x45
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To: Altariel; Travis McGee

wow


11 posted on 02/28/2014 10:34:35 AM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
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To: onyx

Yeah. I trust Jim Hood with this.

/s

By the way, anybody know why he’s working from home and far away from Jackson. The *real* reason I mean.


12 posted on 02/28/2014 10:35:12 AM PST by Black Agnes
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To: onyx

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3128049/posts

Eric Holder Asks State Attorney Generals to Ignore the Law.

coincidence. I’m sure.


13 posted on 02/28/2014 10:36:44 AM PST by Black Agnes
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To: Black Agnes; WKB; LibLieSlayer

Likewise, I really trust Jim Hood with this and furthermore, why is Bryant in support?

First I’ve heard about it, too.


14 posted on 02/28/2014 10:37:22 AM PST by onyx (Please Support Free Republic - Donate Monthly! If you want on Sarah Palin's Ping List, Let Me know!)
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To: Black Agnes

OH yeah.
Huge coincidence.


15 posted on 02/28/2014 10:37:53 AM PST by onyx (Please Support Free Republic - Donate Monthly! If you want on Sarah Palin's Ping List, Let Me know!)
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To: Black Agnes

My first guess is that there are too many republicans down at the shop.


16 posted on 02/28/2014 10:38:03 AM PST by billhilly
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To: Altariel

Mississippi the RINO/GOP-e/BACKSTABBER “State”. The “State” that inflicted THESE POSs on us:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Lott(Clinton Impeachemnt Debacle) AND
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haley_Barbour(Bob Dole’s 1996 “Campagin”) AND
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thad_Cochran


17 posted on 02/28/2014 10:39:25 AM PST by US Navy Vet (Go Packers! Go Rockies! Go Boston Bruins! See, I'm "Diverse"!)
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To: Altariel; COUNTrecount; Nowhere Man; FightThePower!; C. Edmund Wright; jacob allen; Travis McGee; ..
Zatso???

“We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded.” Barack Hussein Obama, 7/2/2008
They don’t call it a Civil Defense force, that would imply we need (or perhaps that we deserve) defense. The official name is National Civilian Community Corps.

I think of it as the NatCCC, or more simply as the NatCs...

Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping!

To get onto The Nut-job Conspiracy Theory Ping List you must threaten to report me to the Mods if I don't add you to the list...

18 posted on 02/28/2014 10:41:22 AM PST by null and void (<--- unwilling cattle-car passenger on the bullet train to serfdom)
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To: billhilly

I thought about that too. I also heard his kids had problems in school.

But there’s been pubbies down at the shop forever now and kids have had problems for a while too.

Makes me wonder what he knows. It’s almost like he’s bugged out to someplace safer in the event of a societal meltdown.


19 posted on 02/28/2014 10:42:33 AM PST by Black Agnes
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To: Altariel

We don’t need anymore SWAT teams in Mississippi and especially one that’s at jim hoods disposal. Let the AG’s rent one from one of the cities, counties or state agencies in the area where it’s “needed”. I don’t trust jim hood at all. Using a SWAT team from another agency would give some responsible oversight to hood. We have too many SWAT teams as it is, cities, counties and state agencies should co-operate and reduce the number of SWAT teams.


20 posted on 02/28/2014 10:44:38 AM PST by duffee (NO poll tax, NO tax on firearms, ammunition or gun safes. NO gun free zones.)
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