Posted on 01/22/2014 9:43:24 AM PST by Altariel
Unwarranted NSA surveillance, the passage of NDAA, stop and frisk programs, and the rise of warrior cops, have essentially turned America into a centralized police state.
Blurring the lines between the U.S. military and local sheriff departments sets a dangerous precedent that erodes freedom and civil liberties.
Those lines are being blurred right now in South Carolina.
According to The State, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department will participate in secretive joint exercise Monday and Tuesday with unnamed units from Ft. Bragg.
The drills are scheduled to run up to midnight on both days and occur primarily in Lower Richland, around Hopkins and Eastover. Exercises will also take place around the Screaming Eagle Road near Elgin and North Richland County near outbound Monticello Road.
According to The State, a sheriff’s department spokesman refused to provide which units from Ft. Bragg are involved. Ft. Bragg is home to the U.S. Army’s elite groups, including the Special Forces and Delta Force.
The spokesman also said the drills would be noisy at times.
“Citizens may see military and departmental vehicles traveling in and around rural and metropolitan areas and may hear ordnance being set off or fired which will be simulated/ blanks and controlled by trained personnel,” a sheriff’s department press release said.
The secretive exercises are off limits to the media, reports The Activist Post.
The implications are serious.
Locally elected Sheriffs take an oath to uphold, preserve, and defend the Constitution. They are not an extension of the centralized federal government. They have the ultimate say in their county as the top law enforcement officer.
If sheriff deputies engage an enemy in conjunction with the U.S. military who do they take orders from? The ARMY commander? Or their Sheriff?
This violates the separation of local authorities and the federal government. If the separation of powers are eliminated, who will protect the Constitutional rights of citizens?
After reading the his/her tag line you think he/she will read a PDF file?
.... Well ..... If we weren't under the thumb of an oppressive administration .... normally this wouldn't be of concern.
.... That said though ..... These types of operations are probably staged in an effort to teach all involved about learning to effective traverse terrain and operate equipment in this environment. However ..... My guess (and i am not an expert and don't profess to be one) is that the main reason is that there is also a serious need for law enforcement to also learn the different authorities and command structure during a joint operation/mission with the DoD ...... otherwise there would be mass confusion about who is in charge of what and the different or shared responsibilities that would be delegated to and handled by whom etc etc. Heck ..... It is confusing enough when a basic local crime scene is being handled by the local authorities .... and the Feds show up and claim jurisdiction. This kind of stuff actually does need to be addressed.
.... please don’t confuse the exception for the norm.
Yes, there is a benefit to this type of training. However, there are costs as well. These units are very expensive. The overwhelming majority are never used for what they were trained to do and the funds that go into these units could be used to reduce crime that is much more prevalent (id theft, gang violence, burglary, etc.). I have been affected by violent crime more than once. The police were absolutely useless every time. If there isn’t a tv camera or a budget increase for the department, they don’t care.
Your example of being taken hostage in such a manner that a hostage rescue unit would be of any assistance is EXTREMELY remote. The chance of a local thug kicking in your door and shooting you straight off is much more likely.
Supporting very expensive training and units using your argument is like arguing to “invest” most of your retirement in lottery tickets because the payoff could be sooooo big. It’s just bad math.
Having said all that, even if the math did work out for your argument, it still would not have been tolerated earlier in our Republic. The Separation of Powers issue has been explained away by justices justifying all sorts of insanity.
Posse comitatus comes to mind based on your response...
It generally prohibits Federal military personnel and units of the United States National Guard under Federal authority from acting in a law enforcement capacity within the United States, except where expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress. The Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act substantially limit the powers of the Federal government to use the military for law enforcement.
IMO, this is just one of many attempted end runs around the PC Act.
Sheriff and PD Depts. have plenty of prior military personnel who can instruct the Depts. on various tactics learned while in the military...
Taxpayer money undoubtedly is being used meaning the names can be obtained and posted all over the internet...
For how long and should it continue?
Are all the incidents listed here exceptions also?
I just did Air Assault school. Please don’t mention 9 lines. Haha.
Wouldn’t that be different
And that’s exactly how we got where we are now, by people trying to minimize, ignore and explain away the abuses.
By the time you are outraged enough to complain, it may already be too late.
OUTSTANDING thread. Thanks for the ping; link (#12)/posts; thread.
Socialism Is Legal Plunder - Frederic Bastiat 1801 - 1850
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
The Law Defends Plunder
But it does not always do this. Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it. Thus the beneficiaries are spared the shame, danger, and scruple which their acts would otherwise involve. Sometimes the law places the whole apparatus of judges, police, prisons, and gendarmes at the service of the plunderers, and treats the victim — when he defends himself — as a criminal. - Frederic Bastiat 1801-1850
“If only the police were held to the same ROE as the military! “
How about if I put up a minaret, paint some squiggley lines on the side of my house, and put my poodle in a burka?
What are the ROE on me, then?
You’d be safe. Police ROE requires that they shoot the poodle.
.... Like our Military .... I actually believe that Law Enforcement also needs to remain on the cutting razor edge of preparedness. They are on the front lines of the violent life and death battles that wage on our streets here at home. And like you, they want to return home to their loved ones every day after their shift ends. An officer well knows that it is their training and instincts that will allow them to do this. They are the troops on our streets and like any battle that is fought abroad by our military .... they shed their blood to keep us safe. And yes ... sometimes it does become necessary to spend money on training to help them do this.
.... Some could argue that concerns by law enforcement about an ineffective response etc became all too real here in the Los Angeles area for responding officers on February 28, 1997 in the North Hollywood area. (Reference: North Hollywood Shootout) Instantly after the After Action Reports were reviewed ...... The funding and training costs for upgraded equipment, training and firepower that had been denied for years by the bean counters suddenly, for some reason, became necessary. After every event there must be an After Action Report which many times will recommend how the outcome of an event could be improved and with any luck improvements are made.
.... I seem to recall a sobering event on September 11th 2001 that left Law enforcement with the sudden realization that necessitated the funding for equipment and training for adequate response as well as preventative measures to keep those that wish to do us harm from achieving their goals. And yes ... that would necessitate training such as referred to in this article.
.... Heck..... I am not making a philosophical, political or moral argument about the abuse of these units for sociopolitical gains. I am just saying that these training events and exercises are necessary and have their place in the scheme of things and help to keep them prepared for what might happen in the future. That is all about being prepared. The key is to maintain proper preparedness in the eventuality of their need. We can theorize all we want until we are blue in the face about what the these training exercises of the tactical units will be used for .... but the fact is that this training experience may well be necessary when the time comes.
.... It is much better to be prepared that to be sorry.
Law Enforcement = The State. A truly conservative viewpoint does not desire a powerful state on “the cutting edge”.
I suggest you strongly reconsider your viewpoint. It would have horrified our ideological forebears.
One might say the British were on “the cutting edge” of security when they made the abuses described in part by James Otis (who was making a case against writs of assistants):
“Now, one of the most essential branches of English liberty is the freedom of one’s house. A man’s house is his castle; and whilst he is quiet, he is as well guarded as a prince in his castle. This writ, if it should be declared legal, would totally annihilate this privilege. Custom-house officers may enter our houses when they please; we are commanded to permit their entry. Their menial servants may enter, may break locks, bars, and everything in their way; and whether they break through malice or revenge, no man, no court can inquire. Bare suspicion without oath is sufficient.”
(He lost that particular case, but one of those in attendance that day was John Adams.)
Reflecting on that day, Adams wrote:
“Every man of an immense crowded audience appeared to me to go away, as I did, ready to take arms against Writs of Assistance. Then and there was the first scene of the first act of opposition to the arbitrary claims of Great Britain. Then and there the child Independence was born.”
The Anti-Federalists took a dim view on The State being on the “cutting edge” of such matters. The Founders fought a War over England’s refusal to honor the Castle doctrine in the colonies (among other grievances)
Even Alexander Hamilton warned against it (The Federalist #8):
“Safety from external danger is the most powerful director of national conduct. Even the ardent love of liberty will, after a time, give way to its dictates. The violent destruction of life and property incident to war, the continual effort and alarm attendant on a state of continual danger, will compel nations the most attached to liberty to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil and political rights. To be more safe, they at length become willing to run the risk of being less free.”
And think about this:
“One of [America’s] greatest strengths is that the military is responsive to civilian authority and that we do not allow the Army, Navy, and the Marines and the Air Force to be a police force. History is replete with countries that allowed that to happen. Disaster is the result.” —Marine Lt. General Stephen G. Olmstead in his 1987 testimony before the U.S. Congress.
I suggest you study history before you make any more statements about how important it is for The State to remain “on the cutting edge of preparedness”.
LOL
"They smoke pot! They don't deserve rights!"
Prohibition is another word for SLAVERY!
You wont' have to ever worry about that scenario again soon.
Thanx to 0'scammersnare! Banks will have new policies making armed robbery a thing of the past!!!!!
All praise our glorious leader! We love him!
Of course you will have to get an ID chip implanted to do any kind of monetary transactions! What with the MASSIVE ID theft due to the total compromise of all banking data from 0fraud0care, banks will have no choice about having you PROVE your ID!
It will take McDonalds and the grocery stores about 2 months to dry up the cash supply, after which time you'll never have to worry about bank hostage situations again!
Sleep well!
PS The Michael Jackson Feriday cage glove will become immensely popular!
“ACE, or whatever Delta/CAG is called now, has always had exercises with law enforcement there.”
That doesn’t make it appropriate. The concept of LE exercising with military fundamentally means police are getting military training.
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