Mystery men keep handle on Security at Courthouse

Ark. Dem-Gaz | July 22, 2002 | LINDA SATTER

[rdavis84]

Mystery men keep handle on security at courthouse
BY LINDA SATTER
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
July 22, 2002

They stand resolutely outside the federal courts building in downtown Little
Rock, watching and listening, saying little.
Inside, more of these mysterious men patrol in navy blue jackets,
starched white shirts and gray pants. They demand identification from all
who enter and screen for weapons. In courtrooms, they keep an eye on
proceedings while their earpieces deliver a running account of happenings
elsewhere in the building.
Occasionally, they speak softly into radios, and then suddenly,
discreetly, more of their kind appear.
They also guard jurors and jurists and stand ready to provide
cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Last year, James Thomas Carman was nationally
recognized as CSO of the Year for performing chest compressions to save the
life of U.S. District Judge Henry Woods, who died this March.
Though the badges pinned to their jackets declare "U.S. Marshal’s
Service," they’re not marshals. They’re also not security guards, cops or
bailiffs. And contrary to what some believe, they’re not federal agents, or
even federal employees.
They officially are called court security officers, or CSOs. They are
part of a nationwide group of former law enforcement and military security
officers who work for a private security firm under contract with the U.S.
Marshal’s Service. While in the courthouse, they have the same powers as
deputy marshals. But unlike the federal agents they work alongside, that
authority evaporates when the CSOs leave the building each day.
"They are the guys on the front line," said Daya Khalsa, senior vice
president of Akal Security, a company in Santa Cruz, N.M., that employees
CSOs in two-thirds of the country’s 12 federal judicial circuits, including
the 8th Circuit that encompasses Arkansas and six other states.
"They’re really providing the face of security to everyone. They’re the
people who see things first. They know the building better than anybody,"
Khalsa said.
The CSO program began on a small scale about 20 years ago in New York
City to supplement overworked federal marshals. It spread nationwide as all
federal courthouses increased security and as marshals’ duties expanded
beyond protecting judges. Today, there are about 4,800 federal CSOs.
"There’s a perception out there that private security is just driven by
price and it’s very low quality, and that’s a misconception," Khalsa said.
He said CSOs, who make $15 to $30 an hour, "couldn’t be more different" than
lower-paid private security employees.
While many private guards lack law enforcement experience and don’t carry
guns, CSOs are armed and have at least three years of law enforcement
experience. Most, Khalsa said, are retired cops with 20 to 30 years of
experience.
"I’ve been wearing a badge and carrying a gun since I was 18 years old,"
said John Dillon, 61, of Sherwood, a former U.S. Air Force security guard
and a CSO for five years.
In Little Rock, about half of the 28 CSOs at the main courthouse or the
nearby bankruptcy courthouse are former military police, while others are
retired sheriff’s deputies, police officers or state troopers. Many have
experience in both areas. The youngest is in his mid-30s, the oldest, in his
mid-70s. Most are in their 50s. All must pass stringent annual physicals.
Behind their uniformly steely gazes, though, they are a diverse bunch of
individuals, with skills reaching far beyond knowing how to shoot guns and
wrestle suspects — not that there is much of a need for either on their
watch.
Ron Cunningham, a CSO for 11 years who spent 20 years with Air Force
security, and who races horses around barrels on weekends, credits the
no-nonsense reputation of federal court for minimizing rowdy behavior that
sometimes afflicts the less-staid state courts.
"I think they have a lot more respect for the federal system," Cunningham
said of would-be troublemakers.
Cleo Randall, a CSO for three years who previously worked as a juvenile
court bailiff and in Air Force security, agreed. A martial arts teacher and
sword maker while off duty, Randall said the CSOs’ law enforcement
backgrounds help them quickly recognize postures or movements that signal
trouble, allowing them to ward it off by quietly summoning reinforcements.
Because the officers’ mere presence can deter trouble, making it hard to
know how much actual danger or crime they may have averted, the workday
often ends without that satisfying sense of accomplishment, notes Mike
Kieffer, a CSO for 10 years who spent 20 years in Air Force security.
Kieffer said that’s why the most rewarding part of the job is the
friendliness the CSOs get from courthouse regulars — judges, staff and
lawyers.
"They go out of their way to speak and remember what your name is. It
makes you feel appreciated," he said.
Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright said the court officers
"serve us well."
"My experience with them is they’re ordinarily pretty good with handling
people and different situations in a courtroom setting," Wright said. "I
think that, because of their backgrounds, they do have a lot of people
skills that others of us lack. The downside is they tend to be older and not
as physically fit" as marshals.
Wright said that since the bombing of the federal courthouse in Oklahoma
City in 1995 and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, she’s heard informal
chitchat at meetings of senior judges across the country about whether
more-enhanced security is needed in federal courts beyond that provided by
the combination of CSOs and marshals. Jim Hall, a supervisory deputy marshal
in Little Rock, said the CSOs provide necessary extra manpower and are "a
good group of guys."
Though much of what the CSOs do is secretive, one of their unofficial
duties is hard to miss. At least once a week, the courthouse is permeated
with the smell of bacon, stew or perhaps chicken and dumplings, all
emanating from the officers’ firstfloor office. Usually the cook is their
supervisor, 18-year veteran Joe Maxwell, or seven-year veteran Fred Clark.
"We have a simple meal once a week for fellowship. It’s just kind of
become a tradition," said Clark, a retired state trooper, deputy sheriff and
smalltown police chief known for making a mean batch of cornbread.
The CSOs admittedly cultivate the sense of mystery that leaves people
wondering who, exactly, they are, and what, exactly, they might do if
provoked.
"A great deal of the respect we get comes from the mystique," three-year
CSO Robert Bellamy said.
Max Ballew, a 13-year CSO, agreed. With a sly smile, he notes that’s one
reason why, when CSOs are on the job, "the courthouse is very well
protected."

This story was published Monday, July 22, 2002

[honway]

I've been asking questions, but I'm not getting answers

What are your questions, I'll try to help.

[Catspaw]

So what you're saying are that the Sikhs who own Akal are the same Sikh separatists employed by ISI? And how does that connect with the OKC bombing, especially in light of Jayna Davis saying that Iraqis were involved?

[Catspaw]

I did forget to add in that there have been implications that Terry Nichols may have had contact or connections to al Qaeda because he visited the Philippines (his Filipino wife). I'd like to have someone explain these connections, if indeed they are connected.

[honway]

To be a Sikh is to be a separatist. All Sikhs want a separate country of their own. The only problem is that the territory they want is in India and India does not want to give it up. The situation is very close to the Palestinian situation. If you give money to Arafat to help the Palestinian children and Arafat uses the money to finance suicide bombings, you are financing terrorism. The same is true when Sikhs in the U.S. raise tax free money to support the separatist movement in the name of religion.

The answer is the Sikhs who own AKAL are financing the militant separatist Sikh movement.

The connection with the OKC bombing is that individuals associated with the Sikh separatist movement owned a New Mexico security company that somehow got the contract to provide security for the Murrah building months before the bombing. That company was TEG Security which was never incorporated in OK and disappearred as a company after the bombing. TEG was owned and operated by the same Sikhs that Owned AKAL. It appears to me TEG was created for the sole purpose to receive the security contract on the Murrah Building.It was the job of TEG Security to protect the occupants of the Murrah Building. They failed.

Islamic terrorists trained side by side with Sikh terrorists in the camps in Pakistan.

Please understand we are at war with an Islamic terrorist network that includes individuals from Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan,Bosnia, as well as others. This network or "Axis of Evil" was definately involved in the bombing of the Murrah Building. The question is, did individuals connected to TEG knowingly participate in the conspiracy to bomb the building and I do not know the answer to that. However, there is a lot of very questionable circumstances surrounding the TEG contract that deserve an explanation.

[honway]

The link below provides a good summary of the evidence connecting Nichols to the Islamic terrorist network. Remember bin Laden and Saddam are allies in the Islamic network that has been actively engaged in war against us since the 1993 WTC bombing.

http://www.judicialwatch.org/cases/86/complaint.html

Link

In the Philippines as part of Project Bojinka, Ramzi Youssef, on behalf of Iraq, recruited conspirators to attempt to simultaneously bomb five or more U.S. 747 aircraft over the Pacific, using delayed timer tactics with many similarities to Barbouti’s 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103. Youssef also conceived of plans to highjack planes bound for the United States in order to dive them, in suicide attacks, into U.S. targets like CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, a tactic later adopted by Osama bin Laden. Youssef flew frequently from Manila to Cebu City in the Philippines in order to recruit potential terrorists at Southwest College in Cebu City. Plaintiffs assert that at some point in time Ramzi Youssef recruited a willing convert in the person of Terry Nichols who witnesses say went to the Philippines seeking technical help in learning to build a bomb. Meetings between Terry Nichols and Ramzi Youssef were witnessed by a Filipino government informant.

[honway]

To prevent all sorts of confusion, I'll repeat *my* question: Did you initially assume that "AKAL" was Muslim?

No one in the investigation ever assumed AKAL was Muslim. Muslim terrorists train in the same training camps Sikh terrorists train in. Obviously, the two groups are allies since they train together.

[Catspaw]

Yes, I already know about Project Bojinka and Ramsey Yousef (who may be an Iraqi agent, who may be al Qaeda, and Ramsey Yousef may not be his real name), as well as the implication that Nichols had al Qaeda ties via his wife and his visits to the Philippines. What I'm asking is how does this tie altogether?

The implication seems to be that the persons that own Akal or its predecessor company are somehow tied to separatist Sikhs who assassinated Indira Ghandi, and that they are tied to the ISI, and add in those who believe that the explosion at OKC also occurred inside, with the implication that Akal or its predecessor company were involved somehow. Then you have Jayna Davis saying that Iraqis were involved with Timothy McVeigh and OKC. Then you have Nichols and a possible Filipino al Qaeda connection (the latter two could be one and the same). Add in those who toss in donations to Clinton's campaign and a possible Arkancide at OKC, and the current Bush administration who has continued the contracts with the Sikh separatists who own this company that employs former and retired police officers.

So what I can gather is that this was a huge global conspiracy involving, if I can get this straight, the ISI, Sikh separatists who also own a security company that contracts with the US government and employs former and retired police officers, Iraqi agents, Filipino-based al Qaeda members, Bill Clinton and his Justice department, George W. Bush and his Justice department, Let me know if I'm missing anyone.

[rdavis84]

Sorry, I found my patience with these several word-gamers in short supply yesterday. Their refusal to do a bit of reading for their own enlightenment on the TEG/AKAL matter was subverted into what my initial impression of who the company was aligned with.

It came across very phony to me, therefore I chose not to play their game.

Your very succinct defining of the matter SHOULD suffice. Why do I believe it won't? ;-)

[rdavis84]

"The implication seems to be that the persons that own Akal or its predecessor company are somehow tied to separatist Sikhs who assassinated Indira Ghandi,"
87 posted on 7/23/02 10:56 AM Central by Catspaw

You are one confused person.  You think that one question about Indira Ghandi brought an accusation of AKAL being tied to her assassination?

"Wasn't Indhira Gandhi (sp) machine-gunned to death by her Sikh bodyguards some years back?
11 posted on 7/22/02 4:17 PM Central by PLMerite

[Catspaw]

The other nagging question is that Sikhs are not Islamic, and being a fundamental Islamic is a prerequisite for being a member of al Qaeda. There may be groups that are affiliated with al Qaeda that are non-Islamic--for example, the IRA (a former IRA member is suspected in the shooting of Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint earlier this year, and there has been cross-training, as it were, with FARC and al Qaeda in Columbia and possibly Equador and Argentina)--but I don't see evidence of a Sikh separatist group being affiliated with al Qaeda. ISI does have or had al Qaeda connections, but you're saying that the Sikhs have a role beyond fighting against the Indians in Kashmir.

However, I don't see any evidence that Akal funded a Sikh separatist group or groups. Do you have evidence of that? If so, have you brought that to the attention of the Bush administration?

And although TEG may not be incorporated in OK, there is a distinct possibility it was incorporated in another state, for example, New Mexico. However, these contracts for security are bid. I'd suggest you call someone--for example, your congresscritter--and ask him, because you're a researcher and all, if he can find out about the contracts that were bid for the security at federal buildings back in the 1992-1996 time frame, and specifically what contracts TEG bid on and which contracts they won, and ask how you can get copies of those bids and contracts. Follow it up in writing with the Arkansas Democrat Gazette article and a short (one or two page) letter with your request. See, the one thing that congresscritters thrive on is consituent services, and I'm sure they'd be happy to help.

[Catspaw]

No, I'm not confused. I want to know if Akal is tied to or as the same as the Sikh separatists who murdered Indira Ghandi. Or are you saying that because they are Sikh, they are inherently tied to Sikh separatists?

[Catspaw]

And one more question: how does Rep. Dan Burton's support of Sikhs tie into this mix? It'd seem that he'd be on the opposite side of a Clinton conspiracy in his mix, yet his support of Sikhs has been very strong for quite some time. Has Burton been duped?

[Catspaw]

Here's a Condit connection on legislation Rep. Dan Burton introduced:

HUMAN RIGHTS IN INDIA ACT

HON. DAN BURTON

In the U.S. House of Representatives

June 05, 1997

[ Congressional Record Page E1145 ]

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, this weekend will mark a tragic turn of events in the history of the Sikh Nation. Thirteen years ago this Saturday, June 7, more than 20,000 Sikhs were massacred in Punjab at the Golden Temple and 38 other Sikh temples by India's military .

India's genocide against the Sikh Nation has taken the lives of a staggering 250,000 Sikhs . I rise today to introduce legislation that will send a clear message to a government that has spent years practicing the torture of its own people. However, when you go home and turn on the evening news, good luck trying to find any story that reveals the plight of the Sikhs--the plight of the Kashmiris--the plight of Christians--and the plight of the untouchables, the lowest group in India's caste system.

In Congress, we speak of the many tragedies that occur all over the world, especially around this time of year when this legislative body deals with the foreign aid legislation. We talk about the ongoing violent struggles between the people in Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia. We reprimand China for its draconian abortion policies. We admonish Cuba for its human rights abuses. We threaten to withhold international military and educational training [IMET] money from Indonesia for its brutal treatment of the citizens of East Timor.

Mr. Speaker, the Indian Government is one of the worst human rights abusers in the world . You might say, if that is happening, why does the world not know about it ? Because since the 1970's, India has barred monitoring organizations like Amnesty International from entering the country. In fact, they are the only democracy in the world that refuses to allow Amnesty International to operate independently within the country. Mr. Speaker, what does the Indian Government have to hide ? There are a half-million Indian soldiers occupying the province of Punjab and another half-million occupying Kashmir. This is a recipe for disaster my friends.

For the last 15 years, I have been coming to this well to call attention to Punjab, where Indian forces have received cash bounties for the murder of innocent civilians. To justify their actions, the police label these individuals, sometimes young children, as `terrorists'. Also in Punjab, Sikhs are picked up in the middle of the night, only to be found floating dead in canals with their hands and feet bound together. Some Sikhs are not so fortunate, because many of them are never found after their abduction. Recently, India's Central Bureau of Investigation [CBI] told the Supreme Court that it had confirmed nearly 1,000 cases of unidentified bodies that were cremated by the military .

And it does not get any better in Kashmir. Women, because of their Muslim beliefs, are taken out of their homes in the middle of the night and are gang-raped, while their husbands are forced to wait inside at gunpoint.

These military forces operate beyond the law with complete impunity. America should not be supporting a government that condones these widespread abuses with United States tax dollars. Now is the time for India to be held accountable for its continued violation of basic human rights. Mr. Speaker, the Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, `Untouchables', and women of India are desperately looking to this Congress for help. The time has come for action, it is time for America to take a stand.

The Human Rights in India Act, introduced by me along with my good friend and colleague Gary Condit of California, will bar development aid to India unless the government releases prisoners of conscience, ends the practice of torture by police and military forces, permits impartial investigations of reported torture and disappearances of those in custody, brings to justice police forces responsible for human rights abuses, and permits critics of the government to travel abroad.

My colleagues, from this well of the House of Representatives you will hear many stories of human abuses from all around the world. Today, I ask that you think of the hundreds of thousands suffering in India . Please do not turn your back on the innocent. Give them a flicker of hope and send a strong message to the Government of India . I urge my colleagues to give the Human Rights in India Act their full consideration, and their strong support.

[honway]

It came across very phony to me, therefore I chose not to play their game.

A Sikh non-profit security company has the contract to provide security at 2/3's of the U.S. Federal Courthouses and these guys don't see a potential problem here. I never did find out if AKAL pays taxes,considering there non-profit status. Your initial impression was the correct one, I believe. Why do I try?

[rubbertramp]

I am bumping this for reference because it is very interesting.

Remember how Akal won a big contract in airport security in Hawaii after their failure in Oklahoma? Let's see who do I associate Oklahoma and Hawaii with...that fun family...the Lums.;-)

[rdavis84]

Very good 'remembering'. ;-)

And as I mentioned in a reply, TEG in my recollection had some connection to an Indonesian/Oriental company.

[honway]

Summary: HONOLULU, Oct 30, 2001 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- e-Smart Technologies, Inc. (OTC: ESMT), its wholly owned subsidiary, Homeland Defense, Inc. and Akal Security, Inc., today jointly announced a strategic alliance for marketing the Super Smart Card SystemT. Initially, Akal will utilize and market Homeland's proprietary Super Smart Card SystemT domestically for security uses. Homeland will, in turn, rely on Akal's expertise to train and supervise personnel at Super Smart CardT user registration points to ensure proper identity authentication of potential users. Akal, one of the ten largest security firms in the United States, is a major contractor to governments and private corporations. Phase 2 of the alliance calls for a global relationship to include Akal's international business in the same capacity and e-Smart and its majority shareholder, IVI Smart

[honway]

Akal has both the national and international reach with over 7,000 employees and strong existing relationships with decision makers responsible for the security of critical government and business facilities that will help get our Super Smart CardT technology into the hands of the people who need it most.'

[rdavis84]

"its wholly owned subsidiary, Homeland Defense, Inc."

I'll look around in a bit, but I'm curious WHEN they registered that name.

[honway]

http://lists.act-europe.fr/pipermail/gvd-devel/2001-December/000181.html

Link

In September 2001, the Company(E-Smart Technologies, Inc., (ESMT), ) signed joint venture with a company primarily owned and controlled by one of the largest ministries in China that regulates all smart cards and applications. China’s government is actively seeking to implement a secure, “one-card for all” system. ESMT is also currently in negotiations with private entities and governments of two other Asian countries and the World Bank for implementation of the “Super Smart Card System” in those countries