I found this picture on imgur. It shows how the riot police uniform has changed over the years from a simple crowd control officer to full-blown paramilitary officer. If anyone can help me locate a source, that’d be great.
Browsing Posts tagged military
photo by Mark W. Stroud
In a California military base, marines are being trained on how to collect biometrics from civilians. Intended for use in Afghanistan, this training could have implications elsewhere.
Military policeman with Combat Logistics Battalion 4 participated in tactical site exploitation training at the training city of Wardah-Mir, Marine Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., Nov. 18.
The Marines conducted foot-patrols, room clearing and search operations where they collected biometric data and other evidence on citizens displaying suspicious behavior or possessing contraband.
“We are trying to give the Marines the skill set to assist the Afghan government in criminal prosecutions and to help teach the Afghan National Police these skills,” said Patrick Garrahan, law enforcement professional, Tactical Training Exercise Control Group, MAGCC Twentynine Palms.
Suspects were processed using a handheld interagency identity detection equipment system, which compared their biometric data, such as fingerprints and iris scans, to a central database, according to Apsey.
The training is meant as a way to help marines detect those who make bombs though how biometric data will do that is unclear. One must first collect biometric data on individuals that, presumably, have done nothing wrong. Then, later, when a person is suspected of making a bomb, their identities can be verified with the biometric data already in the military database.
Members of the military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan might be redeployed on American soil for use in surveillance and border patrol. These newly created positions would attempt to fill the expected unemployment problem of returning soldiers by employing them to operate satellite communications and blimps as well as other emerging technologies such as drone deployment.
With the drawdown of troops overseas, the Pentagon will have excess equipment and extra personnel to offer the nation, just as DHS Customs and Border Protection takes another stab at building a virtual fence across the southwest border. This turn of events prompted a House subcommittee Wednesday to invite Defense and Homeland Security department officials to share their plans on adapting military systems for domestic use. Curbing illegal immigration, drug smuggling and other criminal activity along U.S. boundaries is a key campaign issue.
The idea behind the plan is that these soldiers already know how to use this equipment, which would save thousands, if not millions in training.
Paul Stockton, assistant secretary of Defense for homeland defense and Americas’ security affairs, told the panel, “We have a historic opportunity with the drawdown operations outside the United States to continue to press forward to find ways of supporting the Department of Homeland Security — so the military technology that the taxpayer has already paid to develop, that we find ways of transferring that technology.”
If there isn’t a need to support the Department of Homeland Security, why not disband it and save the country billions of dollars in the process? Looking for ways to legitimize its existence is only going to further the waste of taxpayer dollars.
While some disagree with military personnel being deployed on US borders, it appears that the only feasible recourse at this point in time is to employ honorably discharged soldiers who already know how to use this equipment. The United States is determined to create their virtual fence along its northern and southern borders. If this policy continues, then, not only is it financially feasible, but common sense to hire men and women who are already equipped with the knowledge of handling such machines.
A new house bill wants to allow the Department of Homeland Security to have jurisdiction over all federal lands on national seashores and coastal areas.
HR Bill 1505, the “National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act,” would force the Secretary of the Interior to cede authority of coastal public lands, as well as lands located along the borders of Canada and Mexico, to the Secretary of Homeland Security when the latter sees fit. It would give the Dept. of Homeland Security the ability to construct roads and fences, deploy patrol vehicles and set up “monitoring equipment” in the National Seashore with impunity. And it would waive the need for the Dept. of Homeland Security to comply with environmental laws in areas within 100 miles of a coastline or international border.
The laws from which the Dept. of Homeland Security would be exempt include the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Clean Air Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and virtually every other piece of environmental legislation passed by Congress.
The bill is not without opposition. Congressman William Keating , who also sits on the House committee for Homeland Security, is concerned about the language in the bill as it appears to allow for outright destruction of parts of the United States as long as the DHS claims that there is some sort of security risk. There are also massive environmental and legislative problems to be taken into consideration as well.
…the proposed legislation would give unprecedented authority to a single federal agency to destroy wildlife habitat and wetlands, impair downstream water quality and restrict activities such as hunting, fishing and grazing. It would leave Congress and the public without a voice, even though at stake are hundreds of popular destinations,” including Glacier National Park, the Great Lakes, the California coastline and Cape Cod, said Jane Danowitz, director of U.S. public lands for the Pew Environment Group.
Areas in which environmental laws would be waived under the proposed law include the entire border of Alaska, most of Puerto Rico, all of Hawaii and all of Florida. Other national parks that be would affected include Olympic National Park and Mt. Rainer National Park in Washington, Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Big Bend National Park in Texas, Acadia National Park in Maine and Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina.
This is far too sweeping legislation. It essentially allows the DHS to do whatever it wants, including destroying habitats and coastlines, all in the name of security. There would be no oversight and no recourse for anyone or anything in the affected areas.
When is this overreaching of government going to be enough? Would you like to visit any of the places named above if they were swarming with armed military, checkpoints, and “random” stops, especially if you had no recourse to complain about them? What are the “other purposes” in this bill and just how far will it be stretched to fit the mission of the DHS as it changes day to day? We need to stop this bill while it’s still in committee. Once it becomes a law, these former parks and seashores will no longer be a place for a family to enjoy a weekend together. It will be a militarized border, questionable to no one.
