Marine police training response ignores civilian rights concerns

Inquiries about police personnel training with United States Marines have resulted in a boilerplate response that glosses over civil liberties concerns and fails to acknowledge and address specific questions about those operations, a September 5 letter from USMC Public Affairs shows. The letter, signed by N. G. Fahy, Camp LeJeune Director, Public Affairs, states “The decision to hire civilian police officers into the armed forces was made in order to free up our trained military policemen to deploy without having to sacrifice security at home.”

The policing of military installations was not the concern raised by citizens inquiring into domestic operations. What Fahy wrote next was.

“In return, their civilian counterparts would be integrated alongside Marine military policemen to provide security and policing within the continental US as a blended force,” he revealed.

This is an active effort to militarize the police force in the US, and no good can come from this. We will see a future with militarized police similar to that in Orwell's 1984, just like the SS in Nazi Germany.

“The training is similar to Special Weapons and Tactics training in the civilian sector,” Fahy continued, minimizing the implications of preparing civilian police for domestic war-making that reportedly includes “real life scenarios” and “sniper and designated marksmanship training.”

“These tactics are not designed for use against the average US citizen, but for persons who pose a threat to the United States and/or the Marine Corps,” Fahy assured letter recipients, without acknowledging controls to preclude such tactics being used against civilians in domestic settings, and to prevent “average US citizen[s]” from being caught up in such actions. That's of special concern, since another news account reports “They support the base and also the surrounding area TO INCLUDE HOST CITIES NEAR THE BASE.” [Emphasis added.]

If accurate, that means they will deploy off-installation. How could such military action not involve “average” civilian residents of those cities?
“Those civilian police officers that undergo the training are actually employed by the United States Marine Corps to be a part of a SRT [Special Reaction Team],” the letter continued.

That gets to the crux of the specific concerns posed to the USMC that Fahy has completely disregarded in his canned response, something that must not be ignored unless and until demonstrable civil liberties protections can be demonstrated.

Repeating the specific questions neglected in Fahy’s response:

[W]hat controls are in place to ensure that the mission is one of securing the blessings of liberty in time of crisis as opposed to subduing the populace. Included with this full disclosure must be what level of civilian oversight is currently in place.

Of paramount importance: Does the training you provide mention privately-owned firearms, and what to do when they are encountered? Because the theater of operation you're training these guys to deploy in will be full of them.

Additionally, as you are teaching application of military might, what documentation do you have to ensure you are also teaching them military responsibility? How much of the training includes a review of Constitutional restraints on government, the importance of oaths of office, and a review of illegal orders and the duty to stand down from them?

Marine police training response ignores civilian rights concerns - National gun rights | Examiner.com