"Hired guns" for LA law enforcement?

Status
Not open for further replies.
DynCorp was caught running underage prostitution (read: slavery) rings in Bosnia. They argued successfully that they weren't cops, weren't soldiers and weren't under any obligations except to fulfill their contract and accept a fat check from the government. It was dropped. The only drop should have been down a short rope at the top of a tall ladder.

And Our Shrub wants to let them point guns at you and me? Never. Or should I say "Never Again!" :barf:
 
If this kind of cr@p - hiring contractors, rather than police - takes off, how long will it be until someone decides that having Americans policed by foreigners is a good idea?
That contract translates to $233,333 per employee per year.
Click to expand...
I can see someone in the Bush administration taking a look at this, then having Dubya call up his good friend Vincente Fox, who'd probably be willing to provide Mexican nationals for half this price. :eek:
 
Ya got a point there, Pard. Get MS-13 in on the Guest Worker program and voila! Problem solved.
Biker
 
This site http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5115 mentions how we already have a group that SHOULD be available to take care of any problems like this, resulting from Katrina, etc; but they're in a foreign land...
American law calls for civilian peace officers to keep the peace, or, failing that, National Guard troops under the command of their state governors. So perhaps we should stop treating the National Guard as if it's no different than the Army Reserve.
As Katrina made landfall, there were 7,000 Louisiana and Mississippi Guard troops deployed in Iraq. Among them were 3,700 members of Louisiana's 256th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, who took with them high-water vehicles and other equipment that could have been put to better use in New Orleans.
The Guard personnel at home had only one satellite phone for the entire Mississippi Gulf Coast when Katrina initially hit -- because the others were in Iraq.
Edited to add cato.org link
Click to expand...

Personally, I'd be all for states voting to disband their National Guard units and instead form State Militia or State Guard units...that could ONLY be used within that state, for defense, to maintain order, or for disaster relief efforts. The federal government would not be able to grab them up and throw them to all corners of the globe as spare reserve troops.

Sound about right?

And a lot more people would likely volunteer for their State Guard Reserve if they knew that they'd be defending or helping their own state, and that's it...
 
Manedwolf is correct, follow the money. I'm fairly sure this deal will actually be a retirement package for a couple of desk weenies and politicians. Screw the taxpayers, and the citizens who will be 'policed' by these mercs.


DynCorp was caught running underage prostitution (read: slavery) rings in Bosnia. They argued successfully that they weren't cops, weren't soldiers and weren't under any obligations except to fulfill their contract and accept a fat check from the government. It was dropped. The only drop should have been down a short rope at the top of a tall ladder.

And Our Shrub wants to let them point guns at you and me? Never. Or should I say "Never Again!"
Click to expand...

Yep. It happened. DynCorp wasn't the only folks involved in shady stuff. I got in a bit of trouble for nearly gunning down some KBR executives up to similiar things. My superior made it very clear that I was not allowed to have an 'accidential discharge' with my M249. I'm sure he wished he could have looked the other way.

Remember those mercs that got toasted and hung from a bridge? I don't know the story behind why the locals got so pissed, but if the conduct of the mercs, err "private military corporation employees" like DynCorp, KBI, Blackwater, et al was the same in Iraq as I've seen else where, I'd have to side with the locals. I wanted to do the same thing more than once.


DynCorp is a shady corporation with a history of human rights violations. I don't trust a corporation whose entire infrastructure in Bosnia was buying and selling underage girls... I had buddies in SFOR (and IFOR before that) that saw it, and weren't allowed to do anything about it. I saw it in my tours. Yea, it wasn't every DynCorp employee, but it was a lot more than just "a couple of bad apples".

Giving such slime badges and authority over US citizens? Expect human rights violations on a massive level. They will happen. No "maybe", they will happen. If you're living in an area where they are deputized, leave. If you can't leave, pray for the best and arm everyone in your family. Expect some mercs to swing from the bridges, and hope it keeps the marginal slime in line.

Sigh. Unfortunately, I see this as likely the future. It's been going that way for a long time in the military. Gutting the military, replacing with contractors, and certain politicians/paper pushers to make tons of money. That's bad enough... Starting to do so with the police? Ugh.


Just because they're contractors doesn't mean they aren't real cops. DynCorp is involved in sending American officers over to Iraq and Afghanistan to start and maintain local PDs over there. DynCorp doesn't recruit Joe XYZ off the street for this kind of thing. They want plenty of experience from anybody they hire. I would happily wager that these "contractors" are former officers, reserve officers, or current full-timers from various departments around the country. They ain't exactly hessians.
Click to expand...


Incorrect, if they are contractors, they are not cops. It's one thing to hire contractors for technical services. Often times, it's basically impossible to find government employees with extensive experience with specialized equipment or technical skills. To hire contractors to replace the principle jobs of soldiers or cops... Bad idea.

No offense, Azrael256, but I'm guessing you don't have experience with mercs. I was a soldier, and then a defense contractor (computer technician, not a merc).

These guys are not Hessians. That'd be a compliment. These folks would be much worse.
 
I know it's common to bash "da gubbmint" as a concept. But there are two very important things about it. Within the limits of competence and human honesty it is responsible to and serves the will of the people. It is also there and will be there tomorrow, next week and next year. If it carries out the will of the people efficiently enough, well and good. If it doesn't the people may "alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." In some cases the best choice is to hire an outsider to carry out a particular task. In others when it's something that can't be done without and continuity is important, you want someone who is responsible to you and who will be there and still be responsible even when it isn't fun or easy any more.

A for-profit corporation must be dedicated first, last and always to profit. They may be able to do things more cheaply than a government bureau, and they may be quicker to adapt to changing circumstances. But in the end their goal is to spend as little as possible and charge as much as the market will bear for it. To do anything else is for the directors to fail at their "fiduciary duty to maximize stockholder equity" as the bylaws of so many companies say. If expedience dictates that it's time to leave they will do so. If the company goes bankrupt you can send prosecutors around to bayonet the wounded; it's still gone and whatever you wanted them to do is gone with it.

In the case of areas where the public safety is at stake - police, military, arguably fire, courts, public health, disaster management - you need someone whose mandate is to serve the public trust. DynCorp, KBR, Halliburton, and Exxon may believe they are or own the government. We do if we choose to exercise our right to do so.
 
You know, maybe my tinfoil is a bit tight, but when I saw this, I thought back to an article that appeared a few months ago. I don't have it handy, but it had to do with Blackwater (And possibly other security companies) hiring ex-military types from South American armies that had training and "advice" from US.

The article said they were happy to hire these guys because they were willing to work cheaper and had the same skills as US vets.

Now I'm starting to think there might be another reason. Didn't the first wave of paratroopers in Red Dawn speak Spanish?
 
take a look at wakenhut security. The steele foundation here the bay area.

They run prisons, area 51 security and God knows what else. There are dozens of contractors in Iraq.

I got a couple of calls. And I broke my back and shoulder over there. I am no longer fit for duty in the Army, but a contractor offered me large coin to sign with him.

Nope. If I die. It will not be for money. My three year old deserves better. Anyway.

private security is the way of the future. It is bad. If a guy with many limitations on him, like me is offered a job. What if they hire a section 8 or any other human malfuntion that passes there background. Did the UN have a hand in that slavery thing in Bosnia? I heard a rumer.
 
Quote:
"If the parish furloughed most of it's officers due to a lack of money, how are they going to pay the higher salary of the DynCorp cops?

You're speaking logic, not money trail.

Money from taxpayers goes to -> appropriations -> hiring DynCorp -> contractors. Kickbacks go from DynCorp -> complicit bureacrats -> lawmaker who caused it to happen.

Follow the money. Always follow the money.
__________________"

Actually, this is a result of FEMA regulations. FEMA regulations forbid FEMA funds from being used to pay LEO salaries. They will pay overtime, but not base pay. They won't pay for the LEOs to work, but they will pay for contractors to come in and replace them. The same thing in the jails. They won't pay salaries for the COs to clean and restore the facilities, but they will pay the bill for an outside firm to come in and restore the facility. This is a prime example of how FEMA is totally out of touch with reality and needs to be dramatically overhauled.

I don't comment on weither Dynacorp should get the contract, just wanted to put things in a different perspective based on our dealings with FEMA. I do not think that this is an attempt to commercialize law enforcement, but rather trying to make the best out of a horrible situation.

Most Sheriff's Offices in Louisiana are funded by either sales tax or court fees, so when everything is flooded under water, pretty much all business stops. St Bernard had to lay people off because they lost basically all of their income after the storm. The ENTIRE parish went underwater, and every single building was flooded. Some parts had over 10 feet over the tops of the roofs of the houses. Entire neighborhoods were utterly destroyed, and many houses were literally floated up off their foundations and into the roads, up against other houses, etc. Some parts look like an atom bomb went off. We drove down 27 miles of highway towards the coast down from Plaquemines parish and not ONE SINGLE building was habitable. This a much different situation than FEMA or anybody else really planned for, regardless of what they say.
 
Last edited:
So they can't get a FEMA grant to hire back the rest of their own deputies, which would cost less?
Click to expand...

Makes sense to me too. I hate being simple minded.:rolleyes:
 
revolvergeek
Actually, this is a result of FEMA regulations. FEMA regulations forbid FEMA funds from being used to pay LEO salaries. They will pay overtime, but not base pay. They won't pay for the LEOs to work, but they will pay for contractors to come in and replace them
Click to expand...
Right. Made to order "regulation" to allow corporations to slide in after their political cronies blurt the "we have to do something" - while their media tools beat the propaganda drums with sound and vision tuned into the emotional buttons.

The President of course could change that "regulation" with a pen stroke. Fat chance of that eh? ;)
--------------------------------------------

http://ussliberty.org
http://ssunitedstates.org
 
Personally, I'd be all for states voting to disband their National Guard units and instead form State Militia or State Guard units
Click to expand...

Even if they did that, how many days would pass before someone had a "great idea" to make the new state defense forces just as submissive to the feds as the national guard?
Militia only works when its made up of the people on their own time training with their own dime, hence the 2nd amendment.

I think using private security to replace police is a very bad idea. Lets consider that these guys are going to be needed to do alot more than walk a beat.
In the middle of a storm or riot, do you put your faith in a cop or in a contractor?

Things will only get worse if the s**t hits the fan and half your "police force" dissapears.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

T
  • Locked
Another Case of Taxes and Guns
Replies
1
Views
433
AndyC
A
D
  • Locked
FEMA Reconsiders Gun Ban at Trailer Park
Replies
22
Views
876
50 Freak
5
2
  • Locked
Worry Grows As Foreigners Flock To Iraq's Risky Jobs
Replies
1
Views
421
NMshooter
N
A
  • Locked
Pentagon: Contractors in Iraq must be unarmed
2
Replies
33
Views
1K
RealGun
RealGun
J
  • Locked
TSA put the recruiters who hired all of the excellent baggage screeners up in resorts
Replies
6
Views
481
Erik
E
Back
Top