Archive for category Law Enforcement

Law Enforcement: Los Zetas Launched Mexico-style Attack In Harris County, Texas

Nov 24

Posted by Matt in Law Enforcement, Texas | 1 Comment

Now this story is barely getting any notice out there and this is stuff we need to be watching along the border. To me, this is just another sign of the drug war in Mexico, spilling over the border into the US.

The other part that I am curious about, is if it is easier for Los Zetas to operate on the US side of the border, versus the Mexico side? Of course the cartels will play the border regions to their advantage, but will there be a point where the battlefield will expand to the US side at an increased level?  I say this, because the cartels are fighting over territory in Mexico, and it makes sense that the battle for territory would extend into the US. And will US authorities even be a deterrent to that fight over territory in the US?

I think another thing to watch is the consolidation of  power, and the taking of territory by the cartels. What I am getting at here is what happens when a cartel wins the territory they are fighting over?  If a cartel wins and consolidates the border regions on the Mexican side, then the logical battlefield that is next, would be the US side. Meaning the competitors of that cartel will have to go to the US side to get in on controlling the flow of drugs/money/people to make money. That dominate cartel will also have to win that US side of the border in order to fully exploit the territory it has won on the Mexican side. Interesting stuff and something to watch. -Matt

Edit: 11/26/2011- Dr. Bunker just wrote a Tactical Note about this incident. Check it out here.

 

mexican drug cartels map lgLaw Enforcement: Los Zetas Launched Mexico style Attack In Harris County, Texas

 

Zetas blamed for shootout in Houston
By Dane Schiller
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
HOUSTON — The mission was supposed to be a textbook “controlled delivery” — a routine trap by law enforcement officers using a secret operative posing as a truck driver to bust drug traffickers when their narcotics are delivered to a rendezvous point.
Instead, things spun out of control. Shortly before the marijuana delivery was to be made Monday, three SUVs carrying alleged Zetas Cartel gunmen seemingly came out of nowhere and cut off the tanker truck as it rumbled through northwestern Harris County, sources told the Houston Chronicle.
They sprayed the cab with bullets, killing the civilian driver, who was secretly working with the government. An undercover sheriff’s deputy, who was driving nearby in another vehicle, was wounded, possibly by friendly fire from officers arriving at the scene.
“We are not going to tolerate these types of thugs out there using their weapons like the Wild, Wild West,” said Javier Pena, the new head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Houston Division. “We are going after them.”
“Everybody is surprised at the brazenness,” Pena continued as he stressed a full court press by the DEA, the sheriff and police. “We haven’t seen this type of violence, which concerns us.”

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Law Enforcement: SWAT Teams Versus Cartel ‘Infantry’ On The Border?

Nov 16

Posted by Matt in Law Enforcement, Mexico | 5 Comments

For the responding US SWAT teams, this incident poses a potentially dangerous situation. It is more of a military operation on a “movement to contact” than a conventional SWAT operation in the US. SWAT teams are trained and equipped to contend with criminals in barricade and hostage type situations and are accustomed to stacked (bunched together) movement and entry tactics. Typically the criminals encountered are found in small numbers— usually one or maybe two— and may or may not have a shotgun, semi-automatic rifle, and some form of body armor. It is the intent of such criminals to flee from responding police forces and only put up a fight if corned out of desperation—even then such criminals typically surrender to responding SWAT units. A group of 15 cartel/drug gang gunmen represents an entirely different threat—it essentially contains a reinforced squad of opposing force personnel. These cartel/gang foot soldiers will be proactive in their actions—not reactive like most criminals encountered— and therefore represent an opposing (enemy) force the US SWAT teams are unaccustomed to. Besides the potentials for ambushes and fires and movement being conducted by the cartel/gang gunmen, their semi-automatic (and full auto) assault weapons and the great likelihood of the presence of grenade-launchers and fragmentation grenades makes for a military-like engagement scenario that is beyond present SWAT capabilities to effectively respond. Under these circumstances, standard SWAT operating procedures—such as the use of stacked movement tactics— could be disastrous in their implementation. -from Dr. Bunker’s assessment about this incident.

This is very interesting and a hat tip to Dr. Bunker and SWJ for putting this up as tactical note #6. Basically what we have here is the cartels are battling it out along the grey areas of the border between the US and Mexico. Meaning if they are pursued by Mexican authorities, they cross over the border, and now that is a blocking action to stop the pursuit. Then of course the pursuit is picked up by the US authorities, but that is only if they are on the same sheet of music and included in the call. As you can see, the border is a strategic tool of the cartels to do what they gotta do. It is very similar to how the Taliban play the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and it makes for a complex problem for authorities.

Now this would be complex for law enforcement to deal with one or two armed criminals playing the border like this, but in this particular incident, it got very complex and dangerous.  A squad sized element of cartels, all armed with military grade weapons, crossed the border in pursuit of a target.  The SWAT team on the US side was called out to deal with this ‘cartel infantry unit’. That is quite a scenario, and like Dr. Bunker mentioned, a SWAT team would have to rethink how they approach such a thing. This is movement to contact stuff here, and the police would have to be geared more like a infantry unit in order to compete. So will SWAT teams have to roll with M-240′s, grenade launchers, and mortars in their possession?

I could also see using drones for these kinds of call outs, just so law enforcement can get an eye on exactly what they are dealing with. Especially SUAV’s that could be carried in patrol cars and launched by one officer or border patrol agent. Anything to get eyes on the situation and see exactly what they have to deal with until a helicopter gets on scene. Because an officer coming up against a cartel infantry unit would not be a good day.  They could also canvass the area and look for RIP crews that might further add violence and complexity to the situation.

This also poses a very interesting question. Should the defense of the border be a military job or a border patrol/law enforcement job? Or should the the police or border patrol continue to be modified and enhanced to look and act more like military units than police units? -Matt

 

SWAT teams dispatched as gun battle unfolds near Escobares
Ildefonso Ortiz and Jared Taylor
2011-11-08
ESCOBARES — Gunmen crossed the Rio Grande into the United States near a shootout between where the Mexican military and a group of gunmen was taking place.
Several area SWAT teams responded about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday to a ranch near Escobares, just across the U.S.-Mexico border, where a shootout broke out south of the Rio Grande.
The shootout reportedly began shortly after noon but details were not immediately available. Residents on the U.S. side reported seeing members of the U.S. Border Patrol and Starr County Sheriff’s Office securing the area near the border.
Border Patrol spokeswoman Rosalinda Huey said agents had been tracking a suspected drug load near La Rosita and pushed it back to Mexico.
Border Patrol alerted Mexican authorities of the suspected load and then found an injured Mexican national on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande, Huey said. Emergency crews rushed the man to an area hospital. His condition remains unknown.

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California: Increased Farm Thefts Plus Decrease In Police Forces, Equals Increase In PSC Use

Nov 8

Posted by Matt in California, Law Enforcement | No Comments

Here is another example of the economy having an impact on how folks do business out there. Because there is less money for local law enforcement agencies to hire more officers, and because there are high prices for copper and/or food, thieves are targeting big farms. So these farms have no choice but to hire security. I imagine this is playing out in other economically depressed areas of the country as well, and we will see what else pops up. -Matt

 

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Minnesota: Foley Hires Private Security For Police Protection

Nov 3

Posted by Matt in Industry Talk, Law Enforcement, Minnesota | 2 Comments

I figured this would start happening in the US. As the economy continues to suck, and measures are taken by the states to save money, then you will start to see the secondary effects of such policies at the local level. Good or bad, that is reality.

Now the big debate from what I gather is if a PSC can provide effective and adequate security for a town this size. Mind you, there will still be a deputy that folks can call for the big emergencies. So we will see how it goes, and hopefully this town will be adequately protected and served as they make the transition. I would also be curious how many other cities and towns have had to cut police forces and switch to private security throughout the nation? -Matt

 

Foley hires private security for police protection
Oct. 18, 2011

Written by Kari Petrie
Foley residents will call a private security company when they need nonemergency help, starting in January.
On Tuesday, Foley City Council members unanimously approved hiring a private security company to provide 24-hour service to the city. The city will enter a six-month contract with General Security Services Corp. for $98,500.
Mayor Gary Gruba said Foley is the first city he’s heard of that has used a private security company. But he said he has heard other cities are looking at the option to save costs.
Since 2003, the city has paid Benton County to have three deputies patrol the city for 17.1 hours a day. The council voted earlier this month to reject a new contract from the county to provide police services for 2012.
The county had proposed a contract for 2012 that would cost $23,426 a month for three deputies. This year the city is paying $24,694 a month.

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Cool Stuff: Federal Police In Brazil PIT A Smuggler’s Plane!

Nov 3

Posted by Matt in Aviation, Brazil, Cool Stuff, Law Enforcement | No Comments

Thanks to Kyle for sending this over at Facebook. It’s not every day where you get to see a cop actually PIT a plane. lol I don’t think they teach that at most driving courses? Good on them though, and they got their guy! -Matt

 

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Law Enforcement: Florida Trooper Arrests Miami Police Officer In Marked Car For Speeding

Nov 1

Posted by Matt in Florida, Jundism, Law Enforcement | 1 Comment

Wow, and good on this trooper for pulling over this Miami cop. And you know, she could have easily looked the other way and followed some kind of a ‘blue code’. But she did not, and she had the courage to do the right thing. I would give her a Jundism award for this one!

Hopefully she doesn’t get any reprisals for what she did, and yet again, that whole ‘blue code’ thing could pop up and her life as a trooper could get real lonely. Still, I certainly hope her department takes the right side of this deal, and makes a point that this is exactly what they want in a trooper, and slam any dork that thinks otherwise.

The Miami cop was also off duty and violating the speed limit because he was late for a job. Talk about an abuse of authority? -Matt

 

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Cool Stuff: idIRt By Cyalume–An IR Tracking Tag That Looks Like Dirt, Sand And Concrete

Sep 29

Posted by Matt in Cool Stuff, Gear Review, Law Enforcement | No Comments

Hat tip to Soldier Systems for this one. Police Mag did a story on this stuff as well. I like it, and simple little tricks like this could really give you an edge out there. Especially if you are wanting to track movements through specific areas of your AO, or track someone to see where they go.

The thing with this stuff is it is an infrared or IR tag that looks like dirt/sand/concrete. So no one is going to know they are walking through it unless they are looking for IR dirt specifically. This is great for criminal forensics as well, just because you could prove instantly that a person is the guy that walked through your target area. Or imagine sprinkling this all over a specific jungle trail’s foliage, and everything that moves through it is marked? Very cool stuff and check it out. -Matt

Cyalume website here.

 

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Publications: Texas Border Security–A Strategic Military Assessment, 2011

Sep 28

Posted by Matt in Law Enforcement, Publications, Texas | No Comments

This is a great little publication and a big hat tip to retired Generals McCaffery and Scales for putting together such an enlightening report.

The bottom line here folks, is as the Mexican authorities become better at countering the cartels, the cartels will increasingly depend upon safe havens to continue business and operations. So strategically speaking, the cartels are looking to set up sanctuary in the US border regions and play the border like a rib bone.

I should say that they ‘are’ using the US as sanctuary, just because if you combine this report with the other report I posted, then it isn’t too hard to put two and two together. And in a war sense, this is akin to the Taliban using Pakistan as a sanctuary so they can continue operations in Afghanistan.

The other element of sanctuary is the idea that cartels are operating along the seams of the law and law enforcement agencies, both federal or state, or between two countries. These guys are playing the borders in the literal sense, and in the legal sense, and definitely taking advantage of the grey areas.

Here are some quotes from this thing that jumped out at me:

A successful sanctuary permits insurgents to move freely and operate on whichever side offers greater security. In a curious twist of irony, the more successful the Mexican military becomes in confronting the cartels, the greater likelihood that cartels will take the active fight into Texas as they compete against each other in the battle to control distribution territories and corridors….

…..This paper will be the first to conclude that the cartels are following a twofold strategic plan:
1. First, to create a “sanitary zone” inside the Texas border — one county deep — that will provide sanctuary from Mexican law enforcement and, at the same time, enable the cartels to transform Texas’ border counties into narcotics transshipment points for continued transport and distribution into the continental United States.
2. Second, to increasingly rely on organized gangs to provide expendable and unaccountable manpower to do their dirty work inside Texas and elsewhere in the country. These gangs are recruited on the streets of Texas cities and inside Texas prisons by top-tier gangs who work in conjunction with the cartels.

Check it out and let me know what you think?  Definitely pass this around and get the word out. -Matt

 

Texas Border Security: A Strategic Military Assessment, 2011

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Publications: The DoJ National Drug Threat Assessment, 2011

Sep 26

Posted by Matt in Law Enforcement, Mexico, Publications | 1 Comment

The National Drug Threat Assessment 2011

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Law Enforcement: William Bratton, The ‘General Petraeus’ Of Law Enforcement

Aug 19

Posted by Matt in Industry Talk, Law Enforcement, United Kingdom | No Comments

This is pretty cool. William Bratton is looked at as a fixer or game changer in police departments around the US, and just look at his record? So it is cool to see him work as an independent contractor and consult in other parts of the world.

So what is his secret? Well I found a cool presentation he did last year at a GovSec Forum. (see below) William has also talked about predictive policing as another tool to use when he talked with Wired last year. He was also famous for implementing Broken Window theory in New York.

William is like the ‘Bar Rescue‘ of law enforcement, so it makes sense that the UK would be interested in his services. Oh, and did I mention that he works for Kroll? Not bad for a contractor. -Matt

 

Can American Supercop Bratton Clean Up London’s Streets?
By JAY NEWTON
Aug 15, 2011
Bill Bratton has made a career out of busting up gangs. Which is probably what makes the former top cop at police departments in Boston, New York City and Los Angeles an appealing source of advice for British Prime Minister David Cameron. Four days of looting and riots by unruly mobs in London last week left public trust shaken. And Cameron needs to restore that trust in the next 10 months, before London hosts the 2012 Summer Olympics.
That’s where Bratton comes in. “We should be looking beyond our shores to learn the lessons from others who have faced similar problems,” Cameron told a special session of Parliament, convened to address the riots, on Aug. 11. “That is why I will be discussing how we can go further in getting to grips with gangs with people like Bill Bratton.”
During his tenure heading three major American police departments – Boston from 1993 to ’94, New York City from 1994 to ’96 and Los Angeles from 2002 to ’09 – Bratton, 63, drastically reduced crime rates and won particular praise for his handling of gangs. It is in this area that he will try to help the British government in the coming months. “All these thugs and knuckleheads running wild in London this week, you can’t excuse away that behavior. I’m a progressive, but on crime I’m very tough,” Bratton tells TIME. His record speaks for itself.

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