Monday, January 4, 2010
Cool Stuff: Mantracker Versus The Barrie Police Department
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Legal News: The Amendment Of Executive Order 12425 And Giving INTERPOL Immunity?
This speaks for itself, and it is a shocker to say the least. This is also causing quite a stir in law enforcement circles and constitutional law circles, as to what this new order actually means. Good or bad, I do not think there was enough debate or discussion about if we should have done this or not. Interesting, and let me know what you guys think. –Matt
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The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
December 17, 2009
Executive Order — Amending Executive Order 12425
EXECUTIVE ORDER- – – – – – –
AMENDING EXECUTIVE ORDER 12425 DESIGNATING INTERPOL AS A PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION ENTITLED TO ENJOY CERTAIN PRIVILEGES, EXEMPTIONS, AND IMMUNITIES
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288), and in order to extend the appropriate privileges, exemptions, and immunities to the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), it is hereby ordered that Executive Order 12425 of June 16, 1983, as amended, is further amended by deleting from the first sentence the words “except those provided by Section 2(c), Section 3, Section 4, Section 5, and Section 6 of that Act” and the semicolon that immediately precedes them.
BARACK OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE,December 16, 2009.
Link here.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
PMC 2.0: Armchair Deputies Patrol U.S. Border
I posted a deal about this awhile back, and it is cool to finally get some statistics about the program. I thought it was an awesome idea back then, and I still think it is good idea and deserves further study and use.
Now some of you are probably wondering why this isn’t under law enforcement or technology? I put it under PMC 2.0 because I think the lessons learned with this virtual border watch program, could easily be applied to other countries and border security contracts. Especially countries where border control is a matter of life and death, where terrorists are looking to import their hate.
Look at the Afghanistan and Pakistan border, or the Iraq borders, or the Saudi Arabia and Yemen border? Crowd sourcing a border watch program could very well be the trend of future border security operations. It also involves that Grandma in Michigan, if in fact she wanted to make a difference in the war effort or with border enforcement here in the US. It is like a modern day version of the coastal lookouts that civilians participated in back during World War Two.
By the way, these guys should turn this into a mobile application for smart phones, and make this something people can do while waiting in the doctor’s office before an appointment. That would really increase the numbers if you know what I mean.-Matt
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Armchair deputies patrol US border
December 26, 2009
By Claire Prentice
When John Spears gets home from his sales job in New York, he sits down at his computer with a bottle of beer and starts patrolling the US border.
And to do it, he does not need to stir from his sofa.
He is one of tens of thousands of people around the world who are volunteering to patrol the 1250-mile long (2000 km) stretch between Texas and Mexico via the web.
The controversial $4m (£2.5m) Texas Virtual Border Watch Programme invites civilians to log on to Blueservo.net.
There they can monitor live feeds 24/7 from 21 hidden surveillance cameras placed at intervals along the border.
Supporters see the initiative as a step forward in US efforts to curb illegal immigration, drug smuggling and border violence.
Critics say it is encouraging vigilantism and stoking anti-immigrant feeling.
Value for money?
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Industry Talk: US To Switch Afghan Police Training from DoS CIVPOL, to DoD CNTPO, DynCorp Protests
This is big news, because there is a lot of money riding on the current set up, and DynCorp was sitting all fat and happy on the CIVPOL contract as the incumbent. Now that DoD is taking it over and issued a new task order, only companies that are pre-qualified contractors for CNTPO get to participate. Those companies are Lockheed, NG, Raytheon, Xe, and ARINC.
The general feeling I am getting about this latest move, is that the DoD wants to have more control over the training of the Afghan police, and give them training that is more military-like. The reason for this, is so these poor guys can actually survive the war, so they can go on to be effective in their normal police work.
The Afghan police are already fighting more war, than doing police work, so it makes sense to harden them up a little. Not too mention that when you have cops teaching Afghan police forces to shoot PKMs or RPGs, then the realm of police work skills gets trumped by war fighting skills. So yeah, DoD would be a better choice.
The other one that was interesting, was the hearing at CSPAN about Afghan National Security Forces. Executives from Dyncorp, MPRI, and Xe all made a showing at this thing, and they all had something unique to say about their little chunk of the war. Which further emphasizes the CNAS report as to the importance of contractors in the war effort.
One thing that was mentioned by Xe, which I think is a great suggestion, is to integrate military trainers with Xe trainers, to insure a quality product. That way, there is no blaming Xe for a poor job, when in fact, there is direct military oversight and integration into the training. This makes sense for unity of effort, and totally makes sense about getting everyone on board with the strategy of the war. I say mix that chocolate with the peanut butter! lol
Probably the best part of military integration with programs like this, is security. It is big military that has the guns, the air support and the communications necessary to make any enemy’s day, a bad day. So for these sites that are located up in the hills, where training and security go hand in hand, having some military folks around with the big guns, would be a nice insurance policy for the defense.
Be sure to check out the thread on this subject at SOCNET, and I look forward to any input from the readership about this. –Matt
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Afghan National Security Forces Contract Training
Friday, December 18, 2009
The December 18, 2009, hearing of the Commission on Wartime Contracting reviewed the adequacy and oversight of contract training for Afghanistan’s national army, national police, and border police — organizations critical for stability as the United States moves toward its newly stated goal of beginning withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country in July 2011.
At the end of November 2009, Afghan National Army strength was about 96,000; it is expected to grow to 134,000 by the end of October 2010 (40% growth) and is targeted reach 240,000 by 2013 (80% growth). The Afghanistan National Police was near 94,000 and is expected to be almost 97,000 strong by the end of 2009. While there is no programmed end strength set for 2010, the U.S.-led Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan has proposed growing the ANP to 160,000 by 2013 (65% growth).
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Law Enforcement: Unease As Security Groups Take Police Roles in the UK
You guys will get used to it. This is more indication of governments and law enforcement hemming and hawing about the monopoly on the application of the use of force. I think there is plenty of room on the stage for private industry and the state to share.
If anything, I think folks are just worried about competition, and that is what really drives these other conversations about ‘pushing the boundaries’ or whatever. It would be like the US Postal Service freaking out about Fedex or UPS, two private shipping companies who directly compete with the US government services. There is plenty of work for everyone, and both sides are still in existence. Both sides have their place, and likewise for the private security industry and law enforcement. –Matt
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Unease as security groups take police roles
By James Boxell
December 14 2009
Private security companies have started “pushing the boundaries” of frontline law enforcement and are becoming involved in highly charged areas such as the policing of protests, the Financial Times has learnt.
G4S, the FTSE 100 security group, has provided mobile custody cells and detention officers at two recent environmental demonstrations. It has also begun to supply full teams of investigators on complex criminal cases, another area that will prove contentious with some chief constables.