Soldiers were never meant to be policmen, it is a conflict of interest as being a policeman is not the purpose of a soldier. Wh n ever you mix the two and it is not necessary there will always be a problem.
This is why the Posse Comitatus act exsists for that very reason.
By JULIE WATSON
Associated Press
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) -- The Marine Corps has created its
first law enforcement battalions - a lean, specialized force of
military police officers that it hopes can quickly deploy worldwide to
help investigate crimes from terrorism to drug trafficking and train
fledgling security forces in allied nations.
The Corps activated three such battalions last month. Each is
made up of roughly 500 military police officers and dozens of dogs.
The Marine Corps has had police battalions off and on since World War
II but they were primarily focused on providing security, such as
accompanying fuel convoys or guarding generals on visits to dangerous
areas, said Maj. Jan Durham, commander of the 1st Law Enforcement
Battalion at Camp Pendleton.
The idea behind the law enforcement battalions is to consolidate
the military police and capitalize on their investigative skills and
police training, he said. The new additions come as every branch in
the military is trying to show its flexibility and resourcefulness
amid defense cuts.
Marines have been increasingly taking on the role of a street
cop along with their combat duties over the past decade in Iraq and
Afghanistan, where they have been in charge of training both
countries' security forces. Those skills now can be used as a
permanent part of the Marine Corps, Durham said.
The war on terror has also taught troops the importance of
learning how to gather intelligence, secure evidence and assist local
authorities in building cases to take down criminal networks. Troops
have gotten better at combing raid sites for clues to help them track
insurgents.
They also have changed their approach, realizing that marching
into towns to show force alienates communities. Instead, they are
being taught to fan out with interpreters to strike up conversations
with truck drivers, money exchangers, cellphone sellers and others.
The rapport building can net valuable information that could even
alert troops about potential attacks.
But no group of Marines is better at that kind of work than the
Corps' military police, who graduate from academies just like civilian
cops, Durham said. He said the image of military police patrolling
base to ticket Marines for speeding or drinking has limited their use
in the Corps. He hopes the creation of the battalions will change
that, although analysts say only the future will tell whether the move
is more than just a rebranding of what already existed within the
Corps.
The battalions will be capable of helping control civil
disturbances, handling detainees, carrying out forensic work, and
using biometrics to identify suspects. Durham said they could assist
local authorities in allied countries in securing crime scenes and
building cases so criminals end up behind bars and not back out on the
streets because of mistakes.
"Over the past 11 years of combat operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan, some lessons learned painfully, there has been a growing
appreciation and a demand for, on the part of the warfighter, the
unique skills and capabilities that MPs bring to the fight," Durham
said. "We do enforce traffic laws and we do write reports and tickets,
and that's good, but we do so much more than that."
Durham said the Marine Corps plans to show off its new
battalions in Miami later this month at a conference put on by the
Southern Command and that is expected to be attended by government
officials from Central American countries, such as Guatemala,
Honduras, El Salvador and Belize.
Defense analyst Loren Thompson said the battalions make sense
given the nature of today's global threats, which include powerful
drug cartels and other criminal gangs that often mix with religious
and political extremists, who use the profits to buy their weaponry.
"This is a smart idea because the biggest single problem the
Marines have in dealing with low-intensity types of threats is that
they basically are trained to kill people," he said. "It's good for
the Marines to have skills that allow them to contain threats without
creating casualties."
Gary Solis, a former Marine Corps prosecutor and judge who
teaches law of war at Georgetown University, said Marines have already
been doing this kind of work for years but now that it has been made
more formal by the creation of the battalions, it could raise a host
of questions, especially on the use of force. The law of war allows
for fighters to use deadly force as a first resort, while police
officers use it as a last resort.
If Marines are sent in to do law enforcement but are attacked,
will they go back to being warfighters? And if so, what are the
implications? Solis asked.
"Am I a Marine or a cop? Can I be both?" he said. "Cops apply
human rights law and Marines apply the law of war. Now that it's
blended, it makes it tougher for the young men and women who have to
make the decision as to when deadly force is not appropriate."
Durham said that military police understand that better than any
Marine since they are trained in both.
"They are very comfortable with the escalation of force," he said.
"MPs get that. It's fundamental to what we do."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MARINES_LAW_ENFORCEMENT_BATT
ALION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-07-22-17-33-46
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