ChrisF202

Does the US military have a need for a force comparable to the French Gendarmerie, Italian Carabinieri or the Spanish Guardia Civil?

I think yes; I feel that part of the reason we had so much lawlessness after the initial invasion of Iraq and after Hurricane Katrina was that in Iraq the regular military is not really trained to handle law enforcement duties and there were not enough MPs to do everything. In Katrina the NOPD ran away and there were not enough National Guard to handle things. A constabulary force would have been perfect in both cases; capable of performing law enforcement functions but also packing quite a hefty punch for when push comes to shove.

Gun Grape

US Military are forbidden by law to do EL duty in the States except under a declared national emergency.

The problem with Katrina was that the local and state government waited to long to declare an emergency. The Feds have to wait for the State to ask for assistance.

US soldiers are more that capable of taking care of lawlessness in foreign countries. It just takes RoEs that allow that.

braindead

- if US had ´gendarmerie´ - would they have not been in Iraq already when Katrina happened ?
And , to layman - what´s the difference between MP-s and Gendarmes?

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BenRoethig

yes and no. Do we need a national police force? No. Do we need units specialized in peacekeeping duties? Yes. Would it be a good idea to establish a service based on the model of the coast guard for border protection duties? Also yes.

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F/A-18E/F Super Hornet: The Honda Accord of fighters.

BenRoethig

Gendarmes also handle civil law enforcement. MPs strictly handle law enforcement on military installations and with military personnel. The do not have arrest powers or the right to carry a firearm off duty or off base like a peace officer would.

ChrisF202

Ben, I did not intend for a national police to come out of this proposal but rather a slightly expanded version of the US Secret Service, US Coast Guard, US Border Patrol, US Park Police and the military's police forces all merged into a single agency that would mainly be concerned with border protection, executive level protection, heavy backup for state, local and other federal agencies that need assistance during riots, natural disasters (similar in concept to the rapid reaction battalions of the German Federal Police), etc as well as military law enforcement.

The Dubuque Police Department, Dubuque County Sheriff's Department and the Iowa State Patrol would still exist in their current form.

BenRoethig

I never said anything about replacing Municipal, county, and state police forces. I just think a national force similar to those above or the RCMP would be rather redundant. That being said, I also think you might be on to something something, but I prefer it be on top of existing federal law enforcement agencies. Like I said earlier, essentially a land based equivalent to the coast guard. We need something more capable than civilian police to patrol the more lawless areas of the border (especially with Mexican army moonlighting for the drug cartels) and for special circumstances. This service must serve the dual role of reinforcing law enforcement in peacetime and the Army in war time. Another role of this service should be both providing units for peacekeeping and training Army and Marine Corps units deployed for that task.

Merging the Border Patrol, Secret service, and Park police into this agency would be problematic. First off, the secret service's main role is not executive protection, that's just the face we see. Its main role is investigating counterfeit currency. Second, even among a service that is not mainly combat focused like the Coast Guard, there is a completely different atmosphere. Merging the Coast Guard would also be problematic as it is a Maritime service. The idea of using them for a single Military police force though is intriguing, for the main purpose of them being outside the unit chain of command.

ChrisF202

That is true Ben, I forgot about the other role of the USSS. I suppose another agency could take up the task of counterfeit investigation; perhaps the Federal Reserve Police (iffy due to their semi private status) or the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Police (iffy due to the fact they are really glorified security guards).

But you are correct; the US Border Patrol definitely needs to go/or undergo a serious militarization program. We cannot afford to continue relying on a band of solo operating NYPD clones in green uniforms to defend our borders; if they cant even stop a few illegals looking for jobs then how are we expected to rely on them to even stop a halfhearted attempt by some rogue Mexican soldiers or drug cartel forces? The tragic part is that many of our government officials are totally ignoring this issue

BenRoethig

I suppose it could be taken over by the FBI (who should be merged with the ATF and DEA, but that's another story). The FRP and BEPP are general service type departments, they don't have special agents.

We can't. Border Patrol Agents, state troopers, and Deputy Sheriffs are ill-equipped to deal with a foe who who is packing 50 cal machine guns. They don't fear police at all.