A Federal Police Force?

The American Police Force's logo is the Serbian flag

Something very strange is going on in some towns and cities across the United States — men in SUVs who call themselves “American Police Force” or “Federal Protective Services.”

Under the United States Constitution, there can be no such thing as an American or Federal police force. Any kind of national police force is not only unconstitutional; it is anathema to everything American law and jurisprudence is built upon. Law enforcement is clearly and plainly the responsibility of the states and local communities.

However, Paul Craig Roberts tells us that:

A provision in the Patriot Act creates a new federal police force with power to violate the Bill of Rights. You might think that this cannot be true as you have not read about it in newspapers or heard it discussed by talking heads on TV. Go to House Report 109-333 USA PATRIOT IMPROVEMENT AND REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005 and check it out for yourself.

Sec. 605 reads: “There is hereby created and established a permanent police force, to be known as the ’United States Secret Service Uniformed Division’.”

This new federal police force is “subject to the supervision of the Secretary of Homeland Security.” The new police are empowered to “make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony.”

The new police are assigned a variety of jurisdictions, including “an event designated under section 3056(e) of title 18 as a special event of national significance” (SENS).

The “American Police Force” first appeared last month (September 2009) in the little town of Hardin, Montana. (For a local TV station’s report on this, go HERE.) As recounted by Chuck Baldwin, in his October 9, 2009 column:

Private mercenary forces have been used extensively throughout the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as well as in many other theaters….without oversight or accountability. (Can anyone say, “Blackwater”?) For the most part, the American people are unfamiliar with these mercenary forces, because they normally operate in foreign theaters of war….

In the little town of Hardin, Montana…a private security firm, American Police Force (APF), has been contracted to provide all police services and to manage the operation of the town’s jail. According to local news reports out of Billings, Montana, “American Police Force officials showed up in Mercedes SUV’s that had ‘Hardin Police’ stenciled on the vehicles. The twist, the city of Hardin doesn’t have a police department.

Until now, the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office was responsible for patrolling the city. Two Rivers Authority [Hardin’s economic development agency] officials say having APF patrol the streets was never part of their agenda. (Source: KULR-8 Television, Billings, Montana)

However, numerous Hardin citizens have testified to APF mercenaries patrolling Hardin’s streets.

That a mercenary organization would take the moniker American Police Force is, by itself, disconcerting. But there is much more.

Local protests against the introduction of APF mercenaries in Hardin have already caused APF to change its name. Late news reports state that the private contractor is now operating under the name of American Private Police Force. In the meantime, Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock has launched an investigation into the Hardin matter.

APF touts itself as providing security and investigative work to clients in “all 50 States and most Countries.” It boasts having “rapid response units awaiting our orders worldwide.” It further brags that it can field a battalion-sized team of Special Forces soldiers “within 72 hours.” APF states that it “plays a critical role in helping the U.S. government meet vital homeland security and national defense needs.”

Yet, an Associated Press search of two comprehensive federal government contractor databases turned up no record of American Police Force. Representatives of security trade groups said they had never heard of APF. Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel for the Professional Services Council, said, “They’re really invisible.”

An attorney for APF, Maziar Mafi, said the company was a spin-off of a major security firm, but declined to name the parent company or give any other details. But at least one source reports, “American Police Force, the paramilitary unit patrolling a small town in Montana, has been exposed as being a front group for the disgraced private military contractor Blackwater, now called ‘Xe’.”

According to numerous local news reports, APF’s lead figure has a criminal history. APF’s head is a man named Michael Hilton. And recent revelations have turned up the fact that Hilton has served several years in jail–along with being served several civil judgments–for fraud….

Adding to the dubious image of APF is the accusation that their on-the-ground leaders seem to be Russians. According to Hardin residents, the APF officer in charge had a “thick Russian accent.” (Of course, Hilton himself is Serbian, and it appears that many of his personnel are likewise Serbian.) Residents also state that they were told seventy-five percent of the security officers that were to be trained would be “international.” [Comment by Eowyn: According to the Western Voices World News, the American Police Force’s logo is the Serbian flag!]

Flag of Serbia

…All of the above is disconcerting enough, but when one factors in President Barack Obama’s desire to create a “Civilian Defense Force,” potential problems only intensify. For example, in 1995, the United Nations’ International Police Task Force (UNIPTF) was created. Ostensibly, the UNIPTF was formed to “carry out programs of police assistance in Bosnia and Herzegovina.” Then, in 2003 the Civilian Police International (CPI) was created. This was a joint venture between the U.S. State Department and such notable private companies as Wackenhut and Kellogg Brown & Root (a Halliburton company; and, by the way, so is Blackwater. But this is just a coincidence, right?). The stated purpose was for “international law enforcement and criminal justice programs.” Inertia for mercenary-style (backed by the federal–or even international–government) law enforcement has been growing ever since.

The question must then be asked: “Could the whole APF and Hardin, Montana, affair be a test run for Obama’s budding Civilian Defense Force?”

The phenomenon is not confined to Hardin, Montana. George Ure of UrbanSurvival.com first wrote about this when he posted, yesterday, an E-mail he got from a reader in Los Angeles:

“I drove up from Laguna Hills to downtown Los Angeles…. I was approaching Santa Monica Boulevard on the 101 (Hollywood) Freeway when I saw a rather odd public service vehicle, a white Suburban SUV with royal blue print on the side (the only word of which I could discern…was ‘POLICE’). It did not look like LAPD, CHP, LA Co. Sheriff or California State Police (which would just about cover all of the agencies whose vehicles one would expect to see on an LA freeway).

I didn’t think much of it… When I was up on Santa Monica Boulevard on the bridge over the freeway in the left turn pocket, another of those white Suburban’s with the royal blue lettering pulled up next to me and a second one pulled up behind me. I could now clearly see all of the wording on the trucks…. They said on the driver and passenger side doors the following: POLICE FEDERAL And then, on the rear fenders, it said DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.

Suddenly, a third of these Suburbans went racing by in the right lane with its sirens blaring and its bubble machine on…. Then the one to the right of me turns on its siren, honks its horn, lunges to the right, and also races up the boulevard. Then the guy behind me honks his horn, hits his siren and bubble machine and also races up the street.

On the tailgates of each of these trucks it said:

POLICE

FEDERAL

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

…Since when did we establish a federal police force? It has always been one of the proud aspects of our freedom in this country that we never have had a national police force. The FBI does not perform the full range of police functions, but only investigates federal crimes and occasionally assists with technical means when requested by local agencies. Never has the FBI driven around in bubble machined cars or trucks with the word “POLICE” emblazoned on the sides. The only federal police force that I’m aware of are the guys who patrol D.C. and the government buildings there. I do not recall during the discussion of the establishment of the DHS anything about having a national police force. Its existence is certainly news to me.

Naturally, my concern is that Bush (and now Obama) imposed a national police force on us and we did not even know about it. This looks like yet another step on the road to an authoritarian police state.”

Today, George Ure posted the following E-mails from other readers:

“The white vehicles with blue writing are part of the Federal Protective Services under DHS. You can read about them on the net, photos included. Their duties continue to expand, overlapping in my opinion, those duties of other law enforcement agencies, but what do I know. Perhaps very soon everything will be under DHS…….or is it already……..must of missed the memo.”

“To quote another reader, ‘Naturally, my concern is that Bush (and now Obama) imposed a national police force on us and we did not even know about it. This looks like yet another step on the road to an authoritarian police state.’

Seems to me Obama DID tell us about it. That would be part of the civilian force that’s as well-trained and funded as the military. Of course Homeland Security was the logical starting place for the creation of a federal police farce.”

WHAT IS GOING ON??

Finally, you should know that Obama has told Congress he supports renewing three provisions of the Patriot Act which are due to expire at year’s end. The measures make it easier for our government to spy within the United States.

UPDATE:

I received an e-mail from beloved GiovanniWorld member Cecil Moon, for whom I have the utmost respect. He said that he had looked into the Hardin, Montana case and concluded that “In short, what I learned was the community of Hardin, Montana had been scammed by a career criminal and bogus military man who had presented the depressed town with an opportunity to capitalize on a newly constructed and largely useless prison for their betterment.”

However, that STILL does not remove the matter of Section 605 of the Patriot Act, which, I submit, is of even graver concern.

~Eowyn