United Liberty
Just When You Thought Police Couldn’t Get More Powerful
Sat, 05/30/2009 - 12:01am | posted by Alina Stefanescu Coryell
A recent monograph published by the RAND Corporation makes the case for the creation of a 6,000 person Stability Police Force in the United States. Since the authors maintain that “security requires a mix of military and police forces to deal with a range of threats from insurgents to criminal organizations”, the proposed SFB would represent a new, highly-evolved species of storm trooper:
Establishing security is the sine qua non of stability operations, since it is a prerequisite for reconstruction and development….. This research examines the creation of a high-end police force, which the authors call a Stability Police Force (SPF). The study considers what size force is necessary, how responsive it needs to be, where in the government it might be located, what capabilities it should have, how it could be staffed, and its cost. This monograph also considers several options for locating this force within the U.S. government, including the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Secret Service, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) in the Department of State, and the U.S. Army’s Military Police. The authors conclude that an SPF containing 6,000 people — created in the U.S. Marshals Service and staffed by a “hybrid option,” in which SPF members are federal police officers seconded to federal, state, and local police agencies when not deployed — would be the most effective of the options considered. The SPF would be able to deploy in 30 days. The cost for this option would be $637.3 million annually, in FY2007 dollars.
Since RAND’s appeal tend to range bipartisan, I would not be surprised to find that members of the Obama administration are attracted to this new police specie. Unfortunately, the creation of such a police force would further reinforce and institutionalize the US regime-change paradigm developed by the Bush administration. Why make bad policy permanent? Shouldn’t we just count our losses and move on?
Thank you for giving us an ideal about this RAND corporation. As a matter of fact, I’ve done a research about RAND corporation and it end up with, RAND designed and conducted one of the largest and most important studies of health insurance between 1974 and 1982. The RAND Health Insurance Experiment, funded by the then-U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, established an insurance corporation to compare demand for health services with their cost to the patient. And in addition to empowerment, President Obama has nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, to replace retiring Associate Justice David Souter. She is purported to hold liberal judicial views (she and Justice Scalia are going to get along real well), and it’s likely that the GOP is going to look into quick cash loans to put the kibosh on her nomination, and her record of decisions has been interesting, to say the least. Sonia Sotomayor has had conflicting and interesting decisions regarding subjects like racial discrimination, environmental protection, Second Amendment rights, people with disabilities, and the Supreme Court litmus test, abortion. She won’t need installment loans, but it will be tough times ahead for Sonia Sotomayor.
Here is an interesting thought, did the RAND Corporation ever seek to define the term “insurgent?” I assume that the RAND Corporations study applies only to the U.S. and therefore “insurgent” must mean something besides what we have officially come to associate it with………Just curious.
JDB
The SPF is a cleverly disguised proposal for a rapid deployment force capable of striking anywhere in the United States. Note, if created, it will exist virtually undetected as a branch of the U.S. Marshals Service; and when activated it will partner with federal and civilian law enforcement, thus acquiring practical cover and legitimacy for its extralegal operations. It appears that the government is prepared to wage an incremental war on dissent without initiating a full military intervention. A useful tactic especially if undertaken prior to a full martial law declaration. Therefore, expect the military to have discretionary authority over such operations with the Marshals Service relegated to more traditional duties. If implemented, the SPF will represent another sneak attack on Posse Comitatus.
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