Military Police

Spring 2013

Military Police contains information about military police functions in maneuver and mobility support, area security, law and order, internment/resettlement, and police intelligence operations.

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By Captain Bryan P. Jonas I n case you haven't heard, the Military Police Corps Regiment pendulum is swinging. After spending much of the past 11 years serving in combat support roles, we must again embrace our policing expertise and demonstrate our indispensability as frontline representatives in the ¿ght against criminal activities and networks to senior mission commanders at home and abroad. We need to become, and to be recognized as, policing professionals within our scope of operation. While recently attending the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Military Police Chief's Conference in Portsmouth, England, I was struck by the seriousness with which the British Royal Military Police take the policing aspect of their profession. Their attitude is such a departure from the one that I have experienced among our own military police. Granted, there are two very important caveats to my observation: (1) my experience in the U.S. Army Military Police Corps Regiment is limited to direct support to a brigade combat team, and (2) the British Army (and thus, the Royal Military Police) and the U.S. Army (and our Military Police Corps Regiment) are two very different organizations. However, it seems to me that Royal Military Police soldiers are recognized as, and are proud of, their role as law enforcement professionals. As Brigadier General Mark Inch, the 46th commandant of the U.S. Army Military Police School (USAMPS), is fond of saying, "You don't get to call yourself a professional." Practitioners can only be considered professionals when an outside organization recognizes that they abide by and uphold a set of standards. For example, doctors are certi¿ed by the American Board of Medical Specialties, lawyers are recognized by their state bar associations, and police of¿cers are certi¿ed by state peace of¿cer standards and training agencies. The Military Police Corps Regiment has recognized the need for military police to be certi¿ed to some common standard, which boosts their credibility when dealing with senior mission commanders and local law enforcement personnel and improves their employment opportunities when they leave the Army. The next logical step involves examining the standards that we set for our provost marshal's of¿ces at installations across the Army. Many civilian law enforcement agencies abide by the standards set forth by the Commission on 28 Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA®)— but are the CALEA standards right for us? What is CALEA? At the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference held in San Diego, California, 29 September– 3 October 2012, I attended a CALEA presentation. The chairman of CALEA provided a basic overview and described the process of becoming a CALEA-accredited organization. CALEA was established in 1979 in an effort to create a standardizing body for the policy and procedure of law enforcement agencies. The goals of CALEA are to— ● Strengthen crime prevention and control capabilities. ● Formalize essential management procedures. ● Establish fair and nondiscriminatory personnel practices. ● Improve service delivery. ● Solidify interagency cooperation and coordination. ● Increase community and staff con¿dence in the agency. The mainstay of CALEA is the accreditation process, which consists of ¿ve steps: ● Enrollment. An agency conducts research on CALEA and decides to complete an enrollment package. ● Self-assessment. Depending on the speci¿cs of the agreement, the agency is allowed 24 or 36 months to assess itself and develop proofs of compliance in preparation for an on-site assessment. ● On-site assessment. Following the self-assessment, a team of CALEA-trained assessors visits the agency to view operations, determine compliance, conduct a public information session, and prepare a report of ¿ndings for the commission. ● Commission review and decision. The report of ¿ndings is considered at a triannual CALEA conference, and an accreditation decision is made. ● Maintenance of compliance and reaccreditation. An agency's accreditation is valid for 3 years. During that MILITARY POLICE . 19-13-1

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