- The mercenary firm Blackwater USA is well known for the
controversy involving its "shoot first, ask no questions" policy
in Iraq. It is also known that Louisiana's Department of Homeland Security
contracted with Blackwater to provide public law enforcement services in
New Orleans following hurricane Katrina. Blackwater is also planning to
establish regional training centers in Potrero, California and Mount Carroll,
Illinois, billed as Blackwater West and Blackwater North, respectively.
-
- These training centers, in addition to Blackwater's Lodge
and Training Center in Moyock, North Carolina -- Blackwater East -- and
a possible fourth rumored to be slated for the Pacific Northwest -- Blackwater
Northwest -- may result in the establishment of a network of Blackwater-trained
police, sheriffs, and other police units around the country. Given Blackwater's
dismal record on human rights and brutality, this spells trouble for civilian
control of police and paramilitary forces in the United States, from major
metropolitan areas to small rural towns.
-
- On October 14, the Washington Post ran a story, which
included photographs from Blackwater's Moyock training center. However,
what was most intriguing was a photograph of a police and military patch
board at Blackwater's headquarters that indicated the police agencies that
have sent their officers to Moyock for training.
-
- Blackwater is secretive about its non-federal, as well
as its foreign clients, which the Post pointed out includes Jordan,
Azerbaijan, and Burkina Faso, but a WMR inspection of the photograph of
the police agencies has yielded the following list of agencies that have
used Blackwater for training:
-
- 1. Iowa Department of Natural Resources
-
- 2. Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff's Department
-
- 3. Matthews, North Carolina Police
-
- 4. Atlanta Police
-
- 5. Chillicothe, Ohio Police
-
- 6. Charleston, South Carolina Police
-
- 7. Port Chester, NY Police
-
- 8. Highland, Indiana Police
-
- 9. Unalaska, Alaska Police
-
- 10. Metropolitan Washington, DC Police
-
- 11. Charlottesville, Virginia Police
-
- 12. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (Dulles
and Reagan National Airports)
-
- 13. St. Louis County Police (Missouri)
-
- 14. Queen Anne's County, Maryland Police
-
- 15. Prince George's County, Maryland Police
-
- 16. FBI SWAT Team
-
- 17. Gloucester Township, New Jersey Police
-
- 18. Tempe, Arizona Police
-
- 19. New York Police Department
-
- 20. Yonkers, New York Police
-
- 21. Fairfax County, Virginia Police
-
- 22. Maplewood, New Jersey Police
-
- 23. Gastonia, North Carolina Police
-
- 24. Tampa Police
-
- 25. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
-
- 26. DeKalb County, Georgia Police
-
- 27. Arlington County, Virginia Police
-
- 28. Baltimore Police
-
- 29. U.S. Coast Guard
-
- 30. Suffolk, Virginia Police
-
- 31. Franklin City, Virginia Police
-
- 32. Milford, Delaware Police
-
- 33. University of Texas Police
-
- 34. Norfolk, Virginia Police
-
- 35. Ottawa-Carleton, Canada Police
-
- 36. San Bernardino County, California Sheriff
-
- 37. Plattsburgh, New York Police
-
- 38. Chicago Police Department
-
- 39. Oregon State Police
-
- 40. Los Angeles Police Department
-
- 41. Tonawanda, New York Police
-
- 42. Special Forces of Colombia
-
- 43. Jacksonville, North Carolina Police
-
- 44. Harvey Cedars, New Jersey Police
-
- 45. Elmira, New York Police
-
- 46. Department of Corrections, New Jersey
-
- 47. Lexington, Kentucky Police
-
- 48. Willimantic, Connecticut Police
-
- 49. Georgia Department of Law Enforcement
-
- 50. City of Fairfax, Virginia Police
-
- 51. Alexandria, Virginia Police Special Operations
-
- 52. Illinois State Police
-
- 53. Dallas, Texas Police
-
- 54. Hamilton, Ohio Police
-
- 55. Morganton, North Carolina Police
-
-
- A number of the police departments that have been trained
by Blackwater have abysmal civil rights and police brutality records, most
notably the Chicago Police and Illinois State Police, both cited by former
Illinois Governor George Ryan as being guilty of police misconduct in his
decision to commute the death sentences of Illinois' death row inmates.
It was a decision that likely had much to do with his indictment by the
Bush administration on corruption charges -- political misuse of the Department
of Justice that has been seen in the indictments and investigations of
Alabama former Democratic Governor Don Siegelman and HealthSouth former
CEO Richard Scrushy, Qwest's former CEO Joseph Nacchio, Democratic
campaign contributor Martha Stewart, Coastal Corporation's former Chairman
and Democratic contributor Oscar Wyatt, and Democratic-leaning trial attorneys
around the United States, as well as the firings of several U.S. Attorneys
who refused to engage in political prosecutions, and a Justice Department
workup on North Carolina presidential candidate John Edwards in 2004.
-
- The training and potential political indoctrination of
police officers by the extreme right-wing and proto-fascist Blackwater,
coupled with the politicization of the Justice Department and U.S. courts,
has the potential for the streets of Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta,
New York, and Washington, DC, as well as Chillicothe, Harvey Cedars, and
Elmira to turn as bloody as the streets of Baghdad and Fallujah.
-
- Citizens have a distinct opportunity of confronting
their local elected city, county, and town officials over Blackwater training
of their police officers. Local officials should be pressured to reveal
the numbers and identities of officers trained by Blackwater,
the subjects covered by the training, the revenues spent,
and a public demand should be made to cease and desist in such training.
-
- Copyright 2005-2007 WayneMadsenReport.com
|
