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Ala. sheriff says he asked Rucker MPs for help
Update...The Army is investigating the deployment of 22 active duty military police and the provost marshal from Fort Rucker, Ala., to Samson, Ala., following a killing spree by a civilian. Ten people were killed in the March 10 rampage in southeastern Alabama by a man police identified as Michael McClendon, 28, of Kinston, Ala., where the first killing took place around 3:30 p.m. The shooter took his own life after an exchange of gunfire with police. Geneva County Sheriff Greg Ward said Wednesday that he requested the MPs in response to an offer of assistance from a lieutenant colonel at Fort Rucker for generators, lights and other equipment. The lieutenant colonel called our [911] dispatch to say were here if you need us, Ward told Army Times in a phone interview from his office in Geneva. With seven separate crime scenes spanning a 20-mile area, Wards force of 12 deputies and about 10 more police from neighboring towns, were becoming overwhelmed, he said. I thought, let me call them back. So I asked for MPs to come in and relieve our personnel long enough so they could get something to eat, Ward said, explaining that most of his men had been on the job since 7 a.m. and were exhausted. The soldiers, he said, were assigned to five highway intersections to help keep traffic flowing and stood guard outside the most horrific crime scene in Samson in which six of the victims, including an 18-month old baby, were killed. What Ward didnt want, he said, was for anyone to sneak up and get a picture of the bodies and the soldiers watching the crime scene were instructed to inform the police if that was in danger of happening. The deployment of non-medical, active duty troops in response to a local emergency could potentially be a violation of federal law if the soldiers engaged in law enforcement activities. The Posse Comitatus Act mostly bans the military and units of the National Guard under Title 10 authority from acting in a law enforcement role within the United States. There are exceptions when it is expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress. The investigation into the deployment was ordered by Gen. Martin Dempsey, commanding general of Training and Doctrine Command, because Fort Rucker falls under the command. A statement released Wednesday by TRADOC said the purpose for sending the military police, the authority for doing so, and what duties they performed is the subject of an on-going commanders inquiry. In addition to determining the facts, this inquiry will also consider whether law, regulation and policy were followed. Until those facts are determined, it would be inappropriate to speculate or comment further, Dempsey said. Ward said he couldnt have continued his operations without the help of the MPs. That lieutenant colonel was not out of place. He called to say were here if you need us, Ward said. Posted by: tu3031 2009-03-19 |
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