Military Police State? Part One

[franklin]

Going through old files here I came across something I had posted on the old original TMM website. I feel that this is worth using up a little band-width just to make it available for readers here. Seems that some folks in WDC figure it would help make America great if they just merged the Department of Defense (the Pentagon) with the Department of Justice (DOJ). Never worry that doing that just might violate the Constitution -- it's for our own good. This is the first of two posts, because it's a bit lengthy, even for me.
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Department of Justice and Department of Defense
Joint Technology Program:Second Anniversary Report
Prepared by the Joint Program Steering Group
John J. Pennella — Chairman
Peter L. NacciDeputy — Chairman
February 1997
U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
National Institute of Justice
Jeremy Travis
Director
David Boyd
Director, Office of Science and Technology
Opinions or points of view expressed in this
document are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the official position of the
U.S. Department of Justice.
The National Institute of Justice is a component of
the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes
the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Bureau of Justice
Statistics, Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims
of Crime.
NCJ 164268
In 1994 the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and
the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) entered into
a cooperative agreement to develop technologies of
value to both. This agreement, codified in a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and signed by the
Deputy Secretary of Defense and the Attorney
General, formalized and focused a longstanding ad
hoc relationship. To manage this technology
development program and to direct its day-to-day
activities, the MOU established a Joint Program
Steering Group (JPSG) that would represent both
departments and be staffed with members from
several agencies.
Two years have passed since the MOU was signed, but
this cooperative effort has already borne fruit.
Improved personnel armor and new methods for
detecting concealed weapons are being demonstrated.
As this joint effort begins to deliver its
products, DOD and DOJ, through their respective
lead agencies — the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) and the National Institute
of Justice (NIJ) — have directed the JPSG to
produce this anniversary report.
This report consists of three parts. Part I
explains how this joint technology program
originated and the need for a JPSG. Part II focuses
on seven technology development areas included in
the JPSG program and the anticipated payoffs. Part
III draws conclusions regarding program benefits.
Part I: The Partnership Between Law Enforcement and
the Military
The boundaries separating the functions of the law
enforcement and military communities are clearly
defined in law. The military’s function is to
provide for the national defense, while Federal,
State, and local law enforcement agencies maintain
domestic tranquillity.
Although performing different functions, law
enforcement and the military perform many of the
same tasks. Both law enforcement and the military
operate their own judicial, police, and prison
systems. Within the limits set by law, civil law
enforcement and the military communities work
cooperatively. For example, in communities near
large military installations, military police
routinely maintain offices in metropolitan police
stations. The Federal Prison System incarcerates
hundreds of the military’s more difficult
prisoners. At the same time, the Federal Prison
System receives special consideration from the
military in the disposition of military properties
made available when domestic installations close or
in locating prisons on active military
installations. Often law enforcement and the
military may also participate in the same missions.
Such interagency efforts include waging the war
against drugs, countering terrorism and espionage,
and providing disaster relief.
Benefits of Shared Technology
DOJ and DOD have a long history of sharing
technology. After World War II and the Korean War,
local and Federal law enforcement agencies
benefited from such technology as helicopters and
handheld radios, whose development had been spurred
to meet military needs. Additionally, over the
years, many State and local police agencies have
received surplus military equipment.
However, this flow of technology has not been one
way. Law enforcement has also shared its technology
with the military. For example, the current
generation of “bulletproof” vests, employed both by
the law enforcement and military communities,
evolved from the development of body armor using
Kevlar (Trade Mark), which was sponsored by NIJ
(then the National Institute of Law Enforcement and
Criminal Justice of the Law Enforcement Assistance
Administration) in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
When the U.S. Marine Corps deployed to Somalia in
1995 to assist in the withdrawal of U.N. forces, it
did so with an arsenal of what are termed
“less-than-lethal” weapons, including a “sticky
foam” developed by NIJ. The foam works much like
human flypaper and is used to limit the potential
for injury to bystanders and damage to property.
Benefits of Joint Technology Development
These ad hoc technology and equipment transfers are
beneficial to both law enforcement and the
military. However, greater benefits result when
efforts involve joint technology development in
partnerships throughout the Government.
Cost Effectiveness. The benefits to be gained, in
terms of dollars saved, is clear. For example, the
recent collaboration of the National Oceanic &
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Air
Force, NASA, and the U.S. Navy in the development
of meteorological satellites will result in future
satellites that will perform multiple functions.
The satellites will not only help produce daily
weather forecasts but also assist military and
civilian pilots and military planners. Replacement
satellites will last longer and will reduce the
need for more satellites. This effort should
produce a saving in excess of $1 billion over the
next 10 years.
Long-Term Research. Combined technology development
projects involving the military and law enforcement
have spanned decades. In the 1960s the Law
Enforcement Assistance Administration sponsored
joint technology developments in the area of remote
bomb detection. Other early joint projects included
the development of riot control agents, night
vision devices, and “nonlethal” bullets. More
recently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
and DARPA have worked on a number of projects,
including the application of advanced computer
technology to crime solving, while DEA and other
law enforcement agencies have collaborated with
DARPA in developing technologies to counter the
flow of narcotics into this country.
Joint Technology Improvement and the JPSG. Federal
agencies frequently collaborate to develop
technology. However, the differences in cultures,
missions, and applications among agencies can make
joint development and transition of technology
challenging. To make reasoned judgments about
technology options requires an understanding of
these differences that comes only with experience.
In a partnership between DOD and DOJ, the most
effective way of ensuring that such experience was
applied was to jointly staff a program steering
group; hence the establishment of the JPSG.
Perhaps the best single example of a technology
area that has been cooperatively advanced by the
military and law enforcement communities is the
development of body armor. Both law enforcement and
military personnel wear body armor. More and more
often, this includes the law enforcement officer
and the ordinary soldier, as well as special
purpose units such as police Special Weapons and
Tactics (SWAT) teams and U.S. Special Forces.
Current body armor is heavy, movement impairing,
and costly, and it does not dissipate heat very
well. Consequently, body armor design has had to
strike a less-than-optimum compromise between level
of protection and area protected. As a result, the
standard issue “bulletproof” vests worn by most
police and soldiers offer limited protection,
especially little if any protection against rifle
bullets.
In the JPSG-managed body armor development program,
jointly developed technologies incorporate design
preferences from both the military and law
enforcement communities. One body armor effort that
the JPSG is managing is development of a
“bulletproof” vest with titanium or ceramic inserts
that does offer some rifle and bullet protection.
Designed to be worn inconspicuously as an
undergarment, the vest causes minimal impairment to
its wearer’s freedom of movement. This
“concealable” armor weighs around 8 pounds and
affords handgun protection over the entire area
that it covers. Inserts positioned over the heart
and spine offer rifle fire protection.
Technology Transfer. Joint development programs
such as the body armor program also ease technology
transfer. New products usually require
modifications when transferred from one agency to
another. Such changes are due to differences in
environment, operating procedures, and performance
requirements. Perhaps the most commonly cited
example of modification requirements is the
military’s requirement for “ruggedization.” This
includes, in certain circumstances, protecting
electronic equipment against the effects of the
electromagnetic pulse produced when a nuclear
weapon is detonated. Very few if any law
enforcement organizations require equipment
designed to such specifications.

(Continued in Part Two)