Schwarzenegger to bring Military Tactics to Mean Streets of California

[rambone]

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Schwarzenegger Visits Iraq, Aims to Transfer Military Tactics to California

Oliver August, The Times of London

The governor of California trots out his most famous one-liner wherever he goes but, at the Victory military base in Baghdad today, he apparently meant it.

“I’ll be back,” Arnold Schwarzenegger growled after working out with a group of American soldiers on active duty in Iraq, all with necks and trunks as thick as his.

The muscleman who rose to Hollywood fame as The Terminator came to the site of America’s bloodiest war in a generation to cheer up troops, but also because there are important lessons to be learnt here.

Mr. Schwarzenegger said he wants to study counter-insurgency strategies developed by the US military when Iraq was on the brink of civil war, and bring them back to the mean streets of California, where criminal gangs rule entire neighborhoods, especially in large cities.

Already, police officers in some parts of the state are attempting to copy the hard-won lessons that helped to calm down the western Iraqi city of Fallujah and the Triangle of Death south of Baghdad, where insurgents once reigned openly.

The governor did not actually go to these places, now relatively peaceful, to see soldiers on patrol. Instead he heard about their work in the safe environs of one of the largest US bases in Iraq and shook hands with them afterwards. He also held meetings with senior commanders.

The transfer of counter-insurgency tactics from the military to the police is being pioneered in the central Californian town of Salinas. Combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are already advising the local authorities on how to conduct their own “surge,” as the US counter-insurgency campaign of President Bush is known.

Rather than hunting down gang leaders and arresting them, the police are told to build trust in the community that supports the gangs. Only by patiently “draining the swamp” can the leaders be eliminated.

There are apparently striking similarities between Iraq and California. Many gang members and supporters see police officers as an “occupying force” similar to a foreign military presence. Like in Baghdad, there are also language problems. Officers speak English and locals often Spanish, making cooperation in criminal investigations difficult, even when citizens are willing.

Combat veterans in Salinas say they think of Sunni Iraqis when they listen to the grievances of some Latino Californians. One of them, Major James M. Few, wrote on a blog, “The frightening realization is that I’ve walked this dog before.”

Of course, some gang leaders will still be arrested. But the focus now is on social programs and economic growth to create jobs.

 

[jedi]

Good Luck Governator! Last I heard the state is in a sea of red and can go bankrupt.

 

[Titanium Man]

Yeah, and I read he signed into law in CA, you have to be finger printed and back ground checked to by AMMO. What a crock and he's a Republican??? He needs to get a grip and just switch to Democrat, to make his wife Maria happy. You know, she's a Kennedy.

I couldn't imagine being a sportsman in CA and having to tolerate that stuff. Unbelievable.

 

[Titanium Man]

Maybe he and looney Clooney should do lunch.

 

[LEaSH]

That state used to be a pretty interesting place to live. I beg my uncles and thier families to move away and back to the upper midwest asap.

 

[steveh_131]

He needs to get a grip and just switch to Democrat, to make his wife Maria happy. You know, she's a Kennedy.

"Consider this a divorce. Aaaaaghghghhhhggghghgh."

 

[mrjarrell]

As if we didn't already have a police militarization problem. This is certain to go well.

 

[Disposable Heart]

I have visited LA and unfortunately, not the scenic route. They need better police tactics for that area, normal police work will not do to be perfectly honest. The idea of building rapport with local communities is key. Anyone watch the movie "Colors" with Sean Penn and Robert Duvall? It has a great premise and a great plot, but follows this concept to a T. We are focusing on the "military" wording in the article, but read it all, not just the part that we don't like due to wording and knee jerk reaction it all day long.

Police and city government building rapport with local communities is cruicial in places like LA and it has worked. Gang programs have made it difficult in the nicer areas to maintain the drug trade that funds gang activity. Unfortunately, job losses, poor government funding (or in CA's case, misfunding) and the inability for police to link with communities (due to racisim on both sides) has crippled these gang programs. The best thing is for former gang members (and there are actually alot of them) to step up and work WITH gangs to limit and eventually eliminate gang behavior. But it is drugs, pure and simple, that is crippling these attempts. A guy I talked to in LA when I was visiting a few friends worked with the gang units and said that it wasn't a losing war, it was beginning and it always looked worse from the get-go.

 

[TopDog]

Good luck I have lived in CA twice once stationed there in the military and once for a year after retirement from the military. My opinion, CA is lost. There are some good people there like everywhere but the negative elements far outnumber the positive. Again GOOD LUCK with that.

 

[Disposable Heart]

Read ALL of the article, not just the red part. It actually has NOTHING to do with militarization of the police, it means they are wanting to use programs the military is using now in Iraq, SUCH AS, bilingual programs, rapport and trust building programs to sway people away from gangs and to get the community to speak out and work against gangs.

 

[JustGone]

Yeah, and I read he signed into law in CA, you have to be finger printed and back ground checked to by AMMO. What a crock and he's a Republican??? He needs to get a grip and just switch to Democrat, to make his wife Maria happy. You know, she's a Kennedy.

I couldn't imagine being a sportsman in CA and having to tolerate that stuff. Unbelievable.

Fingerprint - YES, background check - NO

So it's fingerprint and the dealer has to record your personal information - full name address and phone number. He has to keep these on record so as to aid in finding people who used the ammo illegally...it's BS but it doesn't go into affect until January 2011

 

[nawainwright]

two words, "su" - "urge"

ROTFL!!