-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! FATS One of the most interesting illustrations of the evolution of local police forces toward "paramilitarization" is the success of Firearms Training Systems, Inc. (FATS), which, since 1984, has specialized in customized firearms training and psychological conditioning of police forces in the U.S. and foreign military organizations, including the armies of Singapore and Italy, the U.S. Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, and the BATF, FBI, and LAPD.(25) The military’s involvement in domestic law enforcement is subsumed under doctrines entitled Operations Other Than War (OOTW) and Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT), along with divisions known as Military Support to Law Enforcement Agencies (MSLEA) and Military Support to Civil Authorities (MSCA) divisions. In addition, there is much overlap within current U.S. military doctrine and planning for domestic "civil disturbance." For example, a 1994 DoD directive states that "military resources may be employed in support of civilian law enforcement operations in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. territories and possessions only in the parameters of the Constitution and laws of the United States and the authority of the President and the Secretary of Defense, including delegations of that authority through this Directive or other means."(26) A recent scholarly journal notes: The military and the police comprise the state’s primary use-of-force entities, the foundation of its coercive power. A close ideological and operational alliance between these two entities in handling domestic social problems usually is associated with repressive governments. Although such an alliance is not normally associated with countries like the United States, reacting to certain social problems by blurring the distinction between the military and the police may be a key feature of the post-cold war United States. With the threat of communism no longer a national preoccupation, crime has become a more inviting target for state activity, both internationally and in the United States.(27) Nearly half of the hundreds of para-military police units in the U.S. have "trained with active duty military experts in special operations,"(28) while another 30 percent trained with "police officers with special operations experience in the military."(29) A "special operations" trainer had this to say: "We’ve had special forces folks who have come right out of the jungles of Central America. These guys get into the real shit. All branches of military service are involved in providing training to law enforcement."(30) In New York City, ground zero for the "quality of life" police crackdown, these units target "disorderly" areas, in other words, poor communities of color involved in a war for survival. Simulated Paramilitary Policing "You’ve got him in your sights. Drawing a gun, he turns, you fire. A life and death situation? Not if it’s a simulation system from Firearms Training Systems (FATS).... FATS is the leading worldwide producer of interactive simulation systems designed to provide training in the handling and use of small and supporting arms."(31) In 1985 FATS developed its first video simulation system for police and military application. Since that time they have sold more than 2,200 systems in over 30 countries. FATS simulation systems, according to its manufacturer, "enable users in law enforcement agencies and the military the ability to train in highly realistic scenarios through the integration of video and digitalized projected imagery and modified, laser emitting firearms that retain the fit, function and feel of the original weapon.... The FATS simulator evaluates each officer on a series of judgment, accuracy and reaction time exercises.... Using video or computer images projected onto a screen, the simulator’s easy to use menu guides the user through a series of training exercises, which include appropriate use of deadly force."(32) The company believes that it "has been an integral training tool for federal, state and local enforcement agencies honing their judgment skill in shoot/don’t shoot situations." And should these "shoot situations" generate public controversy, "FATS systems used by law enforcement agencies are a viable defense tool against liability lawsuits relating to alleged uses of excessive force. The reason: officers training on FATS systems receive the most realistic training available to law enforcement personnel."(33) The President and CEO of FATS is Peter A. Marino, who was formerly the Director of the Office of Technical Services of the Central Intelligence Agency.(34) Military Counterparts In order to improve the realism and increase the effectiveness of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team training, the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD) has developed the Weapons Team Engagement Trainer (WTET) prototype. This system provides realistic tactical engagements for team members of military special forces, SWAT teams and other law enforcement personnel...in close quarter combat."(35) Recently, FATS Inc. contracted with the Office of Naval Research. They will be producing a commercial version of the Weapons Team Engagement Trainer (WTET) and will be working directly with potential military and law enforcement customers to develop a commercial version of the system. The WTET police/combat training simulators, which "link large, video projection and digital audio technology, infrared (IR) location sensors, and realistic, multi-room training experience,"(36) have replaced traditional marksmanship exercises. According to Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, a former Army Ranger and paratrooper, and author of On Killing,(37) "modern training uses what are essentially B.F. Skinner’s operant conditioning techniques to develop a firing behavior in the soldier. This training comes as close to simulating actual combat conditions as possible." Grossman asserts that operant conditioning is "the single most powerful and reliable behavior modification process yet discovered in the field of psychology, and now applied to the field of warfare." Grossman points out that "soldiers who have conducted this kind of simulator training often report, after they have met a real life emergency, that they just carried out the correct drill and completed it before they realized that they were not in the simulator." Grossman explains that behavioral engineering geared to producing better killers is relatively recent. Citing a veritable "technological revolution on the battlefield," he states that "boot-camp deification of killing was unheard of during World War I, rare in World War II, increasingly present in Korea, and thoroughly institutionalized in Vietnam." According to Grossman, it has been demonstrated that "in World War II, 75 to 80 percent of riflemen did not fire their weapons at an exposed enemy, even to save their lives and the lives of their friends." The problem was evidently addressed before the Vietnam War, where "the non-firing rate was close to 5 percent." This was accomplished through a process of desensitization, denial and conditioning. "The method used to train today’s U.S. Army and USMC soldiers is nothing more than an application of conditioning techniques to develop a reflexive quick-shoot ability." This is not to suggest that the officers who killed Amadou Diallo were programmed to kill. But police training which is geared toward the cultivation of a reflexive, quick-shoot ability, reinforced by a violent and racist police culture, and founded upon an authoritarian municipal governmental system, needs to be thoroughly overhauled, or the killings and brutality will continue. Psychological conditioning will remain implicated in the rising rate of police killings. It is time to demilitarize our police. Footnotes 1. See, for example, the New York Times for April 14, 1999. 2. See Stolen Lives, published by the National Lawyers Guild; and the reports of the Anthony Baez Foundation and the October 22nd Coalition. 3. Rights for All, Amnesty International U.S.A., 1998, pp. 18, 21. 4. Police Brutality and Excessive Force in the New York City Police Department, Amnesty International U.S.A., 1996, pp. 38, 39. 5. Peter B. Kraska and Victor E. Kappeler, "Militarizing American Police: The Rise and Normalization of Paramilitary Units," Social Problems, Vol. 44, No. 1, Feb. 1997, p. 7. See also "Soldiers of the Drug War Remain on Duty," New York Times, Mar. 1, 1999, p. A1. 6. New York Times, Feb. 15, 1999. 7. Ibid. 8. Ibid., Feb. 19, 1999. 9. Ibid., Mar. 23, 1999. 10. Ibid., Mar. 22, 1999. 11. "Technology Transfer From Defense: Concealed Weapons Detection," National Institute of Justice Journal, No. 229, Aug. 1995, pp. 42-43. 12. Usually those with rampant death squads. "The United States gave money and training to a Guatemalan military that committed acts of genocide." New York Times, Feb. 26, 1999. 13. Op. cit., n. 11, p. 42. 14. Ibid., p. 42. 15. Ibid., p. 45. 16. Ibid., p. 42. 17. Frank Donner, Protectors of Privilege: Red Squads and Police Repression in Urban America (Berkeley, Calif.: Univ. of California Press, 1990), pp. 242-43. 18. Ibid., p. 155. 19. Ibid., p.194; see also, Leonard Ruchelman, Who Rules the Police (New York: NYU Press, 1973). 20. Leonard Levitt, "Secret Cop Squad," New York Newsday, Apr. 29, 1999, p. A42. 21. New York Times, Feb. 11, 1999. 22. Ibid. 23. New York Times, Apr. 8, 1999. 24. Op. cit., n. 3, p. 27. 25. The New York Times, in a Feb. 16, 1999 article focusing on the issue of police officer training referred to FATS as "a company that provides training programs to 450 law enforcement agencies, including the New York department." The success of this firm testifies not only to the pervasive militarization of civilian law enforcement but also to the Pentagon’s increasing "police" and "peacekeeping" missions abroad. FATS was involved in preparing U.S. units for service in the Gulf War and in Bosnia. 26. Department of Defense Directive 3025.12, "Military Assistance for Civil Disturbances (MACDIS)," Feb. 4, 1994, pp. 1-3. 27. Kraska and Kappeler, op. cit., n. 5, p. 2. 28. Ibid., p. 11. 29. Ibid. 30. Ibid., p. 12. The militarization of law enforcement has a long history. See Joan M. Jensen, Army Surveillance in America, 1775-1980 (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1991); and Ron Ridenhour with Arthur Lubow, "Bringing the War Home," New Times, 1975. 31. Report of Firearms Training Systems, Inc., 7340 McGinnis Ferry Road, Suwanee, Georgia, 30024-1247. 32. Ibid. 33. Ibid. 34. FATS 1998 Annual Report, p. 13. 35. U.S. Navy, Technology Spotlight, Weapons Team Engagement Trainer, October 1998, www.ntsc.navy. mil/tech/wtet/wtet.htm. 36. Ibid. 37. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society (Boston: Back Bay Books, 1996), pp. 177-78, 252, 255. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
