Title: Military patrols (Reconstruction?) start Friday night in downtown Columbus (GA) Source:
WRBL News 3 URL Source:http://www2.wrbl.com/news/2011/apr/ ... start-friday-night-ar-1752061/ Published:Apr 25, 2011 Author:Sarah Panko Post Date:2011-04-25 13:44:03 by Hondo68 Keywords:two senior non-commissioned of, on "courtesy patrol" Views:2388 Comments:1
COLUMBUS, Ga. -- Starting at 10 o'clock Friday, two senior non-commissioned officers from Fort Benning will be on courtesy patrol. The soldiers will be wearing arm bands that read, "Courtesy Patrol."
Fort Benning Commanding General Robert Brown and Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson made the announcement earlier this week.
They need to increase security in Uptown Columbus comes after two weekend incidents in early April.
In the first incident, police say five soldiers beat another man. The beating was witnessed near First Ave. and 10th street- sending the victim - a former solider - to the hospital with head injuries.
The other, a shooting that left four injured - one fatally - at Mario’s restaurant on Broadway. A man is charged in connection with the assault.
Now, Columbus police will have the company of two uniformed Fort Benning soldiers on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
Mayor Tomlinson says the soldiers will not be able to make any arrests, but will be able to command order of all military personnel and if need be, alert military police.
“You can’t arrest someone for being intoxicated, but a senior officer can order you back to base or have military police come get you and bring you back to base,” says Tomlinson.
Charlotte Burton says the extra patrols might not be enough.
“I know this is just a start but i think they will have to increase security that's being offered….a lot of people come down here at night,” says Burton
For Specialist Ryan Jesse - stationed at Fort Benning - he says soldiers will think twice after seeing another in uniform.
“It keeps things in check. It avoids thing getting out of hand which happens a lot with soldiers unfortunately,” says SPC Jesse.
The patrols will last about five hours ending at 3a.m. when the bars close.
This is not the first time the City of Columbus has enlisted the help of military courtesy patrols, but it has been years since the practice was used.
Poster Comment:
A clear violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. The tyrant's viewpoint (in 2000) is presented by a JAG officer, below. The opinion was pre-9/11 and "war on terror"/DHS/Patriot act. They probably figure they can get away with a lot more nowadays.
"Through a gradual erosion of the act’s prohibitions over the past 20 years, posse comitatus today is more of a procedural formality than an actual impediment to the use of U.S. military forces in homeland defense."
This is not the first time the City of Columbus has enlisted the help of military courtesy patrols
Yeah,that's one way of putting it. At least they aren't sending hospital buses downtown on Sundays to pick up the injured soldiers.
Columbus,Ga has ALWAYS been a tough place to be stupid.
A clear violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.
Not even close. The military has and has always had the right to go offbase to arrest military members who have broken the law and bring them back to base for legal actions.
Or did you miss the part in the story where it said they had no right to arrest civilians,and could only call the MP's to arrest soldiers or order soldiers to return to the base?
"I adore John McCain, support him 100 percent and will do everything I can to support his reelection. As everyone knows, I was honored and proud to run with him. And Todd and I were with him in D.C. just a week ago." (Sarah Palin,Dec 2009) ************************************ DID Palin say or write these things or not? (Me) I don't know or F ing care. (Mad Dog posted on 2009-12-26 16:36:33 ET,post # 105 http://libertysflame.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=5510&Disp=114#C114)
