Militarizing Southern Maryland

Cpl. James Dean, an Army reservist who was killed last Tuesday by a Maryland State Police sharpshooter during a standoff that began when police intervened in Dean's apparent suicide attempt, never really had a chance at surviving his ordeal even if he wanted to.

Take a look at some of these photos, taken by The Baynet, a local online news outlet in Southern Maryland, and published today. This is apparently the response demanded when someone simply wants to end his own life. And from the looks of it, the Southern Maryland SWAT teams are going to make damn sure you get your wish.

Yes, evidentally it's appropriate to send in the armored vehicles in response to someone who poses no threat to anyone but himself. And, of course, we can't have armored trucks without officers clad in military-type fatigues. My personal favorite happens to be the photo of a police sniper in his ghillie suit.

Radley Balko, who runs the outstanding The Agitator blog, has written extensively on the increasing militarization of America's police forces -- initially justified by federal and state governments to fight the asinine "war on drugs," and continuing today as an excuse to be lavished with funding for "homeland security" -- and has documented numerous instances of government abuse of police authority.

The killing of Cpl. James Dean can only be described as appallingly unnecessary. He held no hostages, posed no threat to anyone but himself, was not a fugitive, and above all else, had committed no crime that warranted the involvement of police, certainly not a SWAT team. SWAT units are comprised of police officers trained in tactical skills who have one goal in mind -- to defuse existing violent situations, with deadly force if necessary.

The job of the police is to keep the peace, to protect and serve the citizenry. SWAT teams resemble the military because the military's objective is to kill the enemy. Due to this reason specifically, our police forces should employ the services of SWAT teams only in the most dire of circumstances, where there is immediate deadly threat to innocent civilians and/or the community at large. However, SWAT teams are all too commonly used to serve drug and gambling warrants to non-violent suspects, which has resulted in the unnecessary harrassment of innocent bystanders, not to mention the inadvertant deaths of innocent civilians and even police officers who find themselves put in situations that could (and should) have been dealt with unconfrontationally.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), representative for Maryland's Fifth District (St. Mary's, Calvert, and Charles counties), boasts in his biography of his responsibility for shoveling millions upon millions in federal pork to his district (in which I currently reside) to increase police forces. Is it too much of a stretch to conclude that we're seeing such excessive use of our SWAT teams because they figure they might as well use all the toys they're getting from the government?

Southern Maryland is a rapidly growing but still largely rural area, not much known for an abundance of criminal activity, much less hostage or fugitive situations. But we're apparently ready for it -- you know, just in case! -- and in the meantime, it looks like the state and county police have little problem preparing for the possibility by practicing on the rest of us.

Comments

[Allen]

I don't mind ranting but to imply that even though he wanted to end his own life he wasn't a risk to others is at best naive. For example, this guy [http://www.startribune.com/462/story/901689.html] wanted to kill himself but went over officers with a deadly weapon. I'm not saying the po-po don't make mistakes and have poor approaches. But at least tell us why there wasn't a risk to the officers there but there usually is in these situations.

[Trevor]

Allen, my entire point is that I don't believe the police needed to be there in the first place. However, even if we take for face value that they did, there's no way you can convince me - at this point with the information available so far - that the situation had to be escalated the way it was. In short, the officers' lives were in danger because the police/SWAT teams created a situation that eventually placed them in danger.

[badbob]

re- "when police intervened in Dean's apparent suicide attempt, never really had a chance at surviving his ordeal even if he wanted to"

True.

Trevor you go ahead and look at the macro issue and apply the lessons learned. I am not going to get get into the whys of SWAT Teams exist although I agree with you. Right now I am only concerned that a valuable warrior was killed and I want to know the facts. What I have read is insufficient and does not represent law enforcement here in St. Mary's County, the State of MD or the United States well....

A little analysis. Let's go over the reported facts accumulated from the piss-poor local news outlets I have lambasted in previous comments. Basically, they are facts, as reported by, the MD State Police and the St. Mary's County Sheriff. BTW, there are NO original thoughts/reportage by those outlets included because there are...well- NONE :

- 9:51 PM Christmas night- "Police were summoned by his relatives to "check on his welfare" after he said "he wanted to kill himself." Self explanatory and a true fact for the record.

- St. Mary's County Sheriffs statement- "..Cause of the distress was his being reacivated into active duty from IRR status. To go to Iraq".

Time determined this motive-unkown. Go to Iraq? Maybe, eventually. These are statements made by people who aren't familiar with the US military- not uncommon for civilians. Origin of information- unkown. Yet a FACT has been generated from somewhere.

- St. Mary's County Sheriffs statement - "Dean barricaded himself inside his house with numerous weapons".

Description of barricade- unkown. Is locking the door barricading oneself? Perhaps. Numerous weapons.? What type? how many? Unkown. More than one always scares the suburban reader but how many hunters/sportsman own more than one gun/rifle?

- St. Mary's County Sheriffs statement- "Dean when contacted by police by telephone said he had a number of weapons and he planned on committing suicide."

Notice- by telephone. Why telephone? Normally when the police check on your welfare they come to your door. This implies to me that the police were already "mobilized for action" by the anecdotes above generated from "relatives" and were already planning, or in place, with their forces....I simply ask: Is this "checking on his welfare"? Timeline? Who knows.

- St. Mary's County Sheriffs statement- "Dean fired several shots from his residence, three of which hit county and state trooper vehicles. One of the vehicles was occupied, but the officer inside was not injured."

When? 1100 25 Dec or 1245 26 Dec. Provoked-unprovoked? Does it matter? Not to a SWAT Team- it is a hostile action....

-St. Mary's County Sheriffs statement- "Several times, officers tried to force Dean out of his house with tear gas but all attemps failed."

When? Several- at least three but not more than seven. That's a lot of tear gas attempts over 12-14 hours. Recommend check out the affects of tear gas on a person on the internet. Surprised by it's effects? Surely doesn't help a disraught person, does it? What prompted the tear gas? The shots Dean made? That's implied but without a timeline how can one know? Was the tear gas deployed to get him to come out of his own house before the shots were fired? His own house where he didn't hold hostages, hadn't assaulted any neighbors and wasn't a danger to anyone but himself ? We can assume he had no electric power (SMECO trucks in pics) and no heat to move things along. All these things I want to know. We owe this warrior who went where lesser men (many of whom were onsight) didn't volunteer to find out. Don't you think?

- MD State Police Col Tim Hutchins- "At about 12:50 PM (26 Dec) Tuesday, Dean tried to exit his house. At the same time a peacekeeping vehicle approached the front of the home to deliver tear gas. Mr. Dean came to the doorway, had a weapon in his hand, and began to raise that weapon, at which time the state trooper that was functioning in a counter sniper position fired one shot and Mr. Dean fell. Had the sniper (state) not taken the shot, the lives of many would have been in severe danger."

Wow. 95% of the official stuff. In only two sentences. Tried to exit the house? What does that mean. No specifics. Then the "peacekeeping" (beyond ironic) vehicle statement. Look at the pictures. It is an armored car impervious to anything but an RPG or lucky grenade. Why was it deployed- just then? Tactics? Procedures? Is tear gas effective on someone on the run? Was he just trying to escape? Where they tryiong to keep him in, or out? Remember these are the same police who let all the speeders go merrily by on rt. 235...And lastly, and most telling- from a "counter sniper position". That implies that a sniper was firing at them, using sniper equipment, right? Mr. Dean as Sniper? Where are the facts to support that? Long gun? What does that mean? Man in a doorway vs a man in the treeline in a ghillie-suit with a hi-powered rifle from a tripod? Lives of many? Hostages? Oh- that's right. There aren't any. Law enforcement in the armored car. Yep. Must be them......Who was the sniper and just who who was the counter sniper.... I just want to know.

-St. Mary's County Sheriffs statement- During the press conference Cameron was asked whether Dean intended to get shot by police. "Certainly, that always comes to mind, what we refer to as suicide by cop. I know that in managing a very fluid and possibly violent situation like this, that those situations very much are dictated by the individual. In this case, Mr. Dean." When asked if the situation could have been handled differently so that Dean didn't have to die: "Not that I can think of. Other than him responding to our requests to come out and give himself up peaceably."

First off, I don't 100% buy this "suicide-by-cop" theory in this case. Why? For all the reasons above. Make up your mind. If you want to box this up in your mind and walk away this theory sure makes things easier. Technically, only Dean could kill himself by suicide. Funny a state that doesn't have a death penalty for horrific savages and murderers allows a 46 year old state employee making 80-90K year to play executioner (a strong word- but unless proven otherwise-I stand by it). There has to be something more. As far as the actions dictated by the individual, Mr. Dean defining the whole process and all, let us harken back to the plea that precipitated the whole thing- remember the "check on his welfare" call? Since when has what happened equal "serve and protect". Did law enforcement just want to get home? 14 hours is a long time. Did they force contact? I say their actions establish that fact.

Like I've posted before I only got interested in this because CPL Dean was a soldier. From the looks of it, a fine soldier who did the heavy lifting for ALL of us. One, we all owe a debt of gratitude whether we support GWOT or not. His honor demands it. Look at the pictures again. CPL Dean was a better man than any walking about the scene, at least before this tragedy occured.

I know nothing more than any other taxpaying citizens living in St. Mary's County who are trying to follow this story in the anemic local press. Like I've commented before I truly hope the official version of events, the tactics used and the processes in place to handle this kind of incident are on the up and up for this tragedy.

I recently voted for Sheriff Cameron. I know he is not as qualified as a NYC police commissioner or head of the FBI but he seems a good man who knows S. MD. I have no reason to question his or the State Police's version of events. However, I have serious questions about the process and tactics (again....) Read through this stuff. Do you think YOU have the whole story? I feel I don't and I want to know. For CPL Dean's honor. That honor revoked by the state when his relatives innocently and for his welfare, set in motion a deadly series of events.

b2

[T F Stern]

Trevor, Having read your article and the comments here about the only thing I can say is that it would be a waste of time explaining how limited your comprehension of danger is, the purpose of police departments, police officers and SWAT. I'd rather teach a pig to sing. On the other hand, those who might stumble across your article deserve better.

[badbob]

Stern,

There was a clear and present danger on Brown Road 25-26 Dec 2006.

We're just not 100% sure who constituted the most viable threat.

Don't you want to know more Stern? At minimum, just out of respect for CPL Dean? I clearly understand the need for law enforcement and SWAT where appropriate. Unlike T, I am no social libertarian nor bleeding heart liberal, but I know how to ID B.S. when I hear it. Are you saying we the taxpayers and citizens of St. Mary's can't ask question about actions employees take who work for us?

I can confirm your suspicions. You're gonna have a real hard time teaching this "pig" how to teach harmony in your choir....Personally, I didn't take an oath to support and defend the constitution to be told to shut up by someone as lockstep as you appear to be. Plus, I was taught never to wrestle with Pigs unnecessarily, unless you wanted to get dirty.

b2

[Mark C.]

Stern, please do explain the "purpose" of SWAT being used in situations where it shouldn't.

[KBible]

T.F. Stern,

You have to be kidding me. If you feel that you have to explain anything about the use of police in dangerous situations, you have missed the point of Trevor's articles. Allow me to teach the pig to sing. The whole point of this blog is that government actions in our lives to date are becoming increasingly intrusive. In the case of Cpl Dean, was it necessary for the local police to send in the SWAT team BEFORE they asked a psychologist to help talk Cpl Dean down, or don't we employ them anymore on our police forces? Sheriff Cameron was JUST elected Sheriff in St Mary's county; what qualifies him or anyone on his staff to talk down a man intent on suicide? Who were the folks actually placing the call into the home? Couldn't someone have placed a call to the Army to seek advice and assistance BEFORE they fired tear gas into the family household?

Let me phrase it another way. If a man was to walk up to you and spit in your eye, would you just calmly wipe the spit out of your eye and walk away? I don't know you, but I highly doubt it since you were so incensed to Trevor's comments.

If you want to diffuse a dangerous sitution, you don't throw gasoline on the fire; you should find a solution that matches the scenario. I am pretty sure that's what is taught in Situation Crisis classes across America. But maybe I am wrong...

[Purdyrd]

Trevor, Thank you for your constant questioning of the rational actions performed by our law enforcement. This is not a dead issue and hopefully there will be answers to the questions of the timeline of events on the night. I was there the entire time and I don't even fully understand why the police fired tear gas when Jamie had not fired at them. He only fired after the tear gas was shot into the house. This does not seem to be a protect and serve attitude or approach. Fritz's investigation does not state the faults in the county police who initiated the tear gas being fired into the house,, why not? Fritz is trying to protect the county police and we will get to the bottom of that soon. Thanks again for trying to shed light on the facts, that's what is important and owed to Jamie.

[Mad Dog Marine]

The global power structure wanted to use troops on our streets. The Posse Comitatus Act forbids that approach.
They got in trouble when Delta Force was used on the Branch Davidians in Waco,Texas. They have changed their tactics(and funding) by militarizing the local and state police units. The feds have funded the armored vehicles and extensive SWAT training. The mindset is now a military one of "seek out and destroy" rather than the proper one of "Protect and Serve" Mark my word you will see more of this since the murderers are the ones being promoted. These federal hit squads just murdered another vet in Wilmington,DE, His name is Derek Hale,Sgt USMC
http://www.lewrockwell.com/grigg/grigg-w10.html

[Dale]

Get a life Trevor!

[nathan]

I do not know Deans intentions the night of Christmans... so will not argure for or against the actions taken that night by either party. But let me remind everybody that he was a Hero, a war veteran, and Husband.

Cpl. James Dean was a very good friend and we served two tours back to back in Afhganistan together. I just hope that everybody will stop and think of the good, not the bad..... And he has done more than his share of good .

Thank you.