• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

V CORPS MILITARY POLICE HELPING IRAQIS RESTORE LAW AND ORDER

V Corps Release

Release Date: 5/14/2003

By Spc. Kristopher Joseph 18th Military Police Brigade Public Affairs Office

BAGHDAD, IRAQ -- The first efforts to restore law and order to post-regime Iraq began May 9 when Iraqi police and U.S. military police soldiers under the command of V Corps' 18th Military Police Brigade conducted joint patrols in the war-torn streets here.

The 549th MP Company, part of the 3rd MP Battalion of Ft. Stewart, Ga.'s 3rd Infantry Division, is currently attached to the Mannheim, Germany-based 18th for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Fresh from a deployment rotation in Bosnia, the 549th came to Southwest Asia as the J.P. Holland winner for Best MP Company in the Army and was given the honor of being the first U.S. MP unit on the road here with Iraqi police

"This is a wonderful experience," said Sgt. Taurus Hunter, team leader in the first platoon of the 549th. "It's always an honor to work with people from other countries."

According to Staff Sgt. Jonathan McDavid, the platoon's first squad leader, the joint patrols will put the Iraqi police completely in charge. He said the MPs are "hands off," but are there to offer training advice and give assistance if the Iraqi officers need extra help. "We are here to lend credibility to their police force," Mc David said. "It's their laws and their country. We are going to back them up."

The patrols began with the Iraqi police leading the way. After circling their patrol sector the Iraqis stopped at one of their abandoned police stations. Inside, the officers familiarized the American MPs with their operations. In the course of the briefing, the Iraqi policemen took the Americans on a room-by-room tour of the station, noting that some rooms were used by Saddam Hussein's much-feared secret police. The Iraqi officers even turned over documents to the MPs that revealed information used by the secret police to root out and quell those who opposed Saddam's rule.

As the group prepared to leave the station, the 549th received a radio message reporting that a witness claimed to have seen a man attempting to rape a young girl. The joint police team returned to the MP Joint Operation Center to get the full picture. When the arrived, the witness told them that the man in question was armed but wounded in the leg. The girl was safely in the custody of the witness at the JOC. After some coordination, the MPs and Iraqi police went to the home of the accused man.

Stopping a block shy of the man's house, the joint team had a huddle to work out their arrest procedures. The Iraqi police took the lead and entered the home while the American MPs secured the area's perimeter. Moments later, the Iraqis emerged from the home with the accused man and his accomplices in custody. The police found an AK-47 assault rifle and a cache of ammunition in the house. Across the street, police also uncovered a crate of grenades.

"The Iraqi police handled the situation very professionally," said McDavid. "Hopefully, today is an indicator of how it's going to be in the future."

Despite the first-day success of the joint patrol, Hunter warned, "The war is still on for the police." The collapse of the regime has weakened Iraq's infrastructure leaving it vulnerable to organized crime. With little money and scarce food and resources, the police will have their hands full with citizens trying to take advantage of the current economic conditions. But McDavid was positive. "The word is going to spread" that Iraqi police are back and the street and mean business, he said. He called getting the Iraqi officers re-mobilized is a big first step in handing the people back their society.

There are still many issues to iron out, however. In his briefing to the Pentagon press corps last week, V Corps Commander Lt. Gen. William S. Wallace said thousands of Iraqi police - more than half of the entire force - have responded to the corps' call to return to duty. But there are big challenges ahead, the general added: a lack of mobility; shortages of equipment; ensuring Iraqi police are paid a reasonable wage, and re-establishing Iraqi officers' authority here. Until these issues and more are settled and the U.S. military feels the Iraqi police are fully capable to operate on their own, the joint patrols are scheduled to continue.