First, Navy police officers were stripped of their ability to enforce Virginia criminal laws.
Then court rulings prohibited them from issuing tickets for certain traffic violations, reducing by 80 percent the number of citations issued at Norfolk Naval Station .
In the fall, the Navy shifted patrol duties at off-base military housing from their own force to city police agencies. At the same time, Navy police officers in Hampton Roads have not had access to a computer database that shows if a driver is a wanted criminal or has a prior record, according to the officers and the Navy.
Now, Navy police officers say their jobs have been reduced to little more than those of security guards.
Navy officials say that security at the region?s installations has been strengthened since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but Jay Stamps, a union official who represents base police, said, ?The whole base is in danger.?
?Their job is more than writing traffic tickets,? Stamps said. ?Those officers are not able to do their jobs.?
The issue of being denied access to the crimes database is the latest in a series of moves that has Navy police here feeling handcuffed.
The database allows police just about everywhere ? on military bases and in civilian communities ? to conduct routine criminal background checks on anyone who is stopped for a traffic violation.
If a driver halted by a Virginia Beach police officer is wanted in Kentucky, for example, the warrant information would pop up on the officer?s in-car computer screen.
The computer system, managed by the Virginia State Police and called the Virginia Crime Information Network, contains data on wanted and missing persons. It also includes records from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles and the National Crime Information Center, a criminal records database for the entire country.
Virginia law enforcement agencies and the FBI obtain that information for free, but state law requires that other criminal justice agencies pay to connect to the system.
Navy police in Hampton Roads had access to the system until September, when the Navy stopped paying Virginia for its connection.
Lt. Pete Fagan, who oversees the system for the State Police, said the Navy encountered billing and security issues, but he would not elaborate other than to say security ?is the larger issue.?
?I can?t really speculate on what the Navy?s chosen to do or not to do,? he said.
He added that a quick search of his records indicates that only Navy law enforcement in Hampton Roads stopped using the service. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is not affected and receives the data through a different network, an NCIS official said. The Army continues to pay for the service.
The Navy said the problems involve switching computer systems and abiding by new federal security regulations that have taken longer to iron out than expected.
?We should be bringing the system back up in the next couple of weeks,? said Capt. Shawn Morrissey, director of public safety for the Navy Mid-Atlantic region.
?There?s never been an intention to discontinue those services,? he said. ?It?s just taken quite awhile. It certainly lasted longer than I would have liked.?
The inability to issue traffic tickets also has been contentious among Navy police . Statistics show a steep decline in traffic enforcement.
In 2003, Norfolk Naval Station police issued 530 traffic tickets that were adjudicated in U.S. District Court, according to the Central Violation Bureau, a San Antonio-based agency that processes federal traffic tickets and petty offenses. Last year, officers issued 111 tickets, an 80 percent decline.
Oceana Naval Air Station/Dam Neck police issued 125 tickets in 2003 and 65 last year, about a 50 percent decline. Of all the South Hampton Roads military bases, only Fort Story, an Army facility, showed an increase in tickets issued.
Officials blame the decline on court rulings that stripped from the books certain traffic offenses, such as driving with a suspended license, one of the most common offenses on military bases. An appeals court had ruled that certain Virginia traffic infractions were unenforceable on federal lands.
Morrissey also said that the number of tickets fluctuates annually and that the court?s statistics do not include armed forces traffic citations, which are handled administratively.
?We don?t set quotas,? he said.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine recently signed legislation fixing the problem; military officials say base police can return to writing those tickets.
Still, some base police think that the Navy?s actions against them in the p ast few years have stripped them of their authority to enforce the law. In the fall of 2004, for example, the Navy removed officers? ability to enforce Virginia criminal laws.
Morrissey said the change was recommended by the Department of Defense, which determined that federal officers should be responsible only for federal crimes. If there is a state crime, the case would be turned over to municipal police, he said, adding that statistics showed few arrests for state criminal violations on federal property.
?The primary purpose of those individuals is the protection of our assets and personnel,? Morrissey said.
Even the Navy unit?s titles have changed. Although the word ?police? is emblazoned on the side of their patrol cars, the Navy police officers are officially called ?naval security force members,? Morrissey said.
?They have arrest powers,? he said. ?They can detain personnel. They?re armed and properly trained and all those things.?
Some officers think the changes are causing staff to leave in droves.
People are going to other police departments because the Navy is ? not allowing us to use our arrest authority,? said an officer and local union official, who did not want his name used for fear of retribution by the Navy. ?Why do they hire us as police officers but they won?t let us do our jobs??
The Navy?s civilian police force once numbered about 400, but since 2000 the force has been cut to about 150, the officer said. The Navy would not reveal staffing numbers, citing security concerns.
Morrissey said, however, that security has been reinforced by using private security guards and military personnel for some roles . The Navy?s service-member security positions, called master at arms, increased nationally by 10,000 since 2001, he said.
The Norfolk city police union tried for years to assist base police in their efforts to retain law enforcement powers.
?The Navy wants to take away their responsibilities,? said Norfolk police officer Mike McKenna, president of the Norfolk city police union. ?It?s kind of mystifying.?
In an effort to strengthen their bargaining position, Navy police in December formed their own union, Department of Defense Local 911, an affiliate of the National Union of Law Enforcement Associations.
Stamps, the national union president based in Washington, said the union is just beginning negotiations on a contract that would provide protections for base police. For now, morale is at an all-time low, he said.
?I cannot believe they are demeaned as bad as they are,? he said. ?It doesn?t make sense.?
n\Reach Tim McGlone at (757) 446-2343 or tim.mcglone@pilot online.com.
CUTS
The Navy?s civilian police force once numbered about 400, but it now is about 150, one officer said. The Navy would not reveal staffing.
It is nice to see the local police supporting the Navy Police on this issue.
Posted by: j809
Quote:
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine recently signed legislation fixing the problem; military officials say base police can return to writing those tickets.
Nice Governor, you would think Romney would step in and fix the CH90 fiasco with state college police departments.
Posted by: HELPMe
That sucks for them. I did a training with the MA's at Oceana good group of guys. They were always dealing with domestics or bar fights. You cant go above 30 on base so other then weapons crossings and chasing gate runners...i dont see what else they can do.
Posted by: DoD102
They are a combination of MA's and DoD Police. All I can say is welcome to the world of a DoD cop. AFRC has been doing this to it's "cops" for years. They too are being relinquished to security guard status. In my opinion it's just a matter of time for all DoD Police officers.
Posted by: USNMA
This is why I am leaving the Navy when this enlistment is up. I signed up to be an MA, a rating I currently have, but I don't do law enforcement work. I am in the "New MA field" anti terrorism, currently in the mid east. They are working to take all MA's off of patrol and gates and leave a few DoD's and the rest is contracted security. Kinda sucks.
Posted by: DoD102
Yes, yes it does!
Posted by: HELPMe
I felt bad for the MA's at NAS Oceana..when i was there they had the MA's standing the gate and DOD doing interior patrol. Only the chief got to drive around...does anyone know if Schwartfager is still the chief there? He was a good guy. Atleast the DOD police got to do MVA stops and ride around in an AC car not a crappy brick guard shack and dodge gate runners.
I have a friend who is an MA2 at a base in NJ and all he does is stand 12 hr watches in a shack and flap his arm. He told me it almost made him want to go to Iraq just to do something useful.
Posted by: militia_man
It is the opposite in the Air Force. The military cops patrol, and contract civilians work the gates.
Posted by: DoD102
militia-man, are you on a guard base?
Posted by: militia_man
Sarge439,
No... Hanscom.
Posted by: DoD102
Cool...Hey I'll PM you. I sent a reply to the public forum, but thought maybe I shouldn't post it. Stand by.
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