Private Prisons and Paramilitary Police Forces

Paramilitary Force to Boss Internment Camp In Montana

September 29, 2009

Prison Planet - Following our earlier report about a paramilitary security force occupying a town in Montana, it has now become clear that the purpose of American Police Force is to boss a state of the art internment camp that some fear will be used to incarcerate American citizens, as reports come in of the private paramilitary unit setting up roadblocks and harassing citizens in Hardin.

A CNN report on the $27 million dollar facility in Hardin Montana states that it could become "Gitmo West" and be filled with detainees from Guantanamo Bay and other terrorists. Since a majority of the American people have now been designated as potential domestic terrorists by the federal government, fears are growing that the prison camp will be used to incarcerate citizens against their will during a flu pandemic or any other declared emergency.

The Two Rivers Detention Center is a state of the art facility, festooned with surveillance cameras and surrounded by razor wire and open land to prevent escape. The camp is also filled with riot equipment such as gas masks, riot helmets, shields and batons, as well as guns.

Since the camp is currently empty, a private paramilitary unit calling itself American Police Force has been hired by local authorities to boss the facility. However, as we reported earlier, APF, which has all the hallmarks of being another Blackwater, has virtually occupied the town, festooned their vehicles with police decals and started carrying out law enforcement duties.



According to an article carried on the Steve Quayle website, 75% of the APF agents will be foreign mercenaries after training is completed and the organization’s ultimate goal is to establishment a permanent presence in the town while scouting out another 30 U.S. towns for a similar occupation-style mandate. The writer claims that APF agents are already harassing citizens, setting up roadblocks and that they told a local business owner that they had a register of all the gun owners in the town.

All of this is of course completely illegal and unconstitutional. A private army cannot pose as a police force unless we’re talking about a third world dictatorship or a banana republic, which is what the U.S. has seemingly become.

It seems that Obama’s promise of a "national civilian security force" is being implemented as private mercenary armies are brought in to occupy American towns and set up internment camps for dissidents and people who resist a federal government takeover under the pretext of a swine flu outbreak or similar pandemic.

We will have reports directly out of Hardin Montana over the next few days as we track this shocking development.

Montana Town Occupied By Private Paramilitary Security Force

September 29, 2009

Prison Planet - A private security force whose biggest role is helping the U.S. government to “combat terrorism” is now patrolling the streets of a town in Montana, acting as law enforcement but accountable to nobody and operating completely outside the limitations of the U.S. constitution in a chilling throwback to the brownshirts of Nazi Germany.

The American Police Force organization is a paramilitary unit that “provides surveillance, investigative, and military services across the world,” according to its website, which shows men dressed in military fatigues carrying machine guns.

“As part of our mission, APF plays a critical role in helping the U.S. government meet vital homeland security and national defense needs. Within the last 5 years the United States has been far and away our #1 client. Technologies, programs, and services performed by APF have played a very important role in U.S. military and civilian efforts to protect our homeland and combat terrorism,” the website states.

APF were originally contracted to provide security at a previously empty detention center in Hardin, a small town in Montana, but are now patrolling the streets driving SUV’s with “Police Department” printed on them despite the fact that Hardin doesn’t have a police department. American Police Force has no jurisdiction in the area because it is a private organization, not a police force.

According to Two Rivers Authority officials, having the private security force patrol the streets was not part of the contract.

“I have no idea. I really don’t because that’s not been a part of any of the discussions we’ve had with any of them,” Two Rivers Authority’s Al Peterson told KULR 8 News. Peterson said that patrolling the streets was on the “wishlist” of APF’s Captain Michael.

The American Police Force is a shady outfit shrouded in suspicion. According to an Associated Press report, questions over the legitimacy of the organization abound.

“Government contract databases show no record of the company. Security industry representatives and federal officials said they had never heard of it. On its Web site, the company lists as its headquarters a building in Washington near the White House that holds “virtual offices.” A spokeswoman for the building said American Police Force never completed its application to use the address,” reports AP.

Furthermore, APF was tasked with filling the empty Hardin detention center with inmates, without any clear indication of where those prisoners would come from.

“It’s unclear where the company will get the inmates for the jail. Montana says it’s not sending inmates to the jail, and neither are federal officials in the state,” according to the report.

Maybe the inmates will be the local population of Hardin if American Police Force is allowed to continue to pose as a law enforcement outfit in the town, which is exactly what they intend to do for at least another month.

Having a private security force whose stated mission is to help the U.S. government “combat terrorism” patrol the streets of small towns in America without even having the authority to do so from local authorities is obviously a frightening pretext and harks back to the private paramilitary forces that helped Adolf Hitler rise to power in Nazi Germany.

Many fear that if martial law is declared in response to a flu pandemic or other emergency, private security forces such as APF will be used by the government to oppress citizens by operating outside of the law.

This is completely unconstitutional and a flagrant threat to the liberty and security of the population of Hardin. The County Sheriff is effectively breaking the law if he doesn’t immediately kick APF out of the area and end the occupation of the town by a private paramilitary army.

Confusion About Mysterious “American Police Force” Grows

September 28, 2009
KURL-8 Television (Billings, MT)

Confusion and secrecy about American Police Force has grown during the last few weeks.

“APF has been here for 10 months but it has never been stealth,” said APF spokesperson Becky Shay at a press conference on Saturday morning. The group announced its plans to fill the $27 million dollar detention facility and build a police training center next to the jail. While they gave details for the site, other questions went unanswered.

Where will the prisoners come from? What experience does APF have in prisoners and training police officers? Why was Two Rivers Authority Executive Director Greg Smith placed on administrative leave?

During the press conference APF also refused to release any information on its funding or organization: “The decision is the name of the parent company will not be released,” said Shay.

* * * * * * *

When questioned about the decision to show up in Hardin last week in vehicles with “Hardin Police” templates, members were brief in their explanation. “They are to show are intentions are good,” said APF leader Captain Michael Hilton. “Why not put an APF logo on it,” said Shay. “You know we’re getting there.” All of the decals were removed from the vehicles two days later.

APF has consistently stated the community has nothing to fear and says its plans will help stimulate the Hardin economy. “This corporation’s intention is to buy local and stay local and do local business as much as we can,” said Shay.

Residents appear split in their feelings over the company. Some want more information, but others believe it will be a tremendous boost to the area. The company plans to hold a job fair in Hardin the third week of October.

Another development this weekend was the naming of Shay as APF’s new public relations director. Shay was a reporter with the Billings Gazette who had covered the detention facility story for last few years. She announced on Friday she was leaving the paper and hosted the APF press conference Saturday morning.

* * * * * * *

Government contract databases show no record of the company. Security industry representatives and federal officials said they had never heard of it. On its website, the company lists as its headquarters a building in Washington near the White House that holds “virtual offices.” The company also boasts to have “rapid response units awaiting our orders worldwide” and that it can field a battalion-sized team of special forces soldiers “within 72 hours.” The group’s members include major security contractors Triple Canopy, DynCorp and Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide.


Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor

Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation

“Order Out of Chaos” of Freemasonry

Entrance to the Scottish Rite Temple in Washington, DC

Hardin Jail Operators Detail Plans for Training Facility, Expansion

September 26, 2009

Billings Gazette (Hardin, MT) - Officials from American Police Force, a California security company working to lock down a contract with Two Rivers Authority to fill and operate Hardin's new but empty jail, provided more details Saturday of how the finished facility will look and operate.

At a Saturday morning press conference, Becky Shay, APF's new public-relations director, said the company hopes to build a 30,000-square-foot military-style training facility northeast of the jail and a 75,000-square-foot dormitory for the trainees to the southeast, all on a 50-acre plot of land.

She said the buildings would be paid for by APF's "business activities," including security and training, weapons and equipment sales, surveillance and investigations, and are projected to cost $17 million to build and $6 million to equip. There is also room to expand the jail, if needed.

The land is owned by TRA and the city of Hardin and will be leased to APF with a stipulation that the company develop the land.

Two Rivers is the city's economic development agency.

APF plans to focus on getting the jail operating and filled before building begins on a training facility and dorm.

"We've got a 114,000-square-foot building that has been absolutely inactive for two years," Shay said.

Significant obstacles remain - including a lack of any prisoner contracts. The company's operating agreement for the facility has yet to be validated - two weeks after city leaders unveiled what they said was a signed agreement.

Al Peterson, Two Rivers' vice president, said the contract with APF is being reviewed by lawyers to make sure it meets federal and state laws to maintain tax-exempt status for bonds used to pay for the original facility. The original 10-year contract was signed by Two Rivers and APF, but not the bank that has the bonds.

"That's what the holdup is" in finalizing the contract, Peterson said.

Also addressed Saturday were a number of concerns residents have posed about APF. Officials from the company have been checking out Hardin, Shay said, but they weren't hiding out in the community or performing stealth operations during that time.

"They were doing market research that any good business does," Shay said.

Shay and Capt. Michael Hilton, APF's owner, also declined to name APF's mysterious parent company and did not say if or when that information would be released.

"We are here as American Police Force and we will always work with you as American Police Force," Shay said.

But the company's flashy arrival this week stirred new questions. APF officials rolled into Hardin with three Mercedes SUVs marked with a logo that said "City of Hardin Police Department." Yet the city has not had a police force of its own for 30 years.

"Pretty looking police car, ain't it?" Hardin resident Leroy Frickle, 67, said as he eyed one of the vehicles parked in front of a bed-and-breakfast where Hilton and other company representatives were staying. "The things you hear about this American Police, I don't know what to think."

Hilton said the vehicles would be handed over to the city if it forms a police force of its own. City law enforcement is now under the jurisdiction of the Big Horn County Sheriff's Office. The city and county are in discussions to deconsolidate.

After meeting briefly with Hilton on Friday, Mayor Ron Adams said he wanted the police logos removed. The decals were gone from the vehicles by Friday.

"This helps, but it doesn't answer everything until the contract is signed," Adams said. "Talk is cheap."

On Saturday, Hilton said the logos were a sign of good faith to the community that the company is committed to helping Hardin establish a city police department. It would be operated by the local government, he said, like any other police department.

As for prisoners to fill the jail, the APF representatives remained optimistic the place would start filling up in early 2010. Shay declined to say where the inmates would come from but did say that APF is in contract negotiations with various agencies.

"This facility is built for, and this facility will hold, minimum- and medium-security inmates," Shay said.

To staff the 464-bed facility, hundreds of workers will need to be hired, although the percentage of how many locals will be hired has not been finalized. A job fair will be held in the coming weeks for those interested in applying, although a date hasn't officially been set.

Shay is APF's first local hire. A former Billings Gazette reporter, she started work for the company on Friday. She will be the company's spokeswoman for $60,000 a year.

Hilton said he also had a job discussion with Kerri Smith, wife of Two Rivers Authority Executive Director Greg Smith, who helped craft the deal to bring American Police Force to Hardin. Greg Smith was placed on unpaid leave two weeks ago for reasons that have not been publicly explained.
 
Kerri Smith is one of two finalists in the city's mayoral race. Hilton said he asked her to call him about possible employment if she did not win the race.

Kerri Smith could not be reached immediately for comment. A message was left by The Associated Press at a theater owned by the Smith family. Her home number is unlisted.

Private Police Force Patrolling Streets in Montana

September 24, 2009

KULR-8 Television (Billings, MT) - American Police Force officials showed up in Mercedes SUV's that had "Hardin Police" stenciled on the vehicles. The twist, the city of Hardin doesn't have a police department.

Two Rivers Authority officials say having APF patrol the streets was never part of their agenda.

"I have no idea. I really don't because that's not been a part of any of the discussions we've had with any of them," said Two Rivers Authority's Al Peterson.

As it stands now the Big Horn County Sheriff's Department is contracted to patrol the city and APF has no jurisdiction. If that was changed Peterson says it would have to go through the city council.

As for the jail contract with APF, both sides are yet to agree to a deal as bondholders rejected it again on Thursday morning. "It's a complicated issue there are a lot of tax laws to work through we were hoping to get it by Tuesday night now we're hoping to get it by Friday night," said Peterson.

Officials say the contract only deals with the detention facility and a police training center. There's no mention of a homeless shelter, animal shelter, or any services for the area.

"That was never in the contract to begin with. I think it was on a wish list of what Captain Michael wanted to do here," said Peterson. American Police Force officials plan to stay in the area for the next month.

Montana Jail Contract Worth $2.6M a Year

September 18, 2009

Associated Press (Billings, MT) — An obscure California security company was planning a jobs fair next week as it prepared to pay $2.6 million annually to take over a rural Montana jail that the company plans to expand into a military and police training center.

Some of those activities could involve training military and police from overseas — including Afghanistan — to run detention centers and provide security in their home countries, said company representatives and an official in Hardin, the city that built the $27 million jail.

Skepticism lingered because of a refusal by the company, Santa Ana, Calif.-based American Police Force, to say where it would get $30 million it says it will invest in the project.

It's also unclear where the prisoners and trainees would come from. Federal and state officials have said they were unaware of any government agencies planning to use the jail or training center.

American Police Force said it intends to have prisoners in Hardin's Two River Detention Center by early next year. An attorney for the company, Maziar Mafi, said Friday that a jobs fair for the jail is planned next week. Final details still were being worked out, Mafi said.

The jail has sat empty for two years after being built to boost the economy of Hardin, a depressed city of about 3,500 in remote southeastern Montana.

Seeking to answer criticism of the city's 10-year agreement with American Police Force, a Hardin official on Friday offered a few more details about the contract — even as he continued to refuse to release the document.



Albert Peterson, vice president of the city's Two Rivers Authority, which built the jail, said the deal calls for American Police Force to pay about $220,000 a month for the jail. The authority would get an additional $5 per prisoner per day and $10 per day for law enforcement and military trainees.

Peterson said he would not release the contract until a revised version is signed. He said that could happen next week.

"It may be a public document but I'm not releasing it before Monday unless I have a court order to do that," Peterson said.

He also said he would "come clean" on American Police Force's parent entity, which the company has so far refused to identify.

The jail's most vocal promoter, Greg Smith, executive director of the Two Rivers Authority, was placed on paid leave this week. City officials have refused to say why but insist it was unrelated to his work bringing American Police Force to Hardin.

Meanwhile, no contracts for prisoners or trainees are in place. And little is known about American Police Force except that it was formed in March and appears to be largely unknown within security industry circles.

Peterson said that under the terms of the agreement, the company was likely to lose money on the jail but expected to make it up with its training operations.

"The detention center is not the main thing here. It's really the training center," he said. "They'll be using those trainees as guards (at the jail) and everything else."

American Police Force claims extensive government security contracts but there is no public record that such agreements exist.

Company officials have said the entity is a spin-off of a large Washington, D.C.-based security firm with international operations. American Police Force has been linked to other security companies, including Allied Defense Products and Defense Product Solutions. But their exact relationship remains unclear.

The California company said it applied to the Montana Secretary of State this week to incorporate the local subsidiary that would run the jail. Agency spokeswoman Terri Knapp said that had not happened as of late Friday, but added that the paperwork on the application still could be working its way through the system.

The $27 million in bonds used to build the jail went into default last year. Peterson said the 10-year contract would not fully repay that debt, but that the bonds would be covered if the California company exercises its option for an additional 10 years.