Military Police Woman, Girlfriend Record Last Shift; Say Army is Leaving Them Broken

Sergeant Jeanette Bautista, a military policewoman at Fort Carson, Colorado, filmed her last day on duty with her long-time friend, who is also a sergeant.

During the interview, the two admitted that they’ve never deployed in the five years they’ve been MPs, and have known each other since they first processed to go to basic training.

After a while, the camera panned over to show base operations at the front gate, revealing camera locations and gate security procedures.

During the interview, Bautista and her buddy expressed their desire to get out, doing a little dance while they talked about being done with the service.

The video was posted in late November, and it is unknown if the two have separated from the military yet.  (Popular Military, December 18, 2018)
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The video has been removed from SGT Bautista's YouTube Channel, but can still be viewed on Popular Military.

Consider OPSEC before posting to social media. Anything posted on social media can be copied and cross-posted to other sites.

Judge Rules Cops, Schools Had No Duty to Shield Students in Parkland Shooting

A federal judge on Monday ruled that Broward County schools and the sheriff’s office were not legally obligated to protect and shield students in the shooting that occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., last February, according to a report in the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

The outlet reports that U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom tossed out a lawsuit brought by 15 students who survived the school shooting that argued the sheriff’s office and the Broward school district had a legal duty to protect them during the massacre.

Bloom, however, reportedly ruled that the defendants were not constitutionally obligated to protect students who were not in custody.

“The claim arises from the actions of [shooter Nikolas] Cruz, a third party, and not a state actor,” she wrote in the ruling last week. “Thus, the critical question the Court analyzes is whether defendants had a constitutional duty to protect plaintiffs from the actions of Cruz.”

“As previously stated, for such a duty to exist on the part of defendants, plaintiffs would have to be considered to be in custody,” she continued.

Scot Peterson, one of the defendants in the case, was the only armed deputy stationed at the high school on the day the gunman, Nikolas Cruz, arrived at the school with an assault rifle and killed 17 people.

Peterson resigned from his job at the Broward County Sheriff's Office shortly after the shooting in February after being the target of backlash for not intervening during the mass shooting.

“His arbitrary and conscience-shocking actions and inactions directly and predictably caused children to die, get injured, and get traumatized,” the lawsuit had claimed of Peterson.

The students argued in the lawsuit that the defendants’ “either have a policy that allows killers to walk through a school killing people without being stopped. Alternatively, they have such inadequate training that the individuals tasked with carrying out the policies ... lack the basic fundamental understandings of what those policies are such that they are incapable of carrying them out.”

The ruling comes a week after Broward Circuit Judge Patti Englander Henning rejected Peterson's argument that he had "no legal duty" to intervene during the school shooting, saying that he had an “obligation to act reasonably” during the incident instead.  (The Hill, December 18, 2018)
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This ruling should come as no surprise. The courts have repeatedly ruled that the police have no duty to protect individuals in their communities from harm. Certainly there are men and women in law enforcement that do put themselves at great risk in the defense of others, but the law does not require them to do so, and they may legally choose to standby and do nothing - as we saw in Parkland.

Combine this with "gun free school zones" ensuring the teachers, parents, and other law abiding visitors to schools will be unarmed, and we create an environment where children can be attacked with impunity by any violent criminal.

Operating in Hostile and Non-Permissive Environments:

A Survival and Resource Guide for Those Who Go in Harm’s Way

 

Military personnel deployed to a combat area, their supporting contractors overseas, government civilian employees overseas, non-government organizations (NGOs), journalists working on international stories, businesses attempting to establish a foothold in developing countries, and individual travelers to remote areas of the world can all find themselves in hostile and non-permissive environments. This guide covers a broad range of subjects that are intended to aid individuals, living and working in dangerous areas, in being safer in their daily lives and in being better able to protect themselves and survive in case of an emergency, disaster, or hostile action.



Facebook Hack Included Search History and Location Data of Millions

Facebook said Friday that an attack on its computer systems that was announced two weeks ago had affected 30 million users, and the personal information that was exposed was far more intimate than originally thought, adding to Facebook’s challenges as it investigates what was probably the most substantial breach of its network in the company’s 14-year history.

Detailed information was stolen from the Facebook profiles of about 14 million of the 30 million users. The data was as specific as the last 15 people or things they had searched for on Facebook and the last 10 physical locations they had “checked into.”

Other personal details were also exposed, like gender, religious affiliation, telephone number, email addresses and the types of computing devices used to reach Facebook.  (New York Times, October 12, 2018)
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Regardless of your privacy settings, consider anything that you post to social media to be PUBLIC!. Remember that whatever you post may one day be read by your grandmother, your priest, your local Sheriff, or published on the front page of the New York Times.

If you have a concern with something being seen (and perhaps republished) in a public venue, don't post it to social media.

 

Operating in Hostile and Non-Permissive Environments:
A Survival and Resource Guide for Those Who Go in Harm’s Way

 

Military personnel deployed to a combat area, their supporting contractors overseas, government civilian employees overseas, non-government organizations (NGOs), journalists working on international stories, businesses attempting to establish a foothold in developing countries, and individual travelers to remote areas of the world can all find themselves in hostile and non-permissive environments. This guide covers a broad range of subjects that are intended to aid individuals, living and working in dangerous areas, in being safer in their daily lives and in being better able to protect themselves and survive in case of an emergency, disaster, or hostile action.

Trump Says He'll Review Murder Case Against ex-Army Green Beret

President Donald Trump said Sunday's that he will be "reviewing" the case of a former U.S. Army Green Beret being charged with murder, raising questions about the possibility he could jeopardize the ongoing military legal proceedings. Trump tweeted that "at the request of many" he will examine allegations that Mathew Golsteyn hunted down and killed a suspected bomb-maker in Afghanistan. The president tweeted that Golsteyn is a "U.S. Military hero" who could face the death penalty "from our own government."

Any review or intervention by Trump could constitute unlawful command influence and could threaten the case against the former Green Beret.

In a statement Sunday, Army Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, said that "the allegations against Major Matt Golsteyn are a law enforcement matter. The Department of Defense will respect the integrity of this process and provide updates when appropriate."

Trump and other senior military and administration leaders have issued statements about military criminal cases in the past, triggering legal appeals and other complications as the courts work to insure impartial proceedings. The president, however, does have broad authority to pardon criminal defendants. (KOMO 4 News, December 16, 2018)
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Operating in Hostile and Non-Permissive Environments:

A Survival and Resource Guide for Those Who Go in Harm’s Way

 

Military personnel deployed to a combat area, their supporting contractors overseas, government civilian employees overseas, non-government organizations (NGOs), journalists working on international stories, businesses attempting to establish a foothold in developing countries, and individual travelers to remote areas of the world can all find themselves in hostile and non-permissive environments. This guide covers a broad range of subjects that are intended to aid individuals, living and working in dangerous areas, in being safer in their daily lives and in being better able to protect themselves and survive in case of an emergency, disaster, or hostile action.

 

Man Shot by Police at Portland Starbucks Pointed Fake Gun at Officers

Ryan Joseph Beisley, wounded by Portland police at the Starbucks at the Hollywood [OR] Fred Meyer on Friday (Decmber 7, 2018) night, was carrying a fake black handgun that he appears to have pointed at officers, according to a preliminary police investigation.

The replica firearm was found near where Beisley was lying before he was placed on a gurney and into an ambulance, police spokesman Sgt. Chris Burley said.

Beisley, 34, escaped Dec. 1 from a Seattle residential re-entry center and was wanted on a federal fugitive warrant, according to federal prison records.

On Jan. 20, 2015, Beisley was sentenced to five years and 10 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to three bank robberies and two attempted bank robberies that occurred between Nov. 16 and Nov. 26, 2013. He also was ordered to pay more than $10,000 in restitution.

At the time he was sentenced, a federal judge recommended that he serve his time at the prison in Sheridan to allow contact with family members for support and that he participate in a residential drug and alcohol treatment program and a prison rehabilitation program. (Oregon Live, December 10, 2018)
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There is little chance that responding police officers can tell the difference between a real gun and a toy when responding to this type of a scene. This YouTube video shows why police sometimes shoot even unarmed citizens when responding to calls.

 

Surveillance: How China Plans to Track and Rate Everything Its Citizens Do

Imagine living in a society where every action you make in your day-to-day life is monitored, quantified and scored by the government using a massive surveillance network.

Now, imagine that score is used to determine everything from your career choices to whether or not you're allowed to travel outside the country. This kind of dystopian fantasy is common in science fiction, but in China, the Chinese Communist Party is working to make it a reality.

China aims to have the system fully implemented by 2020. It will no doubt be a massive undertaking to keep track of China's more than 1.3 billion people, but the country already has a head start thanks to its massive surveillance system. In addition to 200 million cameras, China has implemented facial recognition technology in an effort to recognize criminals on the street. (Circa, December 3, 2018)
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Many would consider the surveillance system of the Chinese Communist Party to be oppressive, an abuse of human rights. And while China may be a few steps ahead of other countries in the constant surveillance of its citizens, China is not alone in this surveillance state mentality.

Operating in Hostile and Non-Permissive Environments:

A Survival and Resource Guide for Those Who Go in Harm’s Way

Black Man Killed by Police in Alabama Was Shot From Behind, Autopsy Shows

A black man killed by the police in an Alabama mall in November was shot three times from behind, according to a forensic examination commissioned by the man’s family.

The finding, announced in a news conference on Monday, was seen by the man’s family and lawyers as evidence he was running away and posed no threat to the officer who shot him. The forensic examination indicated Mr. Bradford was shot in his back, the back of his head and the back of his neck.

“All of these shots were potentially kill shots,” said Ben Crump, the Bradford family’s lawyer.

Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., 21, was fatally shot in the middle of a panicked crowd at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover, Ala., on Nov. 22, as officers responded to reports of gunshots on Thanksgiving night.

Witnesses said Mr. Bradford, who was legally carrying a handgun, was directing shoppers to safety. (New York Times, December 4, 2018)
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