View Full Version : Recent robbery in Phoenix
Here is a story of a recent robbery in Phoenix, It barely made local news.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,372202,00.html
Another example of our "sanctuary city" in action.
holy crap, break out the guns fellas, poncho villa lives. better up-arm the PD
Team Sergeant
06-27-2008, 13:23
holy crap, break out the guns fellas, poncho villa lives. better up-arm the PD
Ain't going to happen, the Phoenix PD is only armed with pistols and one in twenty have access to a shotgun......
I'm sure the good and extremely liberal Phoenix PD Chief knows best.:rolleyes:(Only Phoenix SWAT carry assault rifles. )
I've no doubt that a few "more" Phoenix Police Officers will have to executed by illegal mexican aliens before they will address the firepower issue.
ZonieDiver
06-27-2008, 13:30
Ain't going to happen, the Phoenix PD is only armed with pistols and one in twenty have access to a shotgun......
I'm sure the good and extremely liberal Phoenix PD Chief knows best.:rolleyes:(Only Phoenix SWAT carry assault rifles. )
I've no doubt that a few "more" Phoenix Police Officers will have to executed by illegal mexican aliens before they will address the firepower issue.
I heard a PPD spokesman on the radio yesterday stating that AR-15's would be made available to patrol officers. He stated a number, which I cannot remember, and told the head of PLEA (the officers' union - who was on the same radio program at the time) that he might want to check into it. The head of PLEA was complaining about the entire way this incident has been handled/reported by PPD. We shall see.
I find it interesting that "Chief" Harris actually retired a year or so ago and the city created some "Homeland Security" type office for him to take, but he is still referred to as "Chief".
Team Sergeant
06-27-2008, 14:49
I heard a PPD spokesman on the radio yesterday stating that AR-15's would be made available to patrol officers. He stated a number, which I cannot remember, and told the head of PLEA (the officers' union - who was on the same radio program at the time) that he might want to check into it. The head of PLEA was complaining about the entire way this incident has been handled/reported by PPD. We shall see.
I find it interesting that "Chief" Harris actually retired a year or so ago and the city created some "Homeland Security" type office for him to take, but he is still referred to as "Chief".
What the papers didn't write that it was a couple of SWAT cops that actually heard the shots while serving a high risk warrant in the area and responded. Had the bad guys not run out of ammo and regular PD responded we might have had a some dead LEO's today. Having an assault rifle in the trunk and not needing it is much better than not having one and running into bad guys with body armor and evil intent.
And another thing, it was not home invasion, this was an ordered assassination or hit. These bad guys "ported" the windows and fired over 50 rounds into the house and intended target. Phoenix PD, Phoenix mayor and the Phoenix media does not want to scare people and tell you there's a new drug war going on and its battle ground is Phoenix.
Fatal Arizona Home Invasion Sparks Fears of Mexican Military Involvement
Thursday, June 26, 2008
E-Mail Print Share:
An Arizona home invasion allegedly orchestrated by Mexican citizens wearing tactical gear sparked fears that members of the Mexican military were involved in a wave of violent crime in the Phoenix area, according to local reports.
Police followed the sound of gunshots early Monday morning to the home of 30-year-old Andrew Williams, whose bullet-riddled body was found inside, the Arizona Republic reported. Officers then pursued a report of a suspicious Chevrolet Tahoe in the vehicle and arrested three suspects, all wearing body armor and carrying assault-style rifles.
A statement by one of the suspects that he had received prior military training fueled speculation into the fact that they were members of the Mexican military. Phoenix police said Wednesday that none of them were active members.
However, in a radio interview this week, Phoenix Law Enforcement Association President Mark Spencer said the men involved were hired by drug cartels to carry out home invasions and assassinations.
Spencer added that one of the suspects said they were prepared to ambush officers, but ran out of ammunition.
Cops believe three more suspects are still at large.
"We have seen an increasing amount of these type of violent crimes in the past five months," Phoenix Police Sgt. Joel Tranter told the Arizona Republic. "We want the public to realize that these types of crimes will not be tolerated in Phoenix."
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,372202,00.html
And another thing, it was not home invasion, this was an ordered assassination or hit. These bad guys "ported" the windows and fired over 50 rounds into the house and intended target.
Phoenix PD, Phoenix mayor and the Phoenix media does not want to scare people and tell you there's a new drug war going on and its battle ground is Phoenix.
TS, Sir,
Have family in the Phoenix Area, and have sent them a copy of this. It is unbelieveable to me that the "mayor" is such a politically correct coward, that he would risk lives of citizens...
In this same vein, I also heard "a poll" today that ranked Our Nations #1 city for kidnapping as being Phoenix, as related to the mexican mafia... :confused:
Ya'll be safe out there!!!
Holly
Chris Cram
06-27-2008, 21:45
Additional Information to brighten your day.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?s=mexican+phoenix&ok=Search&q=quick&m=any&o=time&SX=48641922dbed3544f844c67e9069cdaec0f367ee
Or http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Mexican+Military+Involvement+Phonix
Smokin Joe
06-27-2008, 22:57
Wear pistol = "check"
Have long gun in vehicle = "check"
I'm good and cannot wait for the move....:D
Phoenix PD does issue AR-15's to patrol officers, but it is limited. Also, shotguns are issued to one officer per squad, and officers are authorized to purchase approved shotguns. Just today I noticed several long guns out on the street on a scene.
Officers were VERY fortunate these guys went black on ammo.
This one actually made the news. There are several killings, shootings, robberies ect.. everyday that don't. The local government here wants to hide the fact that violent crime is on the rise and that the illegal population in Phoenix is out of control and becoming more violent. Like TS said, it won't be until another Officer gets shot or killed that anything changes.
Derek
Ain't going to happen, the Phoenix PD is only armed with pistols and one in twenty have access to a shotgun......
I'm sure the good and extremely liberal Phoenix PD Chief knows best.:rolleyes:(Only Phoenix SWAT carry assault rifles. )
I've no doubt that a few "more" Phoenix Police Officers will have to executed by illegal mexican aliens before they will address the firepower issue.
Not sure if the Phoenix Police Officers would like the idea of their firepower or in this case lack of to be public knowledge.
And I agree that it'll be after a few more deaths in the PPD that didn't need to happen something MIGHT change.
Team Sergeant
06-28-2008, 08:25
Phoenix PD does issue AR-15's to patrol officers, but it is limited.
Officers were VERY fortunate these guys went black on ammo.
My guess would be "limited" to many of the leadership.....(I will find out;))
The officers were fortunate these guys were complete idiots.
Went "black on ammo" you learn that from thunder ranch or gunsite?:D
Team Sergeant
My guess would be "limited" to many of the leadership.....(I will find out;))
The officers were fortunate these guys were complete idiots.
Went "black on ammo" you learn that from thunder ranch or gunsite?:D
Team Sergeant
TS, Sir,
IMVHO, I can only hope that the PPD are provided with ALL the firepower and ammo They need!
Am very saddened to hear that the PPD's victory was b/c the yahoos ran outta ammo.:(
Here is to hoping that the Phoenix Mayor/ city leaders, will step up and get a clue! They need to provide ANYTHING the PD says it wants/needs...IMHO.
Holly
In this case I don't think PD wouldn't have been out-gunned due to the fact that Special Assignments Unit (SWAT) Officers were there from the beginning. When this activity increases odds are that won't always be the case and Patrol Officers with less equipment and training will be dealing with it. This was a really good job by the Officers that initially recognized the potential ambush and dealt with it accordingly.
Here's a link to local talk radio. Podcast of an interview with department officials is at the bottom of the story.
http://ktar.net/blogs/dankarlo/category/podcasts/
Derek
Team Sergeant
06-28-2008, 14:56
The plot thickens......
The Phoenix PD "leadership" is in fact attempting to hide the true nature of this crime and the involvment of the mexican military..... and I only thought the mexican PD was this corrupt.
Team Sergeant
PPD Reports Mexican Military in Phoenix
On Monday June 23 at 0225 hours a home invasion/homicide occurred in the 8300 block of W. Cypress St in the Maryvale precinct. Your Association was first advised of this incident late afternoon of the same day. This was not a 'typical' home invasion scenario.
Your Association is seriously concerned when a crime of this magnitude is committed and the response of Phoenix Police Department upper level managers is to remain silent by presenting this incident as just another "home invasion". Click on the links to the right to read the department's own Special Duty Report, A PPD Commanders response to the duty report, and the Department's Patrol Division Activity Log.
http://www.azplea.com/content.php?info_id=447
This "crime" is indeed a scary yet predictible escalation of violence on the part of the Mexi et all..drug cartels. Why would they hesitate to send military trained teams into the US when they have been killing Mexican public officials for months? I say the Bush doctrine should be invoked: Lets take the fight to them in Mexico instead of the cartels coming here dictating the battle. The model has already been established by hunting Pablo and company in Columbia with US "technical" military assistance and Columbian police/military hunting down the cartel leaders one by one. Start at the outer perimeter and work your way into the big boss.
The reality is that no police department (or SWAT Team) is equipped or manned to fight it out with the military (any military). You can't expect the police to fight in a military manner. Thats not the way they think or are trained. Thank God the shooters ran out of ammo and could not ambush the responding police officers.
Having said the above.... the jack-off that got killed in the hit was no angel so don't shed any tears...
Fascinating events. I suspect we'll see more (a lot more) of this over the next 5 years.
Which is why I'm working diligently on an orderly withdrawal from San Antonio to a more northern venue.
Which is why I'm working diligently on an orderly withdrawal from San Antonio to a more northern venue.
Surrender your man card and Republic of Texas ID on the way out:D
Surrender your man card and Republic of Texas ID on the way out:D
Too true, I'm sorry to say. Maybe the answer is some isolated county in far North Texas... :D
Smokin Joe
06-28-2008, 17:03
Great job SAU!!!
I'm sure that had to have been a clusterfuck with the initial response (i.e. locating the house just by sound alone, then getting 911 call(s)) + coordination (w/ SAU, Patrol, & Dispatch all getting different info on different freqs, and SAU making a different approach then Patrol (different tactics, different mindset, different caliber of officer))+ evolving situation (BG's lighting the house up, then going mobile). That could have been a really bad day for Law Enforcement if those guys still had ammo.
Overall I'm not sure you all could have done a better job, all BG's got caught (at least we hope) and a K-9 got a “street bite" on a deserving BG.
I hope you PPD folks are going out and buying your own AR's if the agency is not supplying them. If not, I sure hope TS is holding mandatory daily range days for you all.... [self correction mode: on)Oh wait Admin's don't think like that ...that’s right.. Admin's, are all about limiting liability and exposure to liability not actually arming and training their ppl to meet today's threat.... sorry, what was I thinking, damn logical thinking kicking in again, I'll try not to let that happen again. [self correction mode: off]
STAY SAFE PPD guys, shit seems to be getting a lot rougher these days.
Unfortunately, PPD officers are not authorized to buy and carry their own rifles. PLEA has been actively pursuing this for some time now. The currently issued rifles are not issued to supervisors. Rifles are issued to officers that were selected to carry them based upon their desire, experience, and seniority.
Actually, I've never been to Gunsite or Thunder Ranch, TS.
Smokin Joe
06-29-2008, 02:03
[QUOTE=SMP9168;214605]Unfortunately, PPD officers are not authorized to buy and carry their own rifles. PLEA has been actively pursuing this for some time now. The currently issued rifles are not issued to supervisors. Rifles are issued to officers that were selected to carry them based upon their desire, experience, and seniority.
QUOTE]
What!!!? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of... and PPD has one of (if not) the best LEO unions in the state.
Shit I had to bring all my guns to the show(expect an 870) Pistol, back up, and Rifle. I also had to pay out of pocket to carry extra pistol and rifle ammo that was the same as our issued duty ammo. Of course working rural Law Enforcement in Northern Arizona is alot different than working Maryvale or some other shit hole. Specifically, back up for us can be anywhere from 5 mins (on a good day) to 30 mins (on an average day) away. As such we deploy rifles (a lot) and carry lots of ammo on our person.
60_Driver
06-29-2008, 08:04
The reality is that no police department (or SWAT Team) is equipped or manned to fight it out with the military (any military). You can't expect the police to fight in a military manner. Thats not the way they think or are trained.
There are legions of black-BDU-clad ninjas carrying GPMGs and riding in APCs who might disagree with you.
But that's a different issue...
I think that, unfortunately, it's going to take an escalation of incidents like this one before anyone who can do anything about it will pay attention to how wide-open our border is. Illegal immigration *almost* did it, but I notice the momentum on that has been reduced.
Team Sergeant
06-29-2008, 13:31
We had a Phoenix PD officer shot last night, by a hispanic male ( I don't know if he's an illegal, yet).
She took one in the vest and one in the hand.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/06/29/20080629officershot.html
FYI
This one initially didn't make the local news.
http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/stories/phoenix_local_news_062708_invasions.46748712.html
Same m.o. as the first; bad guys dressed like cops doing raids.
Thanks to all the human smuggling Phoenix has recently earned the title of #1 city for kidnappings in the U.S.:lifter
Derek
The US/Mexican border would be an great "live fire" training area for pre-deployment.....not to mention our gang and drug infested neighborhoods. If they draw down on you.....drop 'em!
Sorry.....I was feeling my oats for a moment....
ZonieDiver
06-30-2008, 15:08
[QUOTE=SMP9168;214605]Unfortunately, PPD officers are not authorized to buy and carry their own rifles. PLEA has been actively pursuing this for some time now. The currently issued rifles are not issued to supervisors. Rifles are issued to officers that were selected to carry them based upon their desire, experience, and seniority.
QUOTE]
What!!!? That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of... and PPD has one of (if not) the best LEO unions in the state.
Shit I had to bring all my guns to the show(expect an 870) Pistol, back up, and Rifle. I also had to pay out of pocket to carry extra pistol and rifle ammo that was the same as our issued duty ammo. Of course working rural Law Enforcement in Northern Arizona is alot different than working Maryvale or some other shit hole. Specifically, back up for us can be anywhere from 5 mins (on a good day) to 30 mins (on an average day) away. As such we deploy rifles (a lot) and carry lots of ammo on our person.
Hey! I "resemble that remark"! Those two "home invasions" occurred about 2 miles apart, both in Maryvale Precinct - and about 5 miles from my house! (SW Phoenix - also Maryvale precinct) On Monday - noonish - my neighbor, seven houses down, had his door kicked in and was robbed. No one was home. PPD had three units there in short order (another neighbor called). There was a drop house "busted" two streets due north of me a couple months back. I came home from work at 9 p.m. to find PPD, MCSO, ICE and Univision - Channel 33 on scene. We now have almost half the homes in my neighborhood vacant, bank-owned. And a couple weeks back, a 74 year old woman living at her dairy about two miles from me, just north of the Salt River bed was killed during a robbery during the night. Great!
Smokin Joe
06-30-2008, 16:21
Hey! I "resemble that remark"! Those two "home invasions" occurred about 2 miles apart, both in Maryvale Precinct - and about 5 miles from my house! (SW Phoenix - also Maryvale precinct) On Monday - noonish - my neighbor, seven houses down, had his door kicked in and was robbed. No one was home. PPD had three units there in short order (another neighbor called). There was a drop house "busted" two streets due north of me a couple months back. I came home from work at 9 p.m. to find PPD, MCSO, ICE and Univision - Channel 33 on scene. We now have almost half the homes in my neighborhood vacant, bank-owned. And a couple weeks back, a 74 year old woman living at her dairy about two miles from me, just north of the Salt River bed was killed during a robbery during the night. Great!
No offense intended, just conveying that they are hard neighborhoods with lots of criminal activity.
Personally I would love working there but I would not want to live there YMMV.
ZonieDiver
06-30-2008, 23:29
No offense taken. It IS an armpit now, but used to be such a fine place to live - kind of like much of Phoenix!
The antihero
07-02-2008, 17:49
Thought it could be of some interest.
----------------------------------------------------------
Mexican Cartels and the Fallout From Phoenix
July 2, 2008
By Fred Burton and Scott Stewart
Late on the night of June 22, a residence in Phoenix was approached by a heavily armed tactical team preparing to serve a warrant. The members of the team were wearing the typical gear for members of their profession: black boots, black BDU pants, Kevlar helmets and Phoenix Police Department (PPD) raid shirts pulled over their body armor. The team members carried AR-15 rifles equipped with Aimpoint sights to help them during the low-light operation and, like most cops on a tactical team, in addition to their long guns, the members of this team carried secondary weapons — pistols strapped to their thighs.
But the raid took a strange turn when one element of the team began directing suppressive fire on the residence windows while the second element entered — a tactic not normally employed by the PPD. This breach of departmental protocol did not stem from a mistake on the part of the team’s commander. It occurred because the eight men on the assault team were not from the PPD at all. These men were not cops serving a legal search or arrest warrant signed by a judge; they were cartel hit men serving a death warrant signed by a Mexican drug lord.
The tactical team struck hard and fast. They quickly killed a man in the house and then fled the scene in two vehicles, a red Chevy Tahoe and a gray Honda sedan. Their aggressive tactics did have consequences, however. The fury the attackers unleashed on the home — firing over 100 rounds during the operation — drew the attention of a nearby Special Assignments Unit (SAU) team, the PPD’s real tactical team, which responded to the scene with other officers. An SAU officer noticed the Tahoe fleeing the scene and followed it until it entered an alley. Sensing a potential ambush, the SAU officer chose to establish a perimeter and wait for reinforcements rather than charge down the alley after the suspects. This was fortunate, because after three of the suspects from the Tahoe were arrested, they confessed that they had indeed planned to ambush the police officers chasing them.
The assailants who fled in the Honda have not yet been found, but police did recover the vehicle in a church parking lot. They reportedly found four sets of body armor in the vehicle and also recovered an assault rifle abandoned in a field adjacent to the church.
This Phoenix home invasion and murder is a vivid reminder of the threat to U.S. law enforcement officers that stems from the cartel wars in Mexico.
Violence Crosses the Border
The fact that the Mexican men involved in the Phoenix case were heavily armed and dressed as police comes as no surprise to anyone who has followed security events in Mexico. Teams of cartel enforcers frequently impersonate police or military personnel, often wearing matching tactical gear and carrying standardized weapons. In fact, it is rare to see a shootout or cartel-related arms seizure in Mexico where tactical gear and clothing bearing police or military insignia is not found.
One reason for the prevalent use of this type of equipment is that many cartel enforcers come from military or police backgrounds. By training and habit, they prefer to operate as a team composed of members equipped with standardized gear so that items such as ammunition and magazines can be interchanged during a firefight. This also gives a team member the ability to pick up the familiar weapon of a fallen comrade and immediately bring it into action. This is of course the same reason military units and police forces use standardized equipment in most places.
Police clothing, such as hats, patches and raid jackets, is surprisingly easy to come by. Authentic articles can be stolen or purchased through uniform vendors or cop shops. Knockoff uniform items can easily be manufactured in silk screen or embroidery shops by duplicating authentic designs. Even badges are easy to obtain if one knows where to look.
While it now appears that the three men arrested in Phoenix were not former or active members of the Mexican military or police, it is not surprising that they employed military- and police-style tactics. Enforcers of various cartel groups such as Los Zetas, La Gente Nueva or the Kaibiles who have received advanced tactical training often pass on that training to younger enforcers (many of whom are former street thugs) at makeshift training camps located on ranches in northern Mexico. There are also reports of Israeli mercenaries visiting these camps to provide tactical training. In this way, the cartel enforcers are transforming ordinary street thugs into highly-trained cartel tactical teams.
Though cartel enforcers have almost always had ready access to guns, including military weapons such as assault rifles and grenade launchers, groups such as Los Zetas, the Kaibiles and their young disciples bring an added level of threat to the equation. They are highly trained men with soldiers’ mindsets who operate as a unit capable of using their weapons with deadly effectiveness. Assault rifles in the hands of untrained thugs are dangerous, but when those same weapons are placed in the hands of men who can shoot accurately and operate tactically as a fire team, they can be overwhelmingly powerful — not only when used against enemies and other intended targets, but also when used against law enforcement officers who attempt to interfere with the team’s operations.
The antihero
07-02-2008, 17:51
Targets
Although the victim in the Phoenix killing, Andrew Williams, was reportedly a Jamaican drug dealer who crossed a Mexican cartel, there are many other targets in the United States that the cartels would like to eliminate. These targets include Mexican cartel members who have fled to the United States due to several different factors. The first factor is the violent cartel war that has raged in Mexico for the past few years over control of important smuggling routes and strategic locations along those routes. The second factor is the Calderon administration’s crackdown, first on the Gulf cartel and now on the Sinaloa cartel. Pressure from rival cartels and the government has forced many cartel leaders into hiding, and some of them have left Mexico for Central America or the United States.
Traditionally, when violence has spiked in Mexico, cartel figures have used U.S. cities such as Laredo, El Paso and San Diego as rest and recreation spots, reasoning that the general umbrella of safety provided by U.S. law enforcement to those residing in the United States would protect them from assassination by their enemies. As bolder Mexican cartel hit men have begun to carry out assassinations on the U.S. side of the border in places such as Laredo, Rio Bravo, and even Dallas, the cartel figures have begun to seek sanctuary deeper in the United States, thereby bringing the threat with them.
While many cartel leaders are wanted in the United States, many have family members not being sought by U.S. law enforcement. (Many of them even have relatives who are U.S. citizens.) Some family members have also settled comfortably inside the United States, using the country as a haven from violence in Mexico. These families might become targets, however, as the cartels look for creative ways to hurt their rivals.
Other cartel targets in the United States include Drug Enforcement Administration and other law enforcement officers responsible for operations against the cartels, and informants who have cooperated with U.S. or Mexican authorities and been relocated stateside for safety. There are also many police officers who have quit their jobs in Mexico and fled to the United States to escape threats from the cartels, as well as Mexican businessmen who are targeted by cartels and have moved to the United States for safety.
To date, the cartels for the most part have refrained from targeting innocent civilians. In the type of environment they operate under inside Mexico, cartels cannot afford to have the local population, a group they use as camouflage, turn against them. It is not uncommon for cartel leaders to undertake public relations events (they have even held carnivals for children) in order to build goodwill with the general population. As seen with al Qaeda in Iraq, losing the support of the local population is deadly for a militant group attempting to hide within that population.
Cartels have also attempted to minimize civilian casualties in their operations inside the United States, though for a different operational consideration. The cartels believe that if a U.S. drug dealer or a member of a rival Mexican cartel is killed in a place like Dallas or Phoenix, nobody really cares. Many people see such a killing as a public service, and there will not be much public outcry about it, nor much real effort on the part of law enforcement agencies to identify and catch the killers. The death of a civilian, on the other hand, brings far more public condemnation and law enforcement attention.
However, the aggressiveness of cartel enforcers and their brutal lack of regard for human life means that while they do not intentionally target civilians, they are bound to create collateral casualties along the way. This is especially true as they continue to conduct operations like the Phoenix killing, where they fired over 100 rounds of 5.56 mm ball ammunition at a home in a residential neighborhood.
Tactical Implications
Judging from the operations of the cartel enforcers in Mexico, they have absolutely no hesitation about firing at police officers who interfere with their operations or who dare to chase them. Indeed, the Phoenix case nearly ended in an ambush of the police. It must be noted, however, that this ambush was not really intentional, but rather the natural reaction of these Mexican cartel enforcers to police pursuit. They were accustomed to shooting at police and military south of the border and have very little regard for them. In many instances, this aggression convinces the poorly armed and trained police to leave the cartel gunmen alone.
The problem such teams pose for the average U.S. cop on patrol is that the average cop is neither trained nor armed to confront a heavily armed fire team. In fact, a PPD source advised Stratfor that, had the SAU officer not been the first to arrive on the scene, it could have been a disaster for the department. This is not a criticism of the Phoenix cops. The vast majority of police officers and federal agents in the United States simply are not prepared or equipped to deal with a highly trained fire team using insurgent tactics. That is a task suited more for the U.S. military forces currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
These cartel gunmen also have the advantage of being camouflaged as cops. This might not only cause considerable confusion during a firefight (who do backup officers shoot at if both parties in the fight are dressed like cops?) but also means that responding officers might hesitate to fire on the criminals dressed as cops. Such hesitation could provide the criminals with an important tactical advantage — an advantage that could prove fatal for the officers.
Mexican cartel enforcers have also demonstrated a history of using sophisticated scanners to listen to police radio traffic, and in some cases they have even employed police radios to confuse and misdirect the police responding to an armed confrontation with cartel enforcers.
We anticipate that as the Mexican cartels begin to go after more targets inside the United States, the spread of cartel violence and these dangerous tactics beyond the border region will catch some law enforcement officers by surprise. A patrol officer conducting a traffic stop on a group of cartel members who are preparing to conduct an assassination in, say, Los Angeles, Chicago or northern Virginia could quickly find himself heavily outgunned and under fire. With that said, cops in the United States are far more capable than their Mexican counterparts of dealing with this threat.
In addition to being far better trained, U.S. law enforcement officers also have access to far better command, control and communication networks than their Mexican counterparts. Like we saw in the Phoenix example, this communication network provides cops with the ability to quickly summon reinforcements, air support and tactical teams to deal with heavily armed criminals — but this communication system only helps if it can be used. That means cops need to recognize the danger before they are attacked and prevented from calling for help. As with many other threats, the key to protecting oneself against this threat is situational awareness, and cops far from the border need to become aware of this trend.
ZonieDiver
08-07-2008, 12:18
Moderators - not sure if this is the right thread for this, couldn't find a more appropriate one, and didn't wish to start another. It is close, at any rate.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/06/soldiers-cross-into-us-hold-guns-to-agent/
Last Sunday (8/2) as the above story relates, a supposed Mexican military unit on the US side of the border held a US Border Patrolman at gunpoint (I have heard with a 'gun to his head') for some time - until BP backup arrived. They claimed to be "unaware" of the location (no GPS?). By the location in the story, it would seem this was not too far from the Lukeville-Sonoyta border crossing, used by thousands of Arizonans weekly on their way to Rocky Point.
I've also read that there have been literally hundreds of these crossings in the past few years, some as far as 8 miles. What the hell is up?