Managing Department of the Army civilian police officer

Military Police, March, 2002 by Michael M. Moses, John Little

Recent events have increased interest in using Department of the Army civilian (DAC) police officers for access-control operations and force protection missions. The Fort Shafter MP Battalion, U.S. Army MP Brigade-Hawaii, currently has a 59-person DAC police detachment supporting U.S. Army Hawaii and the 25th Infantry Division (Light).

This civilian police force has operated since 1991 when the Department of Defense Police Guard Company activated. The detachment's mission is to provide a professional, highly trained, motivated, and physically fit civilian police force in support of the provost marshal's law enforcement mission and contingency operations. The detachment has officers assigned to three geographical locations on Oahu (Fort DeRussy, Wainae Army Recreation Center, and the Fort Shafter headquarters) and one on the big island of Hawaii at the Pohakalua Training Area (PTA). This article provides a snapshot of the organizational structure, qualifications, training, operations, and costs associated with managing a civilian police workforce.

Organizational Structure

The Fort Shafter DAC police detachment is a civilian organization comprised of a headquarters element and three detachments. The unit is made up of General Schedule (GS), job series 083, police officers as follows:

* One GS- 11 chief of police.

* One GS-08 executive officer.

* One GS-08 training officer.

* Two GS-07 administrative assistants.

Each detachment is commanded by a GS-08 with the exception of the PTA. Because of a certain amount of autonomy, its detachment commander is a GS- 10 and the operation officer is a GS-08. The DAC police officers are hired as trainees--GS-05 with promotion potential to GS-06 upon graduation from a police academy. With few exceptions, most of the unit's employees are retired or former service members.

Basic Qualifications

The qualification and selection criteria for DAC police are governed by Army Regulation (AR) 190-56, The Army Civilian Police and Security Guard Program. Potential police officers are also required to meet the Office of Personnel Management's qualification standards for the police series. Minimum qualification standards include possessing the ability to--

* Protect property based on previous experience.

* Make decisions.

* Perform administrative and clerical duties.

* Obtain a successful medical examination.

* Qualify on weapons.

* Obtain a secret security clearance.

Basic character traits and personal qualifications such as honesty, courtesy, tact, cooperation, personal appearance, and bearing are also important factors. Good conduct, integrity, dependability, and mental and physical fitness are also required.

Other qualification requirements include specialized experience that provides the knowledge of--

* A body of basic laws and regulations.

* The operations, practices, and techniques of law enforcement.

* The maintenance of order and protection of life and property.

Creditable specialized experience may have been gained by working as a civilian or military police officer or by providing visitor protection and law enforcement in parks, forests, or other natural resource/recreational environments.

DAC police officers must also complete a physical training test, completing 2-minute, timed push-up and sit-up events (a minimum of 20 repetitions per event) and a mile run in less than 10 minutes. Successful completion of a federal, state, county, or municipal police academy may be substituted for a maximum of 3 months of specialized experience or 6 months of general experience. A comparable training course that included at least 40 classroom hours of instruction in police department procedures and methods and local laws/regulations may also be substituted.

Training

All DAC police officers training is governed by the DA Field Training and Evaluation Program (FTEP) and Training Circular 19-138, Civilian Law Enforcement and Security Officer Training (see chart). Initial and sustainment training includes such topics as--

* Report preparation.

* Interpersonal communication.

* Self-defense.

* Apprehension and search.

* Evidence handling.

* Domestic disturbance.

* Criminal law and other law enforcement topics.

The FTEP is very similar to an Army Training Evaluation Program manual. It contains evaluation criteria for tasks performed during training.

Sustainment training is the most challenging aspect of DAC police officer training management. Regulations allow for blanket overtime approval for officer training; however, this can become an expensive program. Until the recent terrorist events, the command used military police to backfill DAC police detachments, thereby allowing them to conduct a green-cycle training week once per quarter. The training week covered new procedures, weapons qualification ranges, physical fitness, and special tasks identified as areas needing improvement based on observation from the last 3 months duty performance. Now that the unit has substantially increased its force protection commitments, it must look for new ways to sustain the DAC police officers' standards. One initiative currently underway is a job book--using the two base training documents mentioned earlier--for each officer based on tasks, conditions, and standards. This training methodology, administered by the first-line supervisor, is conducted while the police officer is on duty. Tasks are completed at the supervisor's pace with a stringent adherence to training to standard and not time. Even though this method puts officers at different times in the training management process, it does allow for exceptional contact time and immediate supervisor feedback. Each supervisor is encouraged to develop miniscenarios that enhance the officers' hands-on skills. Now more than ever, leaders are asked to create training opportunities that achieve quick results and provide a basis for assessing performance against a standard.