Shaffer
04-09-07, 09:51 AM
The burgeoning democracy of Iraq relies upon a strong judicial system to maintain peace and order among the civilian populace.
Those detained on suspicion of violent crimes have many of the same rights Americans enjoy. For example, they have the right to a trial in Iraqi courts, and for a conviction, the prosecution must have enough evidence to refute a suspect’s denial. For this to happen, all statements, evidence and circumstances surrounding the alleged crime must be intricately documented.
Amassing and organizing information to bring suspected criminals to court is the mission of the Joint Prosecution and Exploitation Center. The JPEC is responsible for making criminal charges hold up in the Iraqi court system. They both rely on infantry Marines who detain suspects to collect intelligence and prosecutorial information which prevents dangerous people from being released back onto the streets.
Detained suspects must be released after a short period of time if Marines have not collected enough evidence to convict them in Iraqi court or prove they are a threat against Iraq, according to Master Gunnery Sgt. John Boscia, officer-in-charge of the Sensitive Site Exploitation Training Team, Multi-National Force – West. Some offenders have been detained and let go, only to be picked up again on suspicion of the same activities: planting improvised explosive devices, planning attacks against coalition forces or aiding Al Qaeda in Iraq.
To mitigate this issue, the SSE training team travels around Al Anbar Province teaching Marines the right way to gather evidence against the bad guys.
“This is where the roots of the justice system take place,” said Boscia. “The quality of evidence and information we teach these ground units to bring in is the start of the whole process and is the most crucial element of the whole process.”
The team has several qualified instructors who have civilian backgrounds in collecting evidence.
“Sensitive Site Exploitation is what we might classify as Crime Scene Investigation in a combat zone,” said Lance Manthey, a civilian law enforcement professional under contract to assist Marines in understanding the criminal and organized crime aspects of terrorist cells.
“The bottom line is sometimes the rules of engagement don’t allow us to kill the insurgents like we would like to. However, the second best option is to prosecute them and to put them in prison for as long as we possibly can; thereby, alleviating the potential for them to be back on the streets, planting IEDs and shooting at us again,” said Manthey.
Cpl. Patrick Hannon, a radio operator assigned to Personal Security Detail, Regimental Combat Team 6, recently completed the three-day SSE course. He said all elements of the site where a suspect is detained should be considered as evidence.
“You have to look around and figure out what evidence can be used to compromise the bad guys,” said 21-year-old native of Montgomery, Ala.
Photographs, weapons, IED-making materials and statements made at the time of detainment are pieced together to close the legal loopholes that may liberate a killer, said Hannon.
Because of the prosecution’s responsibility to prove criminal activity against the defendant’s denial and cover-up attempts, they rely heavily on the individual Marines who detain the suspect to provide a thorough assessment of all events and evidence surrounding the apprehension.
“Our training is geared toward the ground combat Marines and their leaders, especially. They’re the ones who have to transition from ground combat operations when they’re out on missions to a police investigator when they are faced with a ‘capture vs. kill’ situation,” said Boscia.
“If they don’t bring the right information in, if they don’t know what to look for, if they don’t ask the right questions to detainees, we don’t ever get that information, and we never put it in the evaluation and evidence package,” he said. “Therefore, the whole system after that is missing the information that may be the link to putting these insurgents away for a long time.”
Without the complete and correct evidence, repeated suspects can be released dozens of times, which means the threat is not neutralized, said Boscia.
While SSE training is gaining prominence and relevancy among military units operating in Al Anbar Province, Manthey noted, it’s not unfamiliar territory.
“There has been site exploitation in the military for many years. The majority has been intelligence-based,” he said, referring to the military’s long-standing priority to know the enemy.
“It’s very typical to approach things from the specific, intelligence mindset. However, if you change the mindset and approach things from a criminal prosecution mindset, you gather intelligence at the same time,” he said.
Therefore, SSE is a double-edged sword; not only are criminals put away, but future terrorist operations are hampered.
“It enables us to gather a higher quality and quantity of intelligence materials to focus on future targeting packages and future operations,” said Boscia.
The SSE training team has high hopes their training program will reverberate through the Iraqi justice system.
“Basically, what that will mean to (the Marines) is they will have all the training materials they need to go back and train the rest of their unit. It creates a multiplying effect,” said Boscia. “Hopefully, that will grow and proficiency will spread when they gather evidence.”
The bottom line is, Iraqi judges want to find the truth in order to serve justice, said Boscia. Marines gathering precise evidence assures precision in making sure the innocent are acquitted and the guilty are put away.
Those detained on suspicion of violent crimes have many of the same rights Americans enjoy. For example, they have the right to a trial in Iraqi courts, and for a conviction, the prosecution must have enough evidence to refute a suspect’s denial. For this to happen, all statements, evidence and circumstances surrounding the alleged crime must be intricately documented.
Amassing and organizing information to bring suspected criminals to court is the mission of the Joint Prosecution and Exploitation Center. The JPEC is responsible for making criminal charges hold up in the Iraqi court system. They both rely on infantry Marines who detain suspects to collect intelligence and prosecutorial information which prevents dangerous people from being released back onto the streets.
Detained suspects must be released after a short period of time if Marines have not collected enough evidence to convict them in Iraqi court or prove they are a threat against Iraq, according to Master Gunnery Sgt. John Boscia, officer-in-charge of the Sensitive Site Exploitation Training Team, Multi-National Force – West. Some offenders have been detained and let go, only to be picked up again on suspicion of the same activities: planting improvised explosive devices, planning attacks against coalition forces or aiding Al Qaeda in Iraq.
To mitigate this issue, the SSE training team travels around Al Anbar Province teaching Marines the right way to gather evidence against the bad guys.
“This is where the roots of the justice system take place,” said Boscia. “The quality of evidence and information we teach these ground units to bring in is the start of the whole process and is the most crucial element of the whole process.”
The team has several qualified instructors who have civilian backgrounds in collecting evidence.
“Sensitive Site Exploitation is what we might classify as Crime Scene Investigation in a combat zone,” said Lance Manthey, a civilian law enforcement professional under contract to assist Marines in understanding the criminal and organized crime aspects of terrorist cells.
“The bottom line is sometimes the rules of engagement don’t allow us to kill the insurgents like we would like to. However, the second best option is to prosecute them and to put them in prison for as long as we possibly can; thereby, alleviating the potential for them to be back on the streets, planting IEDs and shooting at us again,” said Manthey.
Cpl. Patrick Hannon, a radio operator assigned to Personal Security Detail, Regimental Combat Team 6, recently completed the three-day SSE course. He said all elements of the site where a suspect is detained should be considered as evidence.
“You have to look around and figure out what evidence can be used to compromise the bad guys,” said 21-year-old native of Montgomery, Ala.
Photographs, weapons, IED-making materials and statements made at the time of detainment are pieced together to close the legal loopholes that may liberate a killer, said Hannon.
Because of the prosecution’s responsibility to prove criminal activity against the defendant’s denial and cover-up attempts, they rely heavily on the individual Marines who detain the suspect to provide a thorough assessment of all events and evidence surrounding the apprehension.
“Our training is geared toward the ground combat Marines and their leaders, especially. They’re the ones who have to transition from ground combat operations when they’re out on missions to a police investigator when they are faced with a ‘capture vs. kill’ situation,” said Boscia.
“If they don’t bring the right information in, if they don’t know what to look for, if they don’t ask the right questions to detainees, we don’t ever get that information, and we never put it in the evaluation and evidence package,” he said. “Therefore, the whole system after that is missing the information that may be the link to putting these insurgents away for a long time.”
Without the complete and correct evidence, repeated suspects can be released dozens of times, which means the threat is not neutralized, said Boscia.
While SSE training is gaining prominence and relevancy among military units operating in Al Anbar Province, Manthey noted, it’s not unfamiliar territory.
“There has been site exploitation in the military for many years. The majority has been intelligence-based,” he said, referring to the military’s long-standing priority to know the enemy.
“It’s very typical to approach things from the specific, intelligence mindset. However, if you change the mindset and approach things from a criminal prosecution mindset, you gather intelligence at the same time,” he said.
Therefore, SSE is a double-edged sword; not only are criminals put away, but future terrorist operations are hampered.
“It enables us to gather a higher quality and quantity of intelligence materials to focus on future targeting packages and future operations,” said Boscia.
The SSE training team has high hopes their training program will reverberate through the Iraqi justice system.
“Basically, what that will mean to (the Marines) is they will have all the training materials they need to go back and train the rest of their unit. It creates a multiplying effect,” said Boscia. “Hopefully, that will grow and proficiency will spread when they gather evidence.”
The bottom line is, Iraqi judges want to find the truth in order to serve justice, said Boscia. Marines gathering precise evidence assures precision in making sure the innocent are acquitted and the guilty are put away.