VA Police – Enemy Within the Gates

By Glenn McBride

The Department of Veterans Affairs Police obstruct, harass and surveil to try to make life hell for veterans and advocates through confidential informants, slander, illegal phone tapping.  In summary, VA cops are scum; they are too often the real enemy.

“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason? Why if it prosper, none dare call it treason.” – Ovid

VA police engage in intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance as though America is enemy territory.

Here in America we live in a culture of dichotomies. Case in point is this month’s 4th of July weekend, a holiday where Americans celebrate freedom and independence.

Yet, after the pretty fireworks displays and family barbecues are over, how many are even aware that America has the highest incarceration rate in the entire world? Now that is In both per-capita and raw numbers, mind you, as a quick peek at the statistics shows America at 756 per 100,000 imprisoned, Russia a distant second at 629 per 100,000, and China trailing far behind at 119 per 100,000.

On paper, America is the home of the free and the land of the brave, yet in reality we imprison and enslave our fellow citizens at a rate far in excess of even Communist China or even Russia.

Carrying that line of thought into our own little bailiwick, we have the Department of Veterans Affairs. The VA is, on paper, a perfectly benevolent and non-adversarial federal agency. To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and all that stuff.

Yet the majority of veterans that have dealt with the VA would define the VA as the single most adversarial and tyrannical agency in the nation.

After all, the IRS only wants your money, the VA wants your soul; as witnessed by the stratospheric suicide rates among veterans, inordinately high amounts of homeless veterans, an abysmal accuracy rate for claims processing, and a staggering backlog of one million and counting.

Department of Veterans Affairs Police

Moving downward even further, we eventually come to the Department of Veterans Affairs Police. Many are not even aware that the VA has, or even needs, their own police department. Yet the VA police are the largest uniformed police force within the American government with more than 3,200 officers. Veterans Affairs police are granted full police powers as GS-0083 officers, in the same overall category as the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of Defense, and United States Park Police.

As always, the reality is much different than the public relations release. The official VA police motto is “Protecting Those Who Served”, but some might say the VA police motto should be changed to “To serve man” as in as meal to be eaten, but I digress. Besides, how many 15-car pile-ups happen in the VA parking lot? How many rolling bar fights break out in the VA canteen? How often is the VA credit union robbed at gunpoint? In short, what is it that the VA police do all day? Funny you should ask, so lets take a look.So, exactly what is the stated mission of the VA police, you may ask? Or more to the point, what is the true purpose of the VA police.

For me, the story that best describes the capacities and motivations of the VA police is a report out of Waco, Texas in 2009. In this story we saw a dozen or so white Waco VAMC VA police officers begin a vicious harassment campaign against two African-American VA police officers. This harassment included, from the story and what little I have been told by the reporter handling the story, the following:

1. Planting of GPS trackers in targets vehicles
2. Tapping mobile phones of targets, in this case VA police officers
3. Use of confidential informants (snitches) as a means of “spying on minority veterans”
4. Pervasive and relentless slander campaigns against targets
5. General harassment, up to and including a noose left on the desk of a target –

What I find most interesting about this story is the calculated nature of the attacks. Not spontaneous or isolated, but methodical and coordinated in nature. This was not the work of a rogue VA police officer on a personal vendetta, but of a group of officers working in concert. The email logs seized by the Office of Special Counsel did indeed confirm that the offending officers were all working from the same sheet of music. The sheer magnitude of the harassment campaign was such that one could almost imagine the VA police had engaged in these sort of shenanigans before. Perhaps many times before.

Special Agent Raymond Vasil

Of-course, readers here may be familiar with the story of Wisconsin Navy veteran, Keith Roberts, targeted by the Bush-Cheney administration and then hounded by VA cop, Special Agent Raymond Vasil [arguably the biggest a__hole in the VA], who flew around the country on the tax payer’s dime and served up a trumped-up charge of wire fraud to a corrupt U.S. Attorney, Stephen Biskupic.

West Los Angeles

Consider Los Angeles where the VA cops parade around and spy like piss-ant, jack-booted thugs in some third-world dictarorship, instead of defenders of honored veterans in the world’s supposed beacon of freedom.

A federal court ruled in May that the Veterans Administration (VA) violated the free speech rights of a veteran who protested the agency’s failure to use part of its property in west Los Angeles for the benefit and care of veterans, particularly those who are homeless.

As Robert Rosebrock writes of the VA cops in West Los Angeles who have it out for homeless veterans:

“Everyone who serves in the U.S. Military takes an Oath to defend the U.S. Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Rarely does our Military have a problem finding the foreign enemy”.

It’s the domestic enemy that‘s hard to track down because too often they are ‘one of us.’ The bigger problem is that the domestic enemy is searching for us more than we are searching for them.

One might also wonder if an entire protocol exists, unwritten of course, within the VA police department. Maybe a little bag of dirty tricks that can be unleashed on an unsuspecting “trouble-maker”, should the need arise. Squeaky wheel gets the kick, right? Imagine various VA police assets swinging into action at a moments notice, and performing like a finely tuned symphony. Including assets few know the VA police have access to. Assets such as the above mentioned confidential informants, authorized under 38 CFR § 1.496. And as of 2009, the VA police are now authorized to conduct investigations both on and off VA property under 38 U.S.C. § 902. How wonderful!

With the Robert Rosebrock story at the West Los Angeles VAMC we saw the VA police acting at the whim of corrupt VA administrators. Thus exposing the VA police as little more than a bunch of sycophantic toadies turning tricks for a pack of greasy political hacks. Precisely what I have been saying the the VA police are for quite some time, by the way. Retaliation and intimidation are the name of the game. All the VA police need now are some brown shirts and a local gambling hall to set up their monthly Bund meetings.

VA Medical Centers

Worst of all, the VA police infest every VA Medical Center across America like a plague. With friends like this … well, you know the rest.

In a different but similar report, we have Jerry Woodward. Mr. Woodward is a long time veteran of the U.S. Army. After retirement from the military, Mr. Woodward went on to become an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center at Biloxi, Mississippi. Of course, an actual veteran working at the VA is quite rare, perhaps for a reason. Inevitably, Mr. Woodward uncovered the one thing that the VA does best. Corruption, embezzling, and putting the lives of veterans at risk for personal gain. Mr. Woodward promptly alerted the chain of command of these irregularities, and was just as promptly fired.

Predictably, Mr. Woodward had a little run-in with the VA police in the parking lot of the VAMC. There, a kindly VA police officer informed Mr. Woodward that he was “trespassing”. Yes, a veteran trespassing on VA property. Eventually, Mr. Woodward was able to bring the criminal activities of the VA to the attention of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. Mr. Woodward was awarded a modest settlement, but is now hounded and harassed by his former VA fellow employees and other “interested parties”. No good deed goes unpunished?

Now that we have established a little case history, lets examine the modus operandi of the VA police. We can best accomplish this by first appraising the specific tools of the VA police, and how they are utilized. When we have a firm grasp of what the VA police are capable of, we can engage in educated, logical deduction with a fair degree of accuracy. The reason for this is simple. Once you have seen the play-book of the opposing team, you are much better prepared to counter their actions. Play your cards right, and you can actually use this knowledge to your advantage against the VA. Use the VA’s own ham-fisted tactics and idiocy against them. Like the old military maxim goes, if your attack is going really well, its probably an ambush. The VA is nothing if not a slow learner.

Global Positioning Systems

First, we will look at the use of modern Global Positioning Systems, or GPS trackers to the layman. A GPS tracker is small, and can be placed on a target vehicle in little time, with little effort and at little cost. The use of GPS devices allows the target to be tracked via computer anywhere they happen to travel. Once the GPS tracker reports that the target vehicle has stopped, be it at a restaurant, shopping center, or any other location, HUMINT assets (Human Intelligence, or informants if you prefer) are deployed to the location of the target. The informants are then instructed to take comprehensive notes regarding the activities of the target, or engage in actual harassment or baiting tactics.

With the proliferation of GPS trackers, we see an equal proliferation in the abuse of these devices by private individuals and law enforcement. From the federal level on down to the local cop on the beat, we see GPS trackers used not to enforce the law, but to break it. And by the very same people charged with enforcing the law, no less. Thus giving credence to the saying that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Recently, a Muslim student by the name of Yasir Afifi initiated a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Turns out the FBI installed a rather advanced and robust GPS tracker to Mr. Afifi’s vehicle. Unfortunately, Mr. Afifi had committed no crime, nor was he suspected of committing any crime. Apparently, his only offense was being a Muslim. It would appear that is more than enough for the FBI to come sniffing around. Never mind the avalanche of illicit drugs sweeping our streets, 35 million illegal immigrants raping and pillaging their way across the land, or gun-smuggling to narco-terrorists in Mexico by the American government itself.

No, slapping GPS trackers on college students with no criminal history is apparently the best use of the FBI’s time.

Other examples of the abuse of GPS trackers by police are numerous, but here are a few of my favorites. Overall, we can safely assume that GPS usage is indeed ubiquitous at every level of law enforcement. Side note on this particular topic, and something that does pop up quite often. Some would drag out the tired old “you are not important enough to warrant this sort of attention” argument.

Harassment

However, the stories here give credence to the assertion that police require little to no real reason to initiate a destructive harassment campaign against anyone.

THIBODAUX — A Terrebonne Parish detective pleaded guilty Friday to criminal mischief in connection with the illegal placement of a GPS tracking device on a high-school coach’s car.

In the above story, the harassment and related slander campaign was initiated because a coach dropped someones kid from a high school sports team.

PEORIA — A female Peoria police officer has obtained a no-stalking order against a male officer who is accused of harassing her by inappropriately taking pictures and putting a GPS device on her vehicle.

What is disturbing about this story is the victim and the perpetrators fellow police officers were well aware of what was going on. They also knew the perpetrator was engaging in his criminal acts with the specific and predetermined goal of harassment, retaliation, and intimidation.

Police: Sheriff’s deputy kills ex-wife, shoots Virginia state trooper

Slightly off topic, but here is a recent story from my home town of Roanoke, Virginia. A few weeks ago, a sheriff’s deputy from a neighboring county, one Jonathan Agee, executed his ex-wife in the parking lot of a local convenience store, right in front of their young daughter. Turns out the deputy drove quite a few miles out of his jurisdiction and somehow, miraculously, knew exactly where to find his ex-wifes vehicle in a city of 150,000 people. I wonder if any of the forensics investigators bothered to sweep the ex-wifes car for a GPS tracker?

Warrantless wiretapping and Undercover Assholes

Now, lets move on to the use of telephone data, land line as well as cell-based, by law enforcement for both communication and location intelligence. And as a means to harass and intimidate, of course. Those of you with smart phones may know that your cell phone has the ability to determine location through triangulation. This triangulation is accomplished by using the cell phone towers themselves. A crude form of GPS utilizing not orbital but terrestrial resources. Take a moment to review this article to confirm this feature.

The legality of warrantless wiretapping by the police may be the subject of some debate, but we have to ask ourselves a simple question. Does law enforcement in America, specifically the VA police, have a particularly good record of following the letter of the law with any degree of consistency? Of course not. One company alone, Sprint Nextel, provided law enforcement with 8 million individual GPS location requests from 2008 to 2009. Yes, 8 million in a single year. That breaks down to 21,917 GPS pings per day, or 913 per hour. That is just one telecommunication company out of many. Would anyone venture to guess how often law enforcement uses mobile phone data for purposes other than official investigations? Frightening though, isn’t it? The inmates are definitely running the asylum.

The final topic of discussion is a subject near and dear to my heart. It is perhaps the most effective tool at the disposal of the VA police, but also their Achilles heel. We are of course talking about the VA’s own little flying monkeys; the VA police confidential informants!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SESI19h4wDo

For the sake of those not familiar with the topic of confidential informants within the law enforcement community, we should begin by discussing perhaps the most famous, or infamous, confidential informant in history. Good ole’ Judas Iscariot himself. Judas laid the foundation for all rats and snitches that came after him, and helped the world understand that some men will do just about anything for 30 pieces of silver.

As we have discussed at some length above, and to clarify:

38 CFR § 1.496 – Orders authorizing the use of undercover agents and informants to criminally investigate employees or agents of VA.

There are limitations placed on the VA police with regards to informants.

However, there is also a handy little caveat hidden within the regulations. This little loophole defines the legal obligation of the VA police to notify the facility director of any investigation. Or, more to the point, when the VA police are not obligated to notify the facility director.

38 CFR § 1.496 – Section (2): The VA facility director will intentionally or unintentionally disclose the proposed placement of an undercover agent or informant to the employees or agents who are suspected of criminal activities.

We couldn’t tell the director about our investigation because he might accidentally tell someone. Terribly convenient, wouldn’t you say?

The informants themselves may be gathered from multiple sources. Police, like vermin everywhere, tend to congregate among their own bottom-feeding kind. Thus a VA policeman may simply walk into the local “cop bar” to talk shop with the other public servants. Names of local snitches can be exchanged, as well as effective tactics, and the obligatory bragging over exploits. Presumably revolving around ruining the lives of innocent citizens and the behest of a local robber-baron. After a few beers, perhaps even more audacious plans can be considered as well. Good clean fun from Americas boys in blue. Protect and serve!

VA police can also draw informants from other organizations as well. One notable entity is something called the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Sounds harmless enough, but this group is controlled by the Department of Veterans Affairs Chief of Staff himself. Another organization is the FBI’s InfraGard, with over 40,000 registered informants, and the very epitome of Fascism itself.

Also there is the “Community Oriented Policing Services” or COPS program that boasted hiring its 100,000th “community policing professional” way back in 1999. God only knows how many COPS snitches there are now. And if all else fails, the VA police can always hit the classifieds. What should be stressed here is that the use of informants is pervasive within law enforcement. The more confidential informants a police offer can gather unto himself, the more effective he will be in the performance of his duties.

Why are confidential informants so valuable to the police? The answer is simple. First, informants act as a force multiplier.

There are only so many VA police to go around, so a little hired help is always welcome. Second, informants help add a degree of separation. Once the VA police are ordered to neutralize a target, it would not be advisable for them to simply walk up, slap the cuffs on, and drag him away. Third is deploying informants on direct action operations as a means of harassment, retaliation, and intimidation. Given the fact that informants act with virtual immunity, the informant is even more effective.

You see, dozens of informants circling around a target for months, even years, spreading rumors that the target is a pedophile, abuses their spouse, or is a drug dealer will eventually ruin the targets reputation within the community. In the end, that is the ultimate goal of the VA police. To destroy the lives of as many veterans as possible, quietly of course, thus reducing pension and medical costs to the VA as a whole and garnering fat bonuses for themselves . An added perk to this tyrannical methodology is the suppression of dissenting voices regarding the abysmal performance of the VA. Word eventually spreads amongst the veterans community that you are better off keeping your mouth shut.

Don’t rock the boat. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.  But, in the words of the late, great John Bryant “If you are afraid to speak against tyranny, then you are already a slave.”