Chapter a

Policing Issues in Garrison Communities


This project was supported by grant number 2014CKWXK033 awarded by the Office of Community 

Oriented Policing Services, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions contained herein are those of 

the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be 

considered an endorsement by the author(s) or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues. 

The Internet references cited in this publication were valid as of the date of publication. Given that 

URLs and websites are in constant flux, neither the author(s) nor the COPS Office can vouch for 

their current validity. 

Recommended citation:

Margaret Brunner. Police Executive Research Forum. 2016. Policing Issues in Garrison Communities.

Emerging Issues Series. Washington, DC: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

Published 2016
Contents

Letter from the Director v

Letter from the PERF Executive Director vii

Acknowledgments 

ix

Policing Issues in Garrison Communities 1

Interagency Coordination 3

A unique challenge: continuity of relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Promising practices for maintaining military-civilian police relationships 3

Integrating the military into police academies 4

Recruiting and hiring veterans for civilian police positions 4

Information sharing between civilian and military partners 5

Interoperability of communications equipment 6

Jurisdictional issues 7

Critical incidents and active shooters 8

Recommendations following the Department of Defense’s changes in the NDAA 9

Mental Health and Military-Related Suicide 

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 11

Mental health and the military 

11

Military-related suicide 11

Military responses 12

Promising practices for leveraging services from the military and civilian world 13

Crisis intervention training 14

Military-specific CIT 15

Information sharing to help treat mental illness and prevent crises 15

Integration of tactics and crisis intervention 16

Suicide by cop . . . . . . 17

Drug Abuse 19

Synthetic drugs . . . . . 

19

The problem of prescription drug abuse 19

Whole community responses to help veterans through treatment 20

The opioid to heroin pathway 20
iv Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

Human Trafficking 23

Human trafficking near military bases 23

Trends in human trafficking 23

Promising practices for combating human trafficking 23

Military solutions to human trafficking 24

Conclusion 

25

Appendix A. Sample Memorandum of Understanding 2

Appendix B. Conference Participants 3

About the Police Executive Research Forum 37

About the COPS Office 38
Letter from the Director

Dear Colleagues,

It’s well known that collaboration provides many benefits to local law enforcement agencies that 

share resources with each other. Another collaborative relationship that can be of great value 

is that of local law enforcement with the American armed forces, a partnership which exists at 

varying levels in the geographic areas surrounding our nation’s military installations—neighborhoods commonly referred to as “garrison communities.”

Policing in garrison communities presents challenges as well as opportunities, requiring special 

considerations, policies, and procedures. To help agencies build and maintain collaborative relationships, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) held a meeting in 2015 that brought 45 civilian law enforcement 

leaders together with their military counterparts to discuss the unique law enforcement issues in 

jurisdictions with a strong military presence. The discussions addressed complex topics including 

human trafficking, mental health needs, prescription drug abuse, and military-connected suicide, 

and resulted in identifying concrete strategies and approaches. 

We greatly appreciate the efforts of the police executives and military leaders who shared their 

insights and expertise, and in doing so, helped to create a unique publication which has long 

been needed. Our special thanks to Chief Harold Medlock of the Fayetteville (North Carolina) 

Police Department for hosting the forum.

This report can serve as a practical guide for both military and civilian law enforcement and lead 

to greater public safety on the bases as well as in the communities that surround them. The 

insights and recommendations gathered here can not only help to prevent or respond quickly to 

any future incidents but enhance the quality of life in garrison communities on a daily basis.

Sincerely, 

Ronald L. Davis 

Director 

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

Letter from the PERF Executive Director

Dear Colleagues,

In communities with large numbers of service members—often referred to as garrison 

communities—the distinction between the military base and the surrounding areas can blur. 

Increasingly, civilian police executives in garrison communities are collaborating with base 

command and military police to respond to issues of joint concern. 

On October 15, 2015, the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), with support from the U.S. 

Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), held 

a roundtable meeting that brought together civilian police executives and military leaders to 

explore ways in which they can collaborate. This publication documents these discussions and 

describes promising strategies for addressing shared challenges in a productive way. At our 

roundtable meeting, participants found common ground on critical issues, such as how to respond quickly and effectively to an active shooter situation on a military installation and how to 

work together to prevent suicides by members of the armed forces. 

At our roundtable discussion, civilian police and military partners addressed shared challenges in 

an open-dialogue format. We discussed critical incidents, jurisdictional issues, prescription drug 

abuse, human trafficking, and other issues. By working together, civilian and military leaders were 

able to take important steps towards protecting service members, veterans, and military communities.

In this report, you will read success stories from places where civilian police and military leaders 

have worked together to create meaningful change in their communities. From the Jacksonville 

(North Carolina) Police Department’s project to overhaul radio communications systems and 

ensure joint interoperability with Camp Lejeune, to the Hampton (Virginia) Police Division’s partnering in the area’s Military Drug Court, to the Fayetteville (North Carolina) Police Department’s 

inclusion of Fort Bragg military police in their Training Academy, these stories demonstrate the 

progress that can be made when civilian police and military officials work together.

For cities that adjoin major military installations, civilian and military leaders will always need to 

collaborate to protect their communities. Jurisdictional challenges, security concerns, the frequency of changes in military leadership, and the toll that experiences on the battlefield can take 

on service members create a unique set of challenges for garrison communities. It is important 

to address these challenges and protect our military heroes. 

Chuck Wexler

Executive Director

Police Executive Research Forum

Acknowledgments 

PERF would like to thank the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing 

Services (COPS Office) for supporting this examination of policing issues particular to garrison 

communities. We are thankful to COPS Office Director Ronald Davis and Special Assistant to the 

Director Jennifer Rosenberger for recognizing the importance of this issue. We are also grateful to 

our program managers at the COPS Office, Helene Bushwick and Toni Morgan-Wheeler, for their 

support and encouragement throughout the project. 

We would also like to thank the more than 50 representatives from police agencies, military 

bases, and academia who took time out of their busy schedules to participate in our October 15, 

2015 forum in Fayetteville, North Carolina (see appendix B on page 35 for a list of participants). 

Their insights prompted a thoughtful discussion about the unique challenges and concerns that 

police departments and their military partners face in jurisdictions with an established military 

presence. Special thanks are due to Chief Harold Medlock of the Fayetteville, North Carolina 

Police Department for welcoming conference participants to Fayetteville. 

Finally, credit is due to PERF staff members who conducted interviews, prepared for and hosted the joint COPS Office and PERF forum, and wrote and edited this publication: Chuck Wexler, 

Executive Director; Jessica Toliver, Director of Technical Assistance; Margaret Brunner and Elizabeth Miller, Research Associates; Craig Fischer, Director of Communications; and Adam Kemerer, 

Research Assistant. 

Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

“Before coming to Fayetteville, 

I had no idea about the complexities of trying to protect 

those who protect us. It’s a very 

humbling and overwhelming 

responsibility that I feel to 

make sure that our soldiers and 

their families are kept safe, 

so that they can keep this 

country safe.”

 —Chief Harold Medlock, Fayetteville 

(North Carolina) Police Department

One common theme presented by President Obama’s Task 

Force on 21st Century Policing and other organizations has 

been that police agencies should adopt the mentality of 

serving as “guardians” of the community, not merely as “warriors” enforcing laws, in order to build trust and respect from 

community members. This warrior vs. guardian analogy presents an interesting challenge for police agencies located near 

military installations, in what are sometimes called “garrison 

communities.” For police agencies that have a high proportion 

of military members in their community, there can be special 

considerations in protecting those whose mission is also to 

protect. These considerations create additional challenges and 

opportunities for police leaders.

For example, military bases have been the locations of active 

shooter incidents. On April 2, 2014, an Army Specialist and veteran of the Iraq War stationed at Fort Hood, Texas opened fire 

on the base, killing three and injuring 14 others at various locations on the military base, before 

killing himself. The perpetrator of the shootings reportedly was seeking psychiatric treatment for 

anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Less than five years earlier, in November 

2009, another mass shooting had been committed at Fort Hood, with 13 fatalities. There have 

been similar incidents at other military installations, including the September 2013 shooting at 

the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in Washington, D.C., in which 

12 people were killed, and the drive-by shooting at a recruiting center and a U.S. Navy Reserve 

center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in which four Marines and a Navy sailor were killed.

Enhanced partnerships, trainings, and memoranda of understanding (MOU) are necessary 

between military organizations and police agencies located near military facilities in order to 

effectively respond to such critical incidents and potentially prevent them from occurring in the 

future. Because active shooter incidents may summon emergency response from many agencies, 

and require immediate action by whichever law enforcement officers arrive first at the scene, 

police agencies have established mutual understandings about Incident Command Systems and 

shared protocols for responding to such incidents. Their goal is to ensure that, in a crisis where 

saving lives may be a matter of seconds, all responding agencies will already be on the same 

page in their immediate strategies and tactics, communications, equipment, and other elements 

of a response.1

In garrison communities, police agencies must have similar understandings with military organizations, just as they do with their neighboring police agencies, regarding active shooter incidents 

and other issues that may require joint responses.

1. See “The Police Response to Active Shooter Incidents” (Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum, 

2014). http://www.policeforum.org/free-online-documents.
2 Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

In an effort to help these agencies achieve such goals and objectives, the U.S. Department of 

Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), in partnership with the 

Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), held a meeting on October 15, 2015 in Fayetteville, 

North Carolina, a city that borders Fort Bragg, one of the largest U.S. Army installations in the 

nation. There, civilian law enforcement officials and their military partners discussed promising 

practices for policing garrison communities and introduced recommendations for future engagement and partnerships.

Participants discussed a number of issues that require joint civilian and military police cooperation and innovation, including the response to active shooter scenarios and other critical 

incidents; interoperability of radios and communications equipment; and law enforcement 

responses to persons with mental illness, drug abuse, and human trafficking for purposes of 

prostitution. 

This publication serves as a summary of that conference and outlines the major challenges that 

police agencies highlighted as consequences of adjoining a major military base. Additionally, this 

report presents promising practices shared by participants and recommendations for improving 

coordination between civilian and military agencies. 

It is important to note that many of the issues highlighted in this report are not unique to garrison 

communities. Across the country, police agencies face serious issues resulting from failures in the 

nation’s systems for treating mental illness, addressing drug abuse, and preventing human trafficking. To the extent that these issues are found on military bases, military authorities and local police 

agencies must work together to identify opportunities for cooperation and effective solutions. 
Interagency Coordination

A unique challenge: continuity of relationships

One of the unique challenges facing civilian police executives in garrison communities is ensuring continuity of relationships between their department and the military base despite the high 

turnover rate of military personnel. The military typically transitions personnel every two to three 

years in order to give them a breadth of experience. Lt. Col. Thomas Miner, Commander of the 

Military Police at Langley Air Force Base near Newport News, Virginia, noted that all the members 

of his force have a war-fighting requirement. Thus, he has “a constant churn of personnel, which 

requires [them] to establish a rhythm and integration with the local police agencies, in order to 

cover the gaps and seams.”

When military police leaders are reassigned to another base, it can frustrate the civilian police 

leaders, who may feel that they were just beginning to establish a strong working relationship 

with their military partner. Theoretically, the military commander who replaces the transferred 

individual will operate within the same parameters and MOUs, but participants at the COPS/PERF 

meeting said that differences in a commander’s philosophy or approach can change the culture of a military police force, just as it can in civilian police agencies. Chief Richard Myers of the 

Newport News Police Department stated, “There is policy, and then there is practice. The practice 

takes on a different tone, especially with military leadership, and so when you get a new person 

who comes in with a different vision, it takes some acclimation.” 

Participants at the COPS Office/PERF meeting noted that among military bases, there is no consistent composition of military versus civilian personnel in the Provost Marshal’s Offices (PMOs). 

For example, the Army is currently engaging in an initiative to integrate more war-fighting military 

police into its PMOs, while other branches may rely more heavily on civilians for that function.

Promising practices for maintaining military-civilian police 

relationships

“We are lucky in Jacksonville 

that our commanding generals 

are incredibly cooperative and 

supportive. They really view us 

all as one community. We have 

commanders who have buy-in 

and realize that the base and 

the city are one.”

 —Michael Yaniero, Police Chief and Public 

Safety Director, Jacksonville, North Carolina

 Participants at the COPS Office/PERF meeting identified several 

promising practices for maintaining civilian-military law enforcement relationships, even when there is turnover of leadership. 

Chief Myers of the Newport News Police Department creates a 

full directory of all command staff from the police department 

and their military counterparts, with names, ranks, photographs, and contact information. The Department takes responsibility for keeping the directory up to date and distributes 

it to all interested parties, so that introductions can happen 

quickly between civilian and military law enforcement, as well 

as base command.

Some branches within the Department of Defense (DoD) allow 

for military installations’ Provost Marshal’s Offices to have civilian deputies permanently stationed at the base. Military officials at the COPS/PERF meeting cited 

this as an effective method for ensuring continuity. Thus, one of the major recommendations 

in this report is that all DoD branches should consider allowing for a permanent civilian deputy 

assigned to PMOs, to maintain continuity in spite of otherwise high turnover rates.
4 Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

Integrating the military into police academies

“We would like to learn more 

about high order policing from 

our civilian counterparts.” 

 —Colonel Eugenia Guilmartin, 

Fort Bragg Military Police

In Fayetteville, Chief Harold Medlock invites active duty military personnel to join civilian police 

recruits in learning the fundamentals of policing at the Training Academy. The Fayetteville Police 

Department and the Army base leaders formed an agreement: The Army pays trainees’ salaries 

and materials during the training, and the Police Department makes room in its class for military 

members. The benefit of this program is that “they bring their training and experience back to 

help the military police, and it helps us to understand each other better,” Chief Medlock said. And 

upon successful completion of the training, the active duty members of the military are certified 

as North Carolina law enforcement officers.

In addition, some civilian police chiefs noted that they are 

in the process of relocating their training academies to area 

military bases. This offers a number of benefits, including 

strengthened relationships and partnerships and increased 

coordination between the two entities, due to sharing resources such as firing ranges, K9 training facilities, and driving 

courses. This allows the civilian and military police personnel 

to become familiar with each other, and reduces total training costs for the police department 

and military base.

Recruiting and hiring veterans for civilian police positions

Another promising practice for increasing cooperation and understanding between civilian and 

military law enforcement agencies is the hiring of military veterans for police jobs when they 

transition to civilian life. Several studies have documented the desirable qualities that veterans 

can bring to the civilian policing world,2

 and civilian police executives generally feel that veterans 

are well suited for officer positions. While the military’s rules of engagement differ from civilian 

law enforcement, military veterans will already be familiar with many of the fundamentals of a 

policing career and can serve as a liaison between the two entities.

Hiring military veterans is particularly helpful in police agencies in garrison communities, because it helps to build a police force that reflects the community it serves, which is crucial for 

community policing and fostering relationships. It also provides a means for military personnel to 

stay in the communities in which they have lived following their transition to the civilian world. 

Additionally, with approximately 30 percent of active duty members of the military identifying 

as members of a minority group,3

 the military community may serve as a source for recruiting 

minority police candidates, which is challenging for police agencies in many jurisdictions.4

One challenge is that police departments sometimes lose military candidates because these 

individuals do not want to start over at the beginning at a police academy. To address this, agencies such as the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards have created accelerated 

academies that focus on teaching the skills that veterans need for civilian law enforcement.5

 For 

example, these accelerated academies focus on issues that may be new to military personnel, 

2. See, e.g., Law Enforcement Leader’s Guide on Combat Veterans (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Assistance 

and IACP 2010).

3. See 2014 Demographics: Profile of the Military Community (Washington, DC: Department of Defense, 2014), 

available at http://download.militaryonesource.mil/12038/MOS/Reports/2014-Demographics-Report.pdf.

4. President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, Final Report (Washington, DC: COPS Office, 2015) 11. 

5. For example, the Military Police Basic Training Program out of the Michigan Commission on 

Law Enforcement Standards offers a seven-week course for veterans. For more information, see 

http://www.michigan.gov/mcoles/0,4607,7-229--292550--,00.html.
Interagency Coordination 5

like civilian legal requirements for use of force. Chief Richard Myers of the Newport News Police 

Department said that “figuring out how to laterally transition military personnel is a key challenge 

right now,” and added that he would like to see the state of Virginia take on that challenge. 

Information sharing between civilian and military partners

At the COPS/PERF conference, Major Keith Shumate, Chief of Police for Fort Campbell, the U.S. 

Army installation on the Kentucky-Tennessee border, said that “one of the biggest challenges 

we continue to face is a lack of information sharing between agencies.” This need for enhancing 

communication is crucial, because military and civilian police often deal with the same criminal 

suspects, victims, or trends within their shared jurisdiction.

Efforts to increase information sharing are occurring at the highest levels of government as well 

as between commanders at the ground level. On a national level, the DoD has recently increased 

the capability of its data collection system, Defense Data Exchange (D-DEx), to link with the FBI’s 

Uniform Crime Reporting system (UCR) and National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). 

There is more work to be done, however, to integrate these systems further. 

In April 2015, Congress included an amendment to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act that 

would require the Secretary of Defense to inform the Attorney General of persons required to 

register as sex offenders upon their release from a military prison or court martial. Prior to the 

amendment’s passage, it was much easier for offenders who were ex-military personnel to evade 

registration by moving to different states. This large-scale approach to information sharing can 

help dramatically increase the intelligence-led policing capabilities of both military and civilian 

police agencies.

Police agencies in at the COPS/PERF conference described steps they have taken to integrate 

and include their local military partners in information exchange. Notably, most of the participating police chiefs in attendance said they invite their military counterparts to participate in their 

Compstat meetings to raise awareness of local threats and investigations. Lieutenant Peter Fisher 

of the Bremerton (Washington) Police Department noted that the department also invites the 

Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) to attend the police department’s weekly detectives’ 

meetings. Chief Louis Kealoha of the Honolulu (Hawai’i) Police Department has taken an extra 

step and has a representative from NCIS embedded within the police Narcotics Unit.

To illustrate the importance of such coordination and information sharing, Deputy Chief Tony 

Zucaro of the Virginia Beach (Virginia) Police Department said he had an incident where the 

department received intelligence of a terrorism threat against the children of service members 

in their local public schools, and worked with senior military leaders to quickly address those 

concerns by conferring directly with the identified military families. These sensitive conversations 

included offering home security checks with heightened emphasis on personal and general 

safety actions. 

Many departments also help their military partners by designating “off-limits” areas for activeduty personnel. Providing the military officials with the most recent intelligence on criminal 

activity, the local police agency’s advice allows the command to prevent military personnel from 

going into high-crime areas where they may be more likely to be a victim of crime or get into 

trouble themselves. Any violation of an “off-limits” zone can result in prosecution under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) for failure to obey a lawful general order.6

 

6. See UCMJ Art. 92.
6 Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

Police Agencies’ Use of Discretion for Military Members

One challenging issue for police departments in garrison communities is determining when to 

use their discretion to arrest a member of the military, versus letting the military handle discipline 

through its own system. Officials said that many police agencies avoid arresting service members if 

the offense is a minor misdemeanor with no civilian victims, which may be more appropriately addressed in the military system or under the UCMJ. In cases of serious offenses, the Judge Advocate 

General’s (JAG) Corps may be able to convict the offender more easily than a civilian prosecutor, 

because of the UCMJ’s requirements for behavior that are stricter than those in criminal laws. 

And there are times when local police departments can de-escalate situations by involving military 

command when they do not have probable cause to arrest an individual.

After the arrest of a member of the military, there is also the question of who will investigate and prosecute. In Hampton, Virginia, Chief Terry Sult and Lt. Col. Thomas Miner of the 

Langley Air Force Base have a “bright line” general rule that whichever agency takes a military 

member into custody will take the case when arrest is appropriate. Lt. Col. Miner stated that 

“we appreciate having the bright line rule, so that it is easier for us to plan in conjunction with 

the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.” 

Interoperability of communications equipment

 “From every training exercise as 

well as real-life events in the 

area, interoperability with our 

military partners remains a 

challenge that we are working 

through.” 

 —Deputy Chief Tony Zucaro, 

Virginia Beach Police Department

Participants at the COPS/PERF meeting said that interoperability of radios and communications 

equipment between military and civilian police agencies continues to be a challenge. Participants said that interoperability of such equipment is especially important in situations such as 

active shooter incidents, calls for service involving mental illness or potential suicide by cop situations, and instances in which a criminal offender or fugitive may be travelling across jurisdictional 

lines between the military base and the community. 

Several local police representatives noted that they are undergoing projects to upgrade their equipment to multi-band 

radios that would allow civilian and military police officers to 

easily access each other’s channels.

On the federal government side, the DoD has prioritized 

enhancing emergency management services through its 

Emergency Management Modernization Program (EM2P). 

This initiative includes efforts to help military installations 

share operational information, notify installation personnel en 

masse of critical incidents, and enhance 911 dispatch centers. 

In specific locations, the military has also begun investing in Regional Dispatch Centers, in order 

to streamline emergency services that involve civilian partners. 

Many of the civilian police agencies at the COPS/PERF meeting said it is difficult to plan a coordinated response to a critical incident without being able to share CAD or dispatch information. 

However, military representatives said that sharing the same networks may not be feasible 

because of security issues—there is concern that sharing networks may increase cyber security 

vulnerability and threaten national security or military operations. To avert this risk, civilian police 

executives encouraged their military partners to consider creating a different network architecture exclusively for public safety information. Such a separate military network to interface with 

state and local law enforcement could be an effective means to achieve interoperability.
Interagency Coordination 7

The Jacksonville Police Department’s Interoperability Project 

The Jacksonville (North Carolina) Police Department recently undertook a radio upgrade 

project that included the City of Jacksonville, Onslow County, and the Marine Corps Base 

Camp Lejeune. All of those agencies now use the same frequency band to ensure integration. 

In discussing the technology upgrade, Police Chief Michael Yaniero stated, “These advances 

have resulted in vast improvements to military-civilian communications capabilities, providing 

unprecedented situational awareness, better security, and broader options for virtually every 

communications scenario.” Chief Yaniero explained that the impetus for including the military in the radio upgrade came from an understanding that the public expected the police to 

be communicating with Camp Lejeune during major events. Chief Yaniero pushed for greater 

interoperability to keep coordinated incident response in line with public expectations.

To achieve radio and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) interoperability, the Jacksonville Police 

Department took the following steps:

•	 Drafted and implemented an MOU between the City of Jacksonville, Onslow County, 

and Camp Lejeune to ensure that each party has a clear understanding of the project, 

assigning key responsibilities to stakeholders.

•	 Formed a civilian/military communications committee and working group that meets on 

a monthly basis. The purpose of the committee is to address any issues or challenges related to interoperations for radios or 911 communications. The committee works to resolve 

key operational issues such as reconciling different communications protocols, encryption 

schemes, and proprietary systems.

•	 Set up a system in which the individual military and civilian 911 operations centers act as 

a backup for the integrated system.

•	 Developed and implemented a training program to ensure that the diverse group of first 

responders could respond to an emergency with the new system in an effective and efficient manner.

Chief Yaniero also said that police agencies considering upgrading their technology to include 

military partners should ensure that all leaders seek buy-in from their constituencies. “Political 

leaders and department heads must be involved and committed to developing working solutions for interoperations and setting aside jurisdictional boundaries. Leaders need to consider 

what is beneficial for the entire community,” he said. 

The partners involved in the project were able to come together after they committed to sharing resources with each other, Chief Yaniero said. “Stakeholders should not rely on one governmental entity to provide resources for a robust crisis and consequence management capability,” 

he said. 

With proactive leadership, the participating agencies all now share the same CAD information 

for timely information sharing in regular operations and during critical incidents.

Jurisdictional issues

One of the most challenging issues for military and civilian police is jurisdiction. It can be complicated to orchestrate coordinated responses to major incidents when jurisdictional laws limit the 

response that law enforcement agencies can provide. Some military bases operate under joint 

jurisdiction, under which multiple agencies can exercise authority, or concurrent jurisdiction, in 

which military entities exercise jurisdiction when they consider an issue of military interest. Other 

military installations, however, are under exclusive federal jurisdiction, whereby local and state 

police have no official authority to enforce the law. 
8 Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

Deputy Chief William Krampf of the Anne Arundel County (Maryland) Police Department noted 

the complexities at the October 15 meeting. “Our biggest issue is determining jurisdiction. On 

federal property, what state and county laws can be enforced?” he said. 

This was a major issue during the military trial of Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning in 2013 

at Fort Meade for giving classified information to an unauthorized source. The Anne Arundel 

Police Department set up a unified command center on the military base to manage large-scale 

protests. 

Deputy Chief Krampf’s military counterpart, Chief Thomas Russell of the Fort Meade Police 

Department, highlighted the need for collaboration, and mentioned other types of assistance he 

might request from his civilian counterparts, such as aviation support, assistance with incidents 

in public schools located within his jurisdiction, and response to critical incidents such as natural 

disasters or other major events. 

One week prior to the October 15 meeting, Chief Russell had asked the Anne Arundel County 

Police Department for assistance with a wanted felon who had escaped onto the military base. 

The ongoing communication and collaboration between Fort Meade Police and Anne Arundel 

Police can serve as a model for other garrison communities, he indicated. 

Exclusive federal jurisdictional zones can pose public safety challenges for police agencies for 

several reasons. While military police forces have a wide range of capabilities, they may not have 

the same resources or specialized skills as their civilian counterparts.

Chief Terry Sult of Hampton, Virginia said that two weeks after he took office as chief in 2013, 

there was a standoff at one of the gates of Langley Air Force Base, which is adjacent to Hampton. 

There was an individual at the gate threatening to shoot people, but he was in what Chief Sult 

described as “a jurisdictional no-man’s land.” At one point, military police had firearms pointed 

one way and Hampton police officers had their guns facing the other direction, resulting in a 

potentially dangerous cross-fire situation. After the incident, the police department and Langley 

officials wrote an MOU to define jurisdiction on the base and the surrounding area to prevent 

this type of issue in the future.

In a new development addressing these concerns, Congress included a provision in the National 

Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of FY 2016 that specifically allows the military to form partnerships with local law enforcement partners for jurisdictional zones that are federal exclusive. After 

President Obama vetoed an earlier version of the bill, the NDAA for FY 2016 was signed into law 

on November 25, 2015.7

 §2672 (g-h) of the Act explicitly allows the DoD to request application of 

law enforcement powers from local law enforcement agencies and provides that the DoD may 

reimburse local police for services. It also allows the DoD to enter into agreements with state and 

local law enforcement entities to protect property under exclusive federal jurisdiction.

7. S. 1356, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016 (2015), available at 

https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/pagedetails.action?packageId=BILLS-114s1356enr.

Critical incidents and active shooters

Participants at the COPS/PERF meeting spoke passionately about the need for cooperation 

among local and state police and military authorities in responding to critical incidents on 

military installations that are exclusive federal jurisdiction. The new NDAA provision cited in the 

previous section provides greater legal flexibility, but much work remains to be done to form 

agreements and develop response protocols for various types of incidents.
Interagency Coordination 9

For example, Lt. Col. Thomas Miner, commander of the Langley Air Force military police, said that 

“a major problem for us is that a lot of Provost Marshal Offices do not have SWAT capabilities.” 

Participants said that at times of crisis, it is unlikely that either civilian or military police will 

insist on strict adherence to jurisdictional zones. As Fayetteville Chief of Police Harold Medlock 

explained, “ We will explain it to the bosses later, but it is our charge and our responsibility for 

everyone in this room to keep people safe. So we can have the protocols, we can have the 

MOUs—and we are going to follow them as much as possible—but when you have somebody 

with a gun killing people, everybody is going to work together to take care of business and stop 

the threat.”

It is important that police chiefs realize the consequences, however, for their officers. Chief Richard Myers of Newport News said, “Doing the right thing always trumps liability, but police officers 

will not have the protection of color of law if they shoot the wrong person or something goes 

wrong. So as their boss, I carry that on my shoulders. I am putting them at risk physically and 

from a liability perspective.” 

Furthermore, the concern for potentially injuring the wrong person is particularly salient on 

military bases, where many individuals at the scene of a critical incident may be armed and 

dressed similarly, which can make it more difficult to differentiate a perpetrator of a crime from 

the victims or responding officers.

Recommendations following the Department of Defense’s 

changes in the NDAA

The changes in the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) allow for comprehensive 

MOUs between military officials and local police agencies, even in military installations that have 

exclusive federal jurisdiction. This new law provides significant legal authority to engage in cooperation. Civilian and military police officials should work to create comprehensive MOUs so that 

plans and protocols will be in place ahead of any potential incident.

Conference participants were particularly troubled by the potential for another active shooter 

situation on their bases, similar to the incidents at Fort Hood, the Washington Navy Yard, and 

Chattanooga.

Best practices in the police response to active shooters are already well-suited to cooperation 

between civilian and military police: they mandate that the first officers to arrive at the scene of 

an active shooter situation should quickly work together to neutralize the threat, regardless of 

which agencies they may belong to. While training through the 1990s emphasized containing 

the situation and waiting for SWAT team members to arrive and respond, the fatal shooting in 

1999 of 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado caused a change of 

thinking on active shooter response. Because of the critical importance of neutralizing an active 

shooter threat as quickly as possible, new protocols are based on the goal of an immediate response by the first responding officers. Even in situations where a lone officer arrives, the officer 

may respond immediately, despite the significant risk of doing so. (A study of 84 active shooter 

incidents between 2000 and 2010 by Prof. Pete Blair of Texas State University found that in the incidents where a lone officer responded to an active shooter, one-third of the officers who made 

solo entries were shot.8

) 

8. Police Executive Research Forum, “The Police Response to Active Shooter Incidents” (Washington, DC: 

PERF, 2014), 3-7, http://www.policeforum.org/free-online-documents.
10 Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

Ideally, multiple officers arrive at the scene of an active shooter incident at the same time. They 

are trained to use Incident Command principles and to quickly organize themselves into “contact 

teams” who search for the shooter or shooters, rescue and evacuation teams, perimeter security 

teams, and other functions, depending on how many officers arrive and how quickly they arrive. 

Several local and federal agencies, including the FBI and DHS, also have implemented public 

safety information campaigns advising the public of the best strategies for surviving an active 

shooter incident.9

Following several high profile incidents on military installations, the DoD has undertaken steps to 

increase protection. Following the domestic terrorist incident in Chattanooga, the DoD allowed 

some personnel at military recruitment centers to carry weapons, and provided funding for use 

of force training and weapons training, with associated certification costs.10 

Military installations also face many challenges in trying to send mass alerts during critical incidents. This is due to the high turnover of personnel on base and large numbers of dependents 

present near the base who may not be registered with the system. The DoD is currently working 

on filling the gaps in its emergency notification system to include spouses and to update its 

global addresses more frequently to account for changes in installation personnel.

One best practice identified at the COPS/PERF meeting is to have civilian and military police 

officials discuss scenarios ahead of time to increase preparedness. Local police departments 

should brief their military counterparts on existing capabilities. Planning briefings should also 

address the specifics of each agency’s use of force policies and determine under which policy 

officers should operate. After learning about the various resources, training, and capabilities of 

local police agencies, military police can assess their own arming requirements and capacity to 

complement local police operations. 

Military police agencies should also educate civilian police partners about their use of force 

rules, so that local police departments responding to incidents on military installations will be 

prepared to make a coordinated response.

Several civilian agencies at the COPS/PERF meeting expressed a desire to engage in joint training 

on active shooter incidents. Lieutenant Peter Fisher of the Bremerton Police Department said, 

“We are making strides to have all partners come in line with modern active shooter response, to 

prevent any sort of blue-on-blue injury.” The Bremerton Police Department is requesting that the 

Kitsap Naval Base Provost Marshal join them in a joint training exercise with an annual refresher. 

These joint trainings would be a promising step for civilian and military partners to reduce the 

threat of active shooters on military bases.

9. Ibid., p. 41. See also Department of Homeland Security, Active Shooter Pocket Card, available at 

https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/active_shooter_pocket_card_508.pdf.

10. Dan Lamothe, “Pentagon Will Allow More Troops to be Armed Following Chattanooga Attack,” Washington 

Post, July 30, 2015. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/07/30/defense-secretarywill-allow-more-troops-to-be-armed-following-chattanooga-attack/.
Mental Health and Military-Related Suicide

Mental health and the military

Caring for members of the community with mental health issues is a concern for all police agencies throughout the country. With limited mental health resources and treatment services, police 

agencies often must respond to calls for service involving persons with mental illness. And police 

chiefs and sheriffs often say that county jails house more persons with mental illness than any 

other institution in their jurisdiction.

Thus, systemic issues of weaknesses in mental health care are by no means unique to garrison 

communities. However, there are additional layers of complexity that police officials must understand in responding to incidents involving military veterans or active members of the military, 

such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and associated issues.

Participants at the COPS/PERF meeting cautioned that police agencies should be aware that 

individuals leaving the military system may turn to the care of local providers. For individuals in 

the military with mental health problems, administrative separation can be a complicated issue, 

because only service members with honorable discharges are guaranteed VA benefits. This 

becomes even more difficult when the separation itself was a direct result of a mental illness 

or disorder. 

Military-related suicide

One chief concern among all participants at the COPS/PERF meeting was that veterans and 

members of the military should receive treatment for mental health problems to help prevent 

suicide. Military service members and veterans are statistically and clinically at increased risk for 

suicide. Alarmingly, more soldiers have died by suicide than from combat-related incidents in 

Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) and Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) combined.

11 In 

a 2012 study, the Department of Veterans Affairs estimated that between 1999 and 2010, an average of 18 to 22 veterans committed suicide per day.

12

Participants at the COPS/PERF meeting said that the number of suicides in their jurisdictions 

were higher than in a typical community. Chief Richard Myers of Newport News shared that 

“When I was the Chief in Colorado Springs [which has multiple Air Force and Army installations 

nearby], we had a period of time where we were averaging one SWAT call per month for a 

possible military suicide with people barricading themselves in.” Chief Medlock also noted that 

Fayetteville has large numbers of suicides for a community its size. 

For decades, civilian police agencies have been developing Crisis Intervention training for officers, which includes education about suicide and mental illness and strategies for talking to troubled persons. Crisis Intervention training also focuses on strategies for de-escalating situations, 

in order to avoid the need for officers to use force if a person with a mental illness is behaving 

erratically and threateningly.13

11. Gregg Zoroya, “Suicide Surpassed War as the Military’s Leading Cause of Death,” USA Today, Oct. 31, 2014. 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/nation/2014/10/31/suicide-deaths-us-military-war-study/18261185/.

12. Suicide Data Report (Washington, DC: Department of Veterans Affairs, 2012). 

http://www.va.gov/opa/docs/suicide-data-report-2012-final.pdf.

13. See Guiding Principles on Use of Force (Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum, 2016) 68-71. 

http://www.policeforum.org/assets/guidingprinciples1.pdf.
12 Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

Dr. Barry N. Feldman of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, a leading expert on 

suicide prevention among first responders, told the forum that certain risk factors are strongly 

associated with suicide risk in members of the military. One of these, documented across several 

military branches as well the National Guard and Reserve, is multiple deployments, which can 

compound combat-related trauma and other mental health issues. Another factor is the threat 

of dishonorable discharge from the military; the stigma, disgrace, and other factors may increase 

suicidal ideation both for those dishonorably discharged and for those facing that possibility. 

Other high risk factors include zero-tolerance policies regarding illegal (non-prescription) drug 

use or other legal issues, relationship problems, and undiagnosed pre-existing mental illness. 

However, experts caution against jumping to conclusions about military suicide or relying on 

simple explanations. Feldman noted that “suicide is typically multi-factorial, consisting of multiple components. Generally, when a person dies, there is a tendency to look for simple explanations for that death, i.e., a cause and effect relationship, enabling us to essentially tie things 

up into nice little packages.” There usually is no simple explanation for an individual’s suicide. 

The person’s actions can appear surprising and leave unresolved feelings of guilt and self-blame 

for those left behind. Rather than focusing exclusively on combat-related trauma or PTSD, Dr. 

Feldman urged the police officials at the meeting to be aware of the many specific risk factors for 

suicidal behavior, such as increased alcohol abuse, reckless behavior, or interpersonal relationship 

problems (e.g., domestic violence situations, recent break-ups), and to use these possible indicators of acute stress as an opportunity for intervention before suicidal behavior occurs.

Military responses

The military has programs to prevent suicide and to provide assistance to members who may 

be suicidal. The Department of Defense (DoD) has worked to increase service members’ access 

to behavioral health professionals, making them available for assessments and counseling on a 

24-hour basis. Following deployment to a combat zone, all military personnel must go through a 

reintegration period and complete a self-assessment called a commander’s risk reduction board, 

which measures risk on a numerical scale. The DoD has taken a holistic approach to studying the 

causes of suicide, including increased screening for TBI, education on connections between substance abuse and suicide, and sponsoring discussion to reduce the stigma surrounding mental 

illness.14

The DoD also has several recent initiatives aimed at prevention and intervention of militaryrelated suicide. For example, One Source, a service center for the military community, provides a 

confidential hotline that connects individuals in need to counselors who can identify help available at the local installation and begin the process of providing assistance.15 The DoD also has 

bolstered its Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) programs throughout its bases. 

ASIST is a two-day training program that some branches make mandatory for key personnel. The 

program’s goals are to increase awareness of the topic and provide information about resources 

for individuals in need. It also teaches suicide intervention skills, such as questions to ask to determine if someone is in danger.

14. For example, the Secretary of Defense commissioned a Defense Health Board Task Force which 

recommended the creation of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office (DSPO) at the DoD in 2011. 

See http://www.dspo.mil/ for more information.

15. See http://www.militaryonesource.mil/confidential-help.
Mental Health and Military-Related Suicide 13

At the COPS/PERF meeting, military officials also spoke about the service branches’ effort to introduce their personnel to the concept of resilience, i.e., providing tools to deal with issues ahead of 

an event that may trigger the onset of PTSD. Lt. Col. Jeffrey Nerone, military commander of Fort 

Eustis, near Newport News, explained, “We are training people to respond like a rubber band, so 

that you can snap back from a traumatic event.” 

For the military representatives at the COPS/PERF meeting, prevention also involves the leadership that officers provide for their troops. One major barrier to seeking treatment for mental 

health issues is the stigma of mental illness—a problem that 

is not unique to the military. Military leaders talked about a 

paradigm change in the past decade, in which the military has 

become more open about discussing PTSD. These efforts help 

to erode the stigma that service members may feel in seeking 

help for mental health problems. Keith Shumate, Chief of the 

Fort Campbell Police, said that about a decade ago, the Army 

had a “cultural mindset shift, where most senior leaders started 

coming out and talking openly about prior history that they 

have had, dealing with psychological issues from deployments.”

Military police at the COPS/PERF meeting also said that there are ways to reduce an individual’s 

risk of suicide at the ground level. For example, if police are serving a search warrant for a criminal 

offense that has the potential to end a military member’s career, sharing information about the 

suspect can change the tactics and manner in which the warrant is served. 

 “It’s interesting to witness the 

evolution of our relationship 

with the military, to see them 

being a lot more open and 

transparent.”

 —Captain Charles Kaye, 

San Diego Police Department

Promising practices for leveraging services from the 

military and civilian world 

To create a robust suicide prevention program, it is important to use all of the resources that 

public safety and public health agencies bring to the table. At the COPS/PERF meeting, Dr. Barry 

Feldman of the University of Massachusetts said, “If you think about the community-wide effort 

to prevent suicide, involvement is required from law enforcement, military, EMS personnel, 

community mental health providers, and other stakeholder groups. That’s really what’s needed to 

create a comprehensive suicide prevention program to save lives; one that encompasses prevention, intervention, and postvention elements.” Dr. Feldman provides training to first responders, 

including police agencies around the country, on responding to suicide calls, de-escalating people in crisis, and preventing suicide among the ranks of police and other first responders, military 

personnel, and veterans.16

For service members or veterans in crisis, there are several ways in which civilian police officers 

and military command (including military police) can use each other’s resources. For example, 

the Honolulu Police Department uses a psychologist to conduct an assessment of any individuals in a crisis situation. If the person in crisis is a member of the military, HPD brings the person to 

the military hospital for treatment following the assessment. Using the military system has been 

an effective course of action for the department, due to a lack of resources and available beds at 

the city hospital. 

16. For example, see Barry N. Feldman, Albert J. Grudzinskas, Bernice Gershenson, Jonathan C. 

Clayfield, et al., “The Impact of Suicide Calls on Police,” Psychiatry Information in Brief (2011), available 

at https://works.bepress.com/barry_feldman/3/. 
14 Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

The Virginia Beach Police Department employs a similar system in trying to connect military 

members to the services available to them in their respective branches. Working with the person’s military command has been an effective method for the police to quickly get services to a 

person in crisis. 

There are also many challenges associated with trying to quickly find the best resources for 

individuals in need. In instances where police take an individual into protective custody from a 

judicial commitment for mental health, for example, law enforcement agencies may not have 

a choice which hospital—VA or general—to bring an individual to. Chief Terry Sult of Hampton 

said there are instances where an officer brings a person to a VA hospital, and it turns out that the 

person does not qualify for veterans’ services. Those scenarios can keep an officer off the street 

for a substantial amount of time because the officer must then take the individual to a different 

healthcare facility. For a veteran who is already being treated by the VA, it may be a challenge for 

local police agencies to even determine that the individual is already a patient. 

Crisis intervention training

Many police agencies that participated in the COPS/PERF meeting have crisis intervention programs that help officers respond to individuals with mental health concerns. Some departments 

provide basic crisis intervention training to all officers, while others have elite Crisis Intervention 

Teams (CIT), made up of officers with extensive training and mental health care workers. 

•	 In Anne Arundel County, the police department has a dedicated CIT that pairs officers with 

civilian mental health specialists. The team can be deployed throughout the county. When the 

team encounters a military member or veteran in crisis, they can call the base for more information or work with the Maryland Veterans Administration.

•	 In Fayetteville, the department currently has approximately 65 percent of its sworn officers 

trained in crisis intervention and is providing additional training on a bimonthly basis. Chief 

Harold Medlock noted that he chose this model, focusing on patrol officers, because he believes they are the police personnel most likely to encounter individuals experiencing mental 

health crisis. The department is also engaging in a major public outreach campaign on recognizing warning signs of suicide. As a part of this campaign, the department discloses any suicide that happens in Fayetteville to the community, without releasing identifying information. 

•	 The Bremerton Police Department recently received a grant to bring crisis intervention training 

to the department under two different response models. First, the department is implementing a program to make a mental health professional remotely available 24/7 to conduct 

assessments. Second, the department is developing a county-wide, plainclothes CIT to work 

the peak hours of mental health service calls. This unit will include other local police partners, a 

local hospital, and Kitsap Naval Base mental health professionals.

•	 The Jacksonville Police Department has secured funding for a large-scale CIT training project with an emphasis on suicide prevention. The grant came through the North Carolina 

Governor’s Suicide Task Force. As a part of the task force, the Police Department will have a 

professional counselor or licensed clinical social worker on staff, a doctor at the local hospital 

intervening in suicide calls, and the funds to conduct outreach to the community on suicide 

from a public health standpoint.

Regardless of which model a police department selects, it is clear that civilian policing agencies 

recognize the importance of responding to individuals with mental health issues. Many of the 

agencies at the COPS/PERF meeting are currently working to further equip their departments 

with tools to preserve the lives of individuals in crisis.
Mental Health and Military-Related Suicide 15

Military-specific CIT

Many of the officers from the Provost Marshal’s Offices noted that for crisis intervention, military 

police tend to call in the military’s medical personnel and mental health clinic as resources for 

“slowing down” a crisis situation.17 Slowing down a situation provides time for officers to bring 

additional resources to the scene, communicate with the person in crisis, ask questions, assess 

what’s happening, and consider options for an effective response. 

Crisis Intervention Training Specific to the Needs of the Military

Many police departments are creating new methods for training officers to respond to potential suicide incidents involving service members and veterans. In Apex, North Carolina, for 

example, Police Captain Blair Myhand has built a training program based on the experiences of 

veterans within the Police Department. 

The program is based on the premise that if police officers and veterans in crisis can form a 

connection based on their shared service, the officers might be better able to assist individuals 

with obtaining services and help. The program was inspired by a 2014 case in which two young 

Apex police officers helped save the life of a veteran in crisis by talking about their shared 

experiences in military service, deployment, and reintegration into the civilian world. It was 

the latest of several incidents in which Apex Police Department officers had feared for the life 

of a veteran in crisis—or, because of the presence of weapons or the veteran’s substance use, 

for the lives of other first responders. Captain Myhand’s motivation for the program was simple: “if you have veterans talking to other veterans, they can share a common experience, and 

it becomes one more tool for officers to make a connection that could save a life.” The Apex 

program offers advanced specialized CIT training to officers who have already been trained in 

basic crisis intervention and are military veterans.

The 16-hour training program dedicates the first day to learning about crisis factors specific 

to veterans and the military community. The second day is devoted to scenario-based roleplaying where students practice lessons learned. To date, Captain Myhand has trained 42 

police officer veterans in departments surrounding his jurisdiction and plans to expand the 

program nationwide through a Train the Trainer course, in partnership with the National 

Alliance on Mental Illness.

There are some differences of opinion about whether responding officers should attempt to 

discuss an individual’s military experience or history. Some police officials at the COPS/PERF 

meeting said they do not ask about an individual’s affiliation with the military even if they know 

there is such a history; they try not try to force the conversation, and instead allow individuals 

to bring up their military service when they are ready.

Information sharing to help treat mental illness and prevent 

crises

Some police leaders called for the improvement of information sharing about individuals in 

mental health crises. When officers respond to a call and have information from the dispatcher 

about a mental health condition, a potential intention to commit suicide, or even a possible 

intention to commit “suicide by cop,” that information can make a significant difference in how 

police respond. However, such information is not always readily available. Chief Terry Sult of 

17. See Guiding Principles on Use of Force (Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum, 2016) 68–71. 

http://www.policeforum.org/assets/guidingprinciples1.pdf.
16 Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

Hampton noted that it can take five to eight hours to receive military records that would indicate 

if an individual has mental health issues. This can pose a challenge in situations like a barricade, 

where detailed information about the subject’s background can improve police responses. 

On the other hand, Fayetteville Police Chief Harold Medlock noted at the COPS/PERF meeting 

that privacy protections given to non-military persons may not apply to service members. In this 

respect, police chiefs in garrison communities have an advantage because their military partners 

may have information on individuals who are potentially at risk, which they can share with local 

police. The goal is to establish a formal process by which that information can be shared before 

there is a crisis. “By the time we make that phone call saying that guns are drawn, tensions are 

high, and we may not have time to get backup or to go in with the proper resources,” Chief Medlock said. “So we need to find a way to share information more formally, when we know we have 

people in our city and on our base who have problems.” All policing agencies at the COPS/PERF 

meeting agreed that when issues arise, military partners were committed to providing background information about at-risk individuals. The challenge is to obtain information in a timely 

manner so that it can help inform police response before they are called to respond to a crisis.

Integration of tactics and crisis intervention

In order to prevent suicides and minimize police use of force in responding to calls involving persons with mental illness or other conditions, police officials at the COPS/PERF meeting discussed 

ways to integrate the skills of their CIT-trained officers, who are experts in communicating and 

negotiating, with the tactical skills of SWAT officers, who are taught how to bring persons who 

are behaving erratically or dangerously under control. 

In traditional policing, those two elements of communications and tactics tend to be separate 

topics in training programs, and CIT and SWAT are likewise separate elements in the organization 

of the department. PERF Executive Director Chuck Wexler noted, however, that public expectations have changed in recent years regarding the police response to calls involving mental illness. 

There is a greater understanding that crisis intervention skills must be combined with tactical 

skills, to provide the best possible response to incidents involving persons behaving unpredictably or dangerously as a result of mental illness or other conditions.18

Tragically, in some cases that have received widespread attention, incidents involving mental 

illness have ended with use of lethal force by police. In one scenario that has repeated itself 

a number of times in cities across the nation, a person with mental illness refuses to take his 

medication, or perhaps does not want to be taken to a mental health facility. So a family member 

calls the police for help in getting the person to cooperate. Police respond, the person picks up 

a knife or screwdriver, and officers use deadly force against what they see as a lethal threat. The 

distraught family members then say they never would have called the police if they had thought 

it could possibly end with the death of their loved one. And indeed, in some of these incidents, 

the family members had called the police multiple times in the past to receive such assistance, 

and had been given the help they needed without a problem.

To ensure the safety of everyone when responding to such calls, several of the police agencies 

attending the COPS/PERF meeting have devised innovative ways to de-escalate while ensuring 

safety from a tactical perspective. For example, in Virginia Beach, there is a full-time centralized 

SWAT team that falls under the same command as the crisis negotiation team. Those two units 

conduct joint training exercises and share information on a regular basis. Deputy Chief Tony 

18. See Guiding Principles on Use of Force 68-71.
Mental Health and Military-Related Suicide 17

Zucaro noted, “In a critical incident, there is a partnership, with the SWAT tactical commander and 

the crisis negotiation commander literally sitting together in our command vehicle, shoulder to 

shoulder.” For the Virginia Beach Police Department, although those police officers have different 

skill sets, they see responding to critical incidents as a joint endeavor. Zucaro added that both 

the SWAT and crisis negotiators are CIT-trained, and they share the goal of “striving to diffuse the 

conflict with the least resistance possible.”

Another way of looking at this issue is to recognize that some of the special skills for resolving volatile situations traditionally taught to SWAT units should also be taught to patrol officers, because 

patrol officers are the members of a police department most often called to incidents involving 

erratic behavior. 

The Hampton Police Division is considering a hybrid approach, creating an intermediary team to 

bridge the gap between patrol and specialized tactical units. Chief Terry Sult noted that all of his 

negotiators are CIT-trained, and the Hampton Police Division is currently sending all SWAT officers 

to CIT training as well. Chief Sult envisions an intermediary unit, a mobile response team, that can 

take charge between when patrol arrives on the scene and when SWAT comes in. This specialized 

mobile response unit would “have all the tools on their tool belt and the resources to start deescalating these situations.”

One of the major takeaways from the COPS/PERF meeting was to find ways that civilian and 

military police could train on these crisis scenarios together. For military police, there are potential 

barriers to creating joint training under the mandates of The Posse Comitatus Act (PCA). The act 

severely limits the ability of federal military personnel to enforce domestic laws and therefore 

may impose restrictions for related professional duties off-base. Courts looking at the question 

of whether the PCA allows for cooperative police activities off-base have created a wide variety 

of standards for what constitutes an allowable military purpose.19 Participants at the COPS/PERF 

meeting noted, for example, that military installation personnel were counseled not to render 

mutual aid to local police departments during pre-planned major events, because of the constraints of the Posse Comitatus Act. So a cautious application of those constraints may make it 

challenging to organize tabletop exercises and joint training off base.

While the military does have limitations under Posse Comitatus, there may be ways to create joint 

training exercises on base for situations in which there are both tactical and crisis intervention 

considerations, such as a service member with suicidal ideation barricading himself in a room on 

the installation.

Suicide by cop

A related concern for police is how to avoid the tragic situation of “suicide by cop,” in which a 

person who wishes to commit suicide intentionally threatens a police officer or a member of the 

public in order to provoke the officer into responding with deadly force. Fayetteville has experienced a number of these incidents. Police Chief Medlock noted that his department’s most effective strategy for preventing those incidents is to employ a model that slows down the situation.20 

He has employed the services of a local consultant experienced in de-escalation to teach his 

officers the principles of taking time and distance to assess the situation. 

19. Charles Doyle & Jennifer K. Elsea, “The Posse Comitatus Act and Related Matters: The Use of the Military to 

Executive Civilian Law,” CRS Report No. R42659 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2012) 46–51.

20. See Police Executive Research Forum, “Re-Engineering Use of Force” (2015).
18 Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

Military police are concerned about suicide-by-cop situations and regularly train on those scenarios. Unfortunately, military police have fewer operational capabilities to 

respond to barricade situations. Lt. Col. Thomas Miner of 

Langley Air Force Base said “We train on suicide by cop all 

the time, but if someone barricades themselves in, we need 

to lean on civilian police for assistance.” Participants said that 

military police forces’ capabilities have improved dramatically since the Fort Hood attack, but few Provost Marshal’s 

Offices have the SWAT-type functions of civilian police departments. 

Congress has approved the new Defense Department authorization bill for 2016, which allows 

the military to form partnerships with local police even in installations that are federal exclusive 

jurisdiction. This should allow civilian police and military police to hold joint training exercises on 

base for incidents that involve possibly suicidal members of the military in barricade situations. 

Importantly, civilian police officials said they are eager to lend assistance in responding to a 

potential suicide-by-cop call with the goal of slowing the incident down toward a peaceful 

resolution. Chief Terry Sult of Hampton said, “We want to be on hand to help in a tactical scenario 

that may be a possible suicide by cop. So we are currently creating what I consider an advanced 

de-escalation team. This team includes a continuum of responders, with officers trained in CIT, 

advanced de-escalation, and SWAT.” Chief Sult expressed an interest in expanding the program 

in the future to include a mental health specialist, or someone who represents the healthcare 

facility where an individual is being treated (if applicable), to assist on the scene.

Police call-takers and dispatchers play an extremely important role in recognizing potential 

suicide-by-cop situations and sharing information with responding officers.21 If call-takers are 

properly trained to ask the right questions and know how to obtain important information 

indicating an individual may have suicidal ideation, they can then share their concerns with the 

responding officers and increase opportunity to save lives. As Dr. Barry Feldman noted, agencies should include call-takers and dispatchers in their suicide prevention trainings, so that they 

will be better attuned to situations which could result in suicide by cop and be able to provide 

responding officers with more useful information.

This again speaks to the importance of radio interoperability and communications technology 

for sharing civilian and military police dispatch information. Police agencies should look to 

agencies like Jacksonville Police Department for guidance on integrating computer-aided 

dispatch (CAD) systems. Even if the military needs to separate out its networks for security 

purposes, sharing public safety information with surrounding civilian police agencies can help 

prevent tragedies.

21. See Guiding Principles on Use of Force 68-71.

“We have found that in situations where we can stay in 

control and slow things down, 

we have a better chance of resolving things peacefully.” 

 —Chief Harold Medlock, 

Fayetteville Police Department
Drug Abuse

Synthetic drugs

Several jurisdictions that participated in the COPS/PERF meeting noted that drug abuse, particularly of so-called “synthetic drugs,” has been an issue in garrison communities. Some members 

of the military use synthetic drugs because they erroneously believe the drug tests used in the 

military do not show positive results for synthetic drugs. This is not accurate; synthetic drugs may 

be detected by drug testing systems in some cases. 

Synthetic drugs are especially challenging and dangerous because manufacturers are constantly 

changing the composition and chemical makeup of their products, to the point where it can be 

challenging for the law to keep up with the science. To address this, many of the service branches have changed their regulations to more clearly ban the use of synthetic drugs. In the Army, 

for example, commanders found it effective to mitigate the synthetic drug abuse problem by 

outlawing “anything put in the body for the purpose of stupefying,” because state laws cannot 

keep up with the changing chemical definitions of new synthetics. 

In Pensacola, synthetic drugs were a significant enough issue that the military joined in the effort 

to educate and lobby the Florida legislature for changes to the relevant drug possession laws. 

Noting that the military was very influential for lawmakers, local police departments worked with 

their military partners to ensure that the language in the law was broad enough to encompass 

any new synthetic drugs emerging on the market.22 The Jacksonville Police Department also was 

able to address its synthetic drug problem through aggressive enforcement tactics. Working 

closely with its local Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) branch, Jacksonville police were 

able to declare specific geographic “hot-spots” for drug sales off limits for military personnel and 

effectively shut synthetic drug operations down.

The problem of prescription drug abuse

Prescription drug abuse is a widespread problem throughout the country that is not unique to the 

military. There are, however, special considerations regarding when it comes to police agencies 

dealing with opioid abuse by active duty military members and veterans. Dr. Barry N. Feldman said 

that psychological disorders, such as PTSD, often occur in conjunction with substance abuse disorders, including alcohol or drug dependency. In fact, a national study found that 27.9 percent of 

women and 51.9 percent of men with lifetime PTSD also had a substance abuse disorder.23 Women 

with PTSD were 4.46 times more likely to meet the criteria for drug abuse or dependence and 

men were 2.97 times more likely.24 For many individuals, mental illness and drug abuse are closely 

related.

Active duty members of the military have inherently physically demanding jobs that can lead to 

injuries. For service members who have experienced combat, prescription drugs may be a medical 

necessity on the way to recovery. In fact, most individuals who are going through rehabilitation or 

medical separation from the military take some sort of prescription drug that can lead to addiction. 

22. Elaine Silvestrini, “Florida Tightening Laws to Keep Up With Synthetic Drug Manufacturers,” Tampa Tribune

Apr 16, 2016, http://www.tbo.com/news/crime/florida-tightening-laws-to-keep-up-with-synthetic-drugmanufacturers-20160416/.

23. R.C. Kessler et al., “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey,” Archives of General 

Psychiatry 52 (1995), 1048-1060.

24. Ibid.
20 Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

Whole community responses to help 

veterans through treatment

“Many of these individuals are 

war heroes, and it was the stress 

of their military service that 

resulted in their drug abuse. We 

need to figure out a way to get 

them the resources to rehabilitate them.” 

 —Jonathan Oakes, Special Agent in 

Charge, NCIS, Carolinas Field Office

To assist in providing treatment to military members and 

veterans with substance dependencies, civilian police 

departments have developed a number of ways to partner 

with the community in providing services. Participants at 

the COPS/PERF meeting said officers have compassion for 

the the mental, physical, and emotional traumas that may 

contribute to opioid and other drug dependencies, and that 

there is a high level of buy-in for diverting veterans charged 

with drug abuse into treatment. Civilian police officials cited 

several ways departments can focus less on enforcement and more on connecting individuals to 

treatment and other resources:

•	 A new Military Drug Court was created in Hampton specifically for veterans and active duty 

members of the military. Recently, the Court had its first “graduate,” who was provided a 

pathway out of the criminal justice system and into treatment.25 The program, in which the 

Hampton Police Division is a crucial partner, is a rigorous one-year treatment plan including 

rehabilitation and financial stabilization.

•	 In Fayetteville, the Police Department is partnering with an organization called the NC Harm 

Reduction Coalition to create the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program.26 Officers will screen potential participants in this program, who will be given services similar to a 

drug court, but will not be criminally charged at the outset. Rather, participants will be connected to social workers and health care providers. Partners in this effort include the district 

attorney, faith leaders, and community stakeholders. 

•	 The Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD) sits on the Virginia Governor’s Task Force on 

Prescription Drug and Heroin Abuse.27 Through this Task Force, VBPD is planning to incorporate 

naloxone into its field operations (see following section) and is looking for empirical data to 

assess its use. The department is also participating in community outreach to create awareness 

about prescription drugs from a public health perspective.

The opioid to heroin pathway

The current heroin epidemic in many parts of the United States stems largely from use of prescription pain medication; many of today’s heroin users began taking opioid medicine such as 

Oxycodone following an injury or surgery and became addicted to it. Because of increasingly 

strict regulation of opioid prescriptions, some patients lose access to medication they need before their conditions are under control, and it can become more difficult and expensive to obtain 

opioid medication—legally or illegally—than it is to obtain illegal heroin, which has the same 

effect on the body. That is, heroin addictions often begin with prescription medicine to relieve 

pain. At the COPS/PERF meeting, participants all noted that they are concerned about heroin 

25. Ali Rockett, “New Track of Hampton Drug Court Has First Veteran Graduate,” Daily Press, Oct. 5, 2015, 

http://www.dailypress.com/news/military/dp-nws-veteran-drug-court-20151005-story.html.

26. Greg Barnes, “Heroin Treatment, Not Jail, Is Aim of New Fayetteville Initiative,” The Fayetteville Observer, 

Oct. 24, 2015, http://www.fayobserver.com/news/local/heroin-treatment-not-jail-is-aim-of-new-fayettevilleinitiative/article_cfbd2b0b-3df1-53f0-809e-338dc7558fc4.html.

27. “Governor’s Task Force On Prescription Drug And Heroin Abuse,” accessed November 21, 2016, 

https://www.dhp.virginia.gov/taskforce/.
Drug Abuse 21

use in their communities. Participants spoke emotionally about several cases in which service 

members—like many civilians in their communities—became addicted to prescription drugs 

and later to heroin.

Like many other police agencies throughout the country, many of the civilian agencies represented at the meeting are in the process of training officers to administer naloxone (also known 

by the trade name Narcan), a life-saving medication that can stop the effects of a heroin overdose. Securing funding to pay for naloxone can be challenging for police agencies. In Fayetteville, Chief Harold Medlock secured funding through a public-private partnership with NC Harm 

Reduction Coalition. This partnership is also providing for officers’ training for on how to carry 

and deploy naloxone. Fayetteville officers carrying naloxone already have been credited with 

saving nine lives. The Virginia Beach Police Department is also developing a plan to incorporate 

naloxone into its operations.

Human Trafficking

Human trafficking near military bases

While human trafficking is a problem that confronts police departments everywhere and is not 

unique to garrison communities, there are special challenges associated with having large numbers of military personnel in a community. Several of the departments attending the COPS/PERF 

meeting have a growing concern about human trafficking because their communities include 

sizeable numbers of young men who may not recognize the signs of trafficking for the purpose 

of prostitution. Chief Terry Sult of Hampton explained that at military bases, “You have a lot of 

kids away from home for the first time, creating an environment ripe for exploitation.” 

For departments serving communities along major interstate highways or near resort areas, the 

concern about human trafficking is significantly increased. Those police agencies often are able 

to identify a precise route that criminal organizations take along those major thoroughfares. 

Trends in human trafficking

While there may be a perception that most victims of human trafficking are foreign-born, victims 

actually can come from anywhere, including the United States. Participants at the COPS/PERF 

meeting noted that criminal organizations recruit young people, enticing them through clothes, 

money, and drugs. After getting the young victims addicted to drugs, it becomes easier to insist 

that they work as prostitutes or in other criminal activity in order to get the drugs. 

At the COPS/PERF meeting, police leaders observed that the 

crime of human trafficking has changed significantly in recent 

years and today is largely organized online. Chief Harold Medlock 

noted that perpetrators “are tech-savvy and are finding ways every day to get around enforcement.” Traffickers use the Internet 

to lure victims into prostitution or other types of victimization, as 

well as to solicit customers for prostitution, using online platforms like Backpage.com or Craigslist. “Social media makes our 

job more challenging, because predators have more access to 

potential trafficking victims,” said Chief Sult. 

Because of the increasing use of social media for trafficking, it is 

more important than ever for civilian police and military police 

to confront these criminal trends collaboratively. State and local police departments may have 

the capacity to conduct investigations of sex trafficking websites, but those types of operations 

may be less familiar to military police forces. Many agencies actively work together on cases. For 

example, the Virginia Beach Police Department works collaboratively with the Naval Criminal 

Investigative Service (NCIS) on human trafficking, sharing office space and cases. 

“These girls are being lured into 

this lifestyle, and in some cases 

they are captured and used for 

a month or two. Then they find 

a way to connect with us, and 

we can get them back to their 

families.” 

 —Chief Harold Medlock, 

Fayetteville Police Department

Promising practices for combating human trafficking

The police departments attending the COPS/PERF meeting recognized that agencies cannot “arrest their way” out of the problem of human trafficking near military installations. Many agencies 

are currently pursuing prostitution diversion initiatives for victims of trafficking, which enable the 

victims to escape the traffickers while providing valuable intelligence on their criminal networks. 
24 Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

Police officials at the meeting said they sometimes accompany victims to their homes to ensure 

they arrive safely and use the travel time to debrief the victims about how they were lured into 

the trafficking network and victimized. 

Of crucial importance for police agencies is ensuring that the perpetrators of human trafficking 

are brought to justice through the legal system. So while it is essential to bring victims, most of 

whom are underage, to safety immediately, there must also be a way to bring criminal proceedings against the organizations responsible. That way, police agencies can bring charges under 

criminal statutes for human trafficking, for example the federal Mann Act, rather than simple 

prostitution charges. Several police departments described working with their local prosecutors’ 

offices to procure funds to bring victims back to testify against traffickers. That way, jurisdictions 

do not have to delay returning victims to their families, and victims do not bear the burden of 

financing their trip back to testify against their abusers.

Police agencies also work with witnesses who can provide information about traffickers and 

solicit assistance from those who can help prevent such crimes. Police at the meeting said that 

patterns often emerge in trafficking investigations; for example, perpetrators begin to use the 

same hotels and in some instances offer bribes to hotel personnel. Police officials said they contact hotel security departments and corporate offices in order to ensure that the hotels are not 

unwittingly allowing their facilities to be used for criminal activity. 

Some police agencies also are developing online strategies for prevention of human trafficking, 

such as posting warnings on the same sites that traffickers use to advertise. 

Military solutions to human trafficking

Military partners at the COPS/PERF meeting noted that the military is combating human trafficking through a massive education campaign among its personnel. Every Department of Defense 

employee, including all members of the military, receives annual training on human trafficking 

and the signs that a person may be a victim of trafficking.28 Various military bases are taking additional steps to make their personnel aware of the dangers of human trafficking, such as incorporating discussions of trafficking into their sexual assault awareness campaigns.

One additional concern that Military Criminal Investigative Organizations, the criminal investigative services of each branch of the military, are discussing in their communities is that many 

underage persons are recruited into trafficking through blackmail with photographic images of 

the victims. In many cases, human traffickers produce images of youths not only to lure victims 

into prostitution, but also to supplement their income from trafficking. Military command staff 

and military police have made it a priority to engage in education campaigns for parents regarding cell phones and computer technology. Teaching parents how to monitor computers and 

electronic devices may prevent the creation of images that lure children into trafficking in the 

first place.

28. See Lisa Ferdinando, “DoD: Training, Awareness Critical in Human Trafficking Fight” Defense.gov, 

Jan. 15, 2016. http://www.defense.gov/News-Article-View/Article/643267/dod-training-awarenesscritical-in-human-trafficking-fight.
Conclusion

Throughout the country, civilian police agencies in garrison communities experience unique 

challenges to ensuring the protection of their communities. 

Challenges unique to garrison communities. Each service branch has a unique way that it 

polices its installations, with differences in the warfighting requirements for its military police 

and the use of civilian deputies to maintain continuity as members of the military come and go. 

Due to the high turnover of military personnel, it can often be a challenge for civilian leaders 

to develop working relationships with their counterparts in the military. Civilian police agencies throughout the country have confronted that challenge in various ways, such as including 

Military Criminal Investigative Organizations in their Compstat meetings and other investigative 

meetings, jointly working on cases, and even distributing up-to-date directories of personnel 

from civilian and military police agencies, to ensure that they know how to identify and contact 

each other.

Joint training. Police agencies also conduct joint initiatives on training and professional development. Some agencies have included military personnel in their Police Training Academies, or 

have implemented lateral transition programs that allow veterans to join civilian police departments easily.

Information sharing and interoperability. Both civilian and military representatives noted 

that information sharing and interoperability of communications equipment have proved 

challenging for their agencies. While most civilian agencies use relatively simple technology 

like multi-band radios to communicate with military partners, at least one agency at the COPS/

PERF conference has integrated its radio communications, 911 information, and computer-aided 

dispatch (CAD) to ensure seamless communication during critical incidents.

Jurisdictional issues and MOUs. One of the unique aspects of policing near a military installation can be dealing with complicated jurisdictional issues. Fortunately, new legislation governing 

the Department of Defense (DoD) allows military installations, even those with “exclusive federal 

jurisdiction,” to enter into MOUs with local police departments to provide assistance. Participants 

at the COPS/PERF meeting spoke about the need to allow local police to assist military police 

with capabilities like SWAT. Now that the DoD is allowed to establish such partnerships, agencies 

should proactively ensure they have comprehensive agreements in place, and should engage in 

joint training exercises, to train for a coordinated response to critical incidents and other events.

Mental health care. Participants at the meeting also spoke about the importance of investing 

in mental health care for military members. From the civilian side, policing agencies for decades 

have used crisis intervention training to help officers de-escalate mental health crisis situations. 

In garrison communities, some of these programs are geared more specifically to the needs of 

military members. 

The DoD also has launched its own initiatives, including efforts to remove the stigma of PTSD, building 

resiliency to the trauma of combat in service members prior to deployment, mandatory assessments 

for mental health and wellness following combat, and teaching suicide intervention skills. 
26 Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

Integrating SWAT and CIT skills. There is still a need, however, for civilian and police agencies 

to use each other’s resources. Participants spoke about the challenges of deciding whether to 

serve individuals through civilian or military health systems, and how to share timely information 

that could save an individual’s life. Many of the civilian and military police agencies at the COPS/

PERF meeting are taking new steps toward teaching officers how to combine crisis intervention 

skills with tactical skills, in order to resolve critical incidents safely. This can take the form of Crisis 

Intervention Team training for SWAT members or deploying specialized intermediary teams to 

bridge the gap between patrol officers’ skills and those of SWAT members. 

The importance of dispatchers. One serious concern many participants raised was preventing 

“suicide-by-cop” scenarios. Emergency dispatchers and call-takers must know the right questions 

to ask to determine whether a call may involve an attempt to commit suicide by cop, and they 

must transmit any such information to the responding officers so they will know what they may 

be dealing with when they arrive. This can be complicated in garrison communities, where military and civilian police agencies rely on different dispatch systems. 

Drug abuse. Similar concerns were raised regarding civilian and military responses to drug 

abuse. Several of the agencies in attendance have been able to effectively work together to 

prevent abuse of so-called synthetic drugs, which in some cases are used by members of the 

military because they are wrongly perceived as more likely to go undetected by military drug 

testing programs. Military police agencies, like their civilian counterparts, are concerned about 

prescription drug abuse and a correlating rise in heroin addiction. 

Innovative drug treatment approaches. Civilian police agencies with military members are 

implementing promising practices to help military members and veterans obtain drug treatment. Several agencies are piloting innovative plans to provide opportunities for diversion from 

the criminal or military justice system for those who are willing to attempt drug rehabilitation. 

Police agencies also are finding sources of funding for officers to deploy naloxone, a life-saving 

drug that stops the effects of a heroin overdose. 

Human trafficking. Finally, participants at the meeting also discussed their increasing concern 

about human trafficking in their communities and shared promising responses to the problem. 

Police agencies are working to obtain intelligence on criminal trafficking organizations from 

victims, reunite victims with their families, and facilitate victims’ testimony against their abusers. 
Appendix A. Sample Memorandum of 

Understanding

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN COMMANDER, NAVY REGION, 

MID-ATLANTIC AND THE CITY OF VIRGINIA BEACH

1. Background. The Department of the Navy, acting through Commander, Navy Region, Mid-Atlantic (CNRMA), maintains several military installations in the City of Virginia Beach (City). Since 

most of the property maintained by CNRMA in the City is under concurrent jurisdiction, the safety 

and security of personnel and property located within these areas is the primary responsibility of the 

military. The City of Virginia Beach has agreed to share a limited role in providing police services to 

“on base” property (within the secured areas of the military property). There is a need to delineate 

the responsibilities of both the City and CNRMA regarding the provision of law enforcement and 

security services to Navy personnel and assets in the City as best as possible.

2. Purpose. The purpose of this agreement is to establish a common understanding between the 

City and CNRMA regarding the processing of offenses committed on property Under concurrent 

jurisdiction in the City, and the role that both the Virginia Beach Police Department and the Naval 

Security Force (NSF) will play in ensuring the safety and security of Navy personnel and assets 

located on such property.

3. Expectations and Requirements

a. CNRMA shall:

(1) Retain primary responsibility for responding to all situations requiring police involvement on 

property located within the fenceline and waterways of Naval installations within the City of Virginia 

Beach. Such property specifically includes: Naval Air Station Oceana, Joint Expeditionary Base Little 

Creek-Fort Story, and Naval Combat Training Center, Dam Neck. The Navy shall strive to call upon 

the resources of the Virginia Beach Police Department only as specified in subparagraph 3b(3) of this 

memorandum.

(2) All offenses committed onboard Navy installations by military members, with the exception of 

those offenses discussed in subparagraph 3(b) (5) below where Virginia Beach Police Department 

(VBPD) responds to the scene, shall normally be processed through the military justice system, U.S. 

Federal Court or through administrative measures, as appropriate.

(3) All offenses committed by civilians onboard Navy installations, except those enumerated in subparagraph 3(b) (5) below, shall normally be processed through U.S. Federal Court.

(4) The Program Manager for Public Safety for CNRMA will notify the City of any deviations from 

this general policy.

(5) CNRMA shall ensure that its personnel exercise authority only for offenses that occur on property under U.S. Navy jurisdiction. They shall act within the statutory authority provided in the Posse 

Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C. section 1385) and applicable Department of Defense and Navy regulations (including, but not limited to, DOD Directive 5525.5, DOD Directive 3025.1, Chief of Naval 

Operations Instruction 5530,14 series and Chief of Naval Operations Instruction 5585.2 series).

(6) Ensure that any situation requiring law enforcement involvement located near but outside of 

federal property is communicated to VBPD for response. Navy personnel shall not pursue vehicles 

off-base or exercise any other prescriptive authority off-base unless a direct threat to life or National 

Security is known by the pursuing officers, and then only to such point where Virginia Beach police 

can assume the pursuit. In cases where a person commits an offense on property under Navy 

jurisdiction, and then seeks to go outside such jurisdiction to escape police personnel on foot, Navy 

personnel may pursue the offender outside the bounds of Navy property so long as they do so on 

foot. In all situations involving a suspect fleeing from the federal facility to avoid capture, U.S. Navy 

personnel shall request assistance from VBPD.
28 Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

(7) Unless Threat Condition DELTA (no entry or exit in or from a military facility) exists, personnel from the Virginia Beach Police Department, upon proper identification, shall not be prevented 

from coming aboard Navy installations for the official purpose of enforcing or investigating the 

crimes listed in subparagraph 3b(5) below.

(8) Navy Security Force personnel shall generally be expected to unilaterally respond to all incidents occurring onboard Navy installations. Navy dispatchers shall accept calls from the Virginia 

Beach 9-1-1 (VB-911) Police Department dispatcher for cases generating onboard Navy installations.

(9) Understand that the Code of Virginia §19.2-81.3 mandates a Virginia Beach police officer shall 

arrest and take into custody any person he has probable cause to believe is the primary physical 

aggressor in a suspected violation of Code of Virginia§ 18.2-57.2 (assault and battery of a family or 

household member) or Code of Virginia § 16.1-253.2 (violation of a protective order), and when 

City police officers respond under the provisions of paragraph 3b(3) and make such a probable 

cause determination, military personnel may not interfere in that arrest.

(10) Promptly notify the ranking representative from the responsible command if there is a need to 

discuss any issues or problems that require the attention of the City.

b. The City shall:

(1) Understand that the Program Director for Public Safety is the CNRMA official primarily 

responsible to the region commander for security and law enforcement issues on property under 

Navy jurisdiction in the City, put that the individual installation Commanding Officer is ultimately 

responsible for what happens on board his/her installation.

(2) Retain primary responsibility for responding to all situations requiring police involvement on 

Navy property located outside the confines of Navy installations within the City of Virginia Beach. 

This specifically includes all privatized Navy housing and the 68th St Beach Club, located within the 

city of Virginia Beach.

(3) Respond to calls for assistance from Navy Security Force personnel, Navy Criminal Investigative Service or to 9-1-1 calls involving the following types of incidents occurring onboard Naval 

Installations:

• Family/DomesticViolence/Child abuse incidents

• Felony Offenses involving juvenile suspects

All calls for services and/or requests for police services that are received by the VB 9-1-1 center 

will be redirected or forwarded to the Navy Security/Dispatch. VBPD assistance/response will only 

occur after being requested by Navy Security/Dispatch and only if it meets one of the exceptions 

enumerated in this MOU. Navy Security Force personnel will also respond and/or escort VBPD 

unit to the scene of the case and remain during the duration of the investigation.

(4) Make its best efforts, based on the judgment of the ranking VBPD supervisor, to respond to 

reasonable requests for support from the Navy for incidents, beyond those listed in paragraph 3b(3) 

above, involving significant personal injury or death, which require law enforcement capabilities 

beyond that possessed by Navy security personnel.

(5) Generally process the following offenses occurring onboard Navy installations through the court 

system of the Commonwealth of Virginia:

• Family/DomesticViolence/Child abuse incidents

• Felony Offenses involving juvenile suspects

• Offenses to whichVBPD respond pursuant to subparagraph 3(b) (4) above, and makes

an arrest.
Appendix A. Sample Memorandum of Understanding 29

(6) Understand that Navy Security Forces shall be the primary means of enforcing laws and regulations on property within the confines of Navy installations, and that unique military contingencies 

(e.g. initiation of Threat Condition DELTA in response to terrorist attacks) may preclude prompt 

and immediate entry on board a Navy installation by City personnel. In cases where access is denied 

to any member of the VBPD, the Navy security forces will handle all nonemergency calls for service, for the duration of the period heightened security, regardless of the exceptions enumerated in 

this MOU.

(7) Coordinate with the installation security force or NCIS will be made by VBPD, if VBPD officers 

require access to Navy installations.

(8) Promptly notify the Regional Security Officer of the Mid-Atlantic Region (phone number XXXXXXX) if there is a need to discuss any issues or problems that require the attention of CNRMA 

and/or the Program Director for Public Safety.

4. Emergent Situations. Notwithstanding the routine exchange of information and delineation of 

responsibilities outlined in Paragraph 3 above, certain emergent situations may arise onboard Navy 

Installations with the City of Virginia Beach requiring a specialized response from the Virginia Beach 

Police Department. The following guidelines will be used for under those unique circumstances.

(1) Hostage/Barricade Incident/Crisis Negotiation:

a. Mission: In the event that a hostage/barricade situation occurs onboard one of the above 

military installations under jurisdiction of Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, and 

the installation Commanding Officer determines it is necessary for the use of a special 

weapons and tactical unit to resolve the situation, the Virginia Beach Police SWAT/CNT 

Team will be contacted for assistance. The Virginia Beach Police SWAT/CNT Team will 

provide, if available, a SWAT/CNT Team to respond to the scene upon notification of a 

hostage/barricade situation.

b. Response: Once the VBPD SWAT/CNT team arrives, the team commander will report 

to the Navy Incident Commander (IC) for the transfer of information concerning the 

incident. The VBPD SWAT commander may accept command of the incident, per 4(1C), 

after VBPD resources and personnel have been deployed to the scene and have relieved 

Navy and/or DOD personnel as needed. The Navy will provide plans, maps, etc. that are 

required by the VBPD. In keeping with preferred practices, the individual who has established a good rapport with the hostage taker/s will continue unless circumstances dictate 

otherwise. When possible negotiators from the VBPD SWAT/CNT unit will be used, to 

allow for team conformity.

c. Command/Control: Once it is determined that VBPD SWAT/CNT resources and 

personnel are to be used, operational control of the situation will be turned over to the 

VBP SWAT/CNT Team Commander. Once committed, overall operations control will 

stay with the VBPD SWAT/CNT Team Commander until the situation is resolved. The 

VBPD SWAT/CNT Team will operate based on their established procedures, training, and 

experience. During the incident there will be continued coordination between Navy and 

Virginia Beach officials in an attempt to facilitate a reasonable solution to the situation.

d. Assault: Entry/assault by the VBPD SWAT team units will be conducted in accordance 

with Virginia Beach Police Department’s training standards. Navy security Forces may 

be requested to support the Virginia Beach Police by securing of perimeters/hallways or 

stairwells as directed by Virginia Beach Police.

e. Explosives: Use of any explosive devices for breaching of doors, windows, walls, etc., 

when possible, will be coordinated with the Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), 

a unit under the operational control of the CNRMA Program Director for Public Safety. 

Commander may terminate support of the mission at any time at his/her discretion. 

However, this decision will be coordinated with the Navy, NCIS and CNRMA before 

support is terminated.
30 Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

f. Termination of Mission: The VBPD SWAT/CNT Commander may terminate support 

of the mission at any time at his/her discretion. However, this decision will be coordinated with the Navy, NCIS and CNRMA before support is terminated.

g. Post Incident Teams: Post Incident crime scene teams will consist of Virginia Beach 

personnel, NCIS and any other unit deemed necessary by the IC. VBPD and NCIS will 

coordinate any substantive criminal investigative matters.

h. Debrief: Based on National Security Requirements, responding Virginia Beach Police 

Officers could be directed to meet with a Navy Official prior to being released from the 

scene if they have entered spaces or been exposed to classified materials or equipment.

i. Post VBPD Internal Investigations/Use of Force: Based on the circumstances and 

the level of force employed by members of the VBPD, representatives from the Department will have full access to all relevant investigative evidence and witness information.

(2) Active Shooter:

a. Mission: In the event that an active shooter event occurs onboard one of the military 

installations under jurisdiction of Commander, Navy Region MidAtlantic, and the installation security force shift supervisor (Watch Commander) determines that they lack sufficient immediate armed response manpower to handle the situation, the Virginia Beach 

Police Dispatch will be notified of a request for assistance, and available Virginia Beach 

Police Officers will respond.

b. Response: Available units will be immediately dispatched to the scene. These assets 

could include K-9 Units, Air Support and SWAT trained officers. The installation’s Security Force will grant marked responding units immediate access; will check identification 

of all officers in an unmarked vehicle/unit and then grant immediate access and escort. 

Responding units may enter via outbound traffic lanes, as installation policy would be to 

stop all traffic from entering/exiting the base during the incident. Responding units will 

proceed to the scene, and the Navy’s IC will brief the first arriving units. Virginia Beach 

Police will then execute their standard responses to an Active Shooter. Navy Security 

Force at the scene will be shifted to the “TACTICAL’’ command of Virginia Beach Police 

until the active shooter situation is neutralized and the building/area has been cleared.

c. Command/Control: The Navy’s IC will be in charge of the Navy’s initial response, and 

for the request for assistance. Once on scene, Virginia Beach Police may accept “TACTICAL” command of the area/building until the active shooter situation is neutralized and 

the building/area has been cleared. The Navy IC will expand into a unified command 

structure that will include personnel from all of the major responding organizations.

d. Assault: As time is critical during an active shooter situation, immediate entry/assault by 

arriving units will be conducted in accordance with Virginia Beach Police Department’s 

training standards. Navy Security Forces will support the Virginia Beach Police with either 

additional entry teams, or securing of perimeters/hallways or stairwells as directed by 

Virginia Beach Police.

e. Post Incident Teams: Post Incident crime scene teams will consist of NCIS, Virginia 

Beach Police and other Agencies coordinated by NCIS.

Debrief: & Post VBPD Internal Investigations/Use of Force: same conditions apply as 

articulated in 4(1) (h & i) on page 6.
Appendix A. Sample Memorandum of Understanding 31

(3) Active Felony Tracking:

a. Mission: In the event that a major felony offense (involving personal injury or death) has been 

committed aboard one of the above military installations under the jurisdiction of Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic (CNRMA), and the installation security force shift supervisor 

(Watch Commander) has determined that the suspect or suspects is fleeing the Navy installation, the shift supervisor may request assistance from Virginia Beach Police in locating and 

detaining the suspect(s).

b. Response:

1) Inside the Fence Line: Virginia Beach Police will dispatch K-9 and/or Air Support to help 

track and detain felony suspects involving serious personal injury or death incidents. Airborne 

police assets will comply with all normal air traffic control procedures when operating in the 

vicinity of Naval Air Station Oceana including establishment of communications with Air Traffic 

Control Tower personnel as appropriate.

2) Outside the Fence Line: US Navy Security Forces will provide Virginia Beach Police all 

available information, to include suspected offense, weapons involved, subjects description, 

last known location, and direction of travel. Whenever possible, Virginia Beach Police will be 

allowed access to the initial scene to start air or ground search efforts. This includes granting 

immediate access for Police K-9 units.

3) In cases where Virginia Beach initiates or is involved in a felony tracking of suspects or a 

vehicle pursuit that enter military installations under the jurisdiction of Commander, Navy 

Region Mid-Atlantic, Virginia Beach Police marked police units will be granted immediate access. A Supervisory Police officer will make contact with and establish a unified command post 

with the Navy Security Force supervisor at the nearest open gate. The Navy and Virginia Beach 

Police will coordinate their efforts to locate, and detain the suspect(s).

c. Command/Control:

1) Navy will retain field command for all felony tracking pursuits initiated within the fence 

line of an installation, but will work directly with Virginia Beach Police by establishing a unified 

command post. The Navy IC will request support from the Virginia Beach Police representative, who will directly control the Virginia Beach Police assets.

2) Virginia Beach Police have jurisdiction and control outside the fence line. Navy Security 

Forces will not pursue suspects off of Navy installations.

5. Navy K-9 Support: In the interest of Public Safety, Navy Explosive Detector Dog assets, when 

available, can be requested by Virginia Beach Police to search for explosives. Navy policy prohibits 

the use of detector dogs to validate a suspected explosive device that has already been located.

6. Effective Date: This agreement will become effective upon signature of all parties.

7. Review: This agreement will be reviewed annually.

8. Termination: This agreement will remain in effect until either party gives written notice of their 

intent to withdraw. Such notice shall be submitted at least 60 days prior to the anticipated date of 

termination.
32 Policing Issues in Garrison Communities

APPROVED FOR CONTENT: 

__________________

 __________________ __________________

By: __________________ 

Chief of Police

City of Virginia Beach

By:

CPT, USN Commander

 APPROVED FOR LEGAL SUFFICIENCY:

By:

City Attorney, Virginia Beach

By: 

CDR, JAGC, USN Staff Judge Advocate

APPROVED BY:

By: __________________

City Manager

City of Virginia Beach

By: __________________

Admiral, U.S. Navy Commander, Navy Region, Mid-Atlantic
Appendix B. Conference Participants

Anne Arundel County, MD

William Krampf

Deputy Chief

Anne Arundel County Police Department

Thomas Russell

Chief of Police

Fort Meade Police Department

Bremerton, WA

Peter Fisher

Lieutenant

Bremerton Police Department

Ryan Wells

Chief Master-At-Arms

Kitsap Naval Base

Clarksville, TN

David Crockarell

Captain

Clarksville Police Department

Keith Shumate

Chief of Police, Installation Provost 

Marshal Office

Fort Campbell (KY)

Elizabeth City, NC

John Young

Captain

Elizabeth City Police Department

Fayetteville, NC

Kristoff Bauer

Deputy City Manager

City of Fayetteville

Katherine Bryant

Assistant Chief

Fayetteville Police Department

Rebecca Carter

Strategic Performance Analystics Director

City of Fayetteville

Christopher Davis

Captain

Fayetteville Police Department

Jessie Devane

Captain

Fayetteville Police Department

Laura Downing

Captain

Fayetteville Police Department

Kenneth Eaker

Captain

Fayetteville Police Department

Eugenia Guilmartin

Colonel

16th Military Police Brigade, Fort Bragg

Anthony Kelly

Assistant Chief

Fayetteville Police Department

Gerald G. Mapp

Battalion Commander

10th Military Police Battalion (CID), 

Fort Bragg

Harold Medlock

Chief of Police

Fayetteville Police Department

James Nolette

Captain

Fayetteville Police Department

Lars Paul

Captain

Fayetteville Police Department

Michael Petti

Assistant Chief

Fayetteville Police Department

Robert Spatorico

Captain

Fayetteville Police Department
George Urian

Captain

Fayetteville Police Department

Ted Voorhees

City Manager

City of Fayetteville

Darry Whitaker

Captain

Fayetteville Police Department 

Hampton, VA

Thomas Miner

Lieutenant Colonel

Commander, U.S. Air Force, Joint Base 

Langley-Eustis

Terry Sult

Chief

Hampton Police Department

Honolulu, HI

Ryan Borges

Major

Honolulu Police Department

Vernon Kong

Chief of Operations

Provost Marshal’s Office, Marine Corps

Base Hawai’i

Jacksonville, NC

Jonathan Oakes

Special Agent in Charge 

Naval Criminal Investigative Service, 

USMC Camp Lejeune

Michael Yaniero

Director of Public Safety

Jacksonville Police Department

Eric Young

Lieutenant Colonel

Commander, Provost Marshal’s Office, 

USMC Camp Lejeune

Newport News, VA

Michael Grinstead

Captain

Newport News Police Department

Richard Myers

Chief

Newport News Police Department

Jeffrey Nerone

Commander

Military Police, 733rd Security Forces 

Squadron, Joint Base Langley-Eustis

Pensacola, FL

James Donohoe

Sergeant

Pensacola Police Department

Harold Saint-Cloud

Lieutenant

Naval Air Station Pensacola

San Diego, CA

Chuck Kaye

Captain

San Diego Police Department

Virginia Beach, VA

Richard Meadows

Captain

Executive Officer, Naval Air Station Oceana

David Squires

Captain

Virginia Beach Police Department

Tony Zucaro

Deputy Chief

Virginia Beach Police Department

Washington, DC

Maggie Brunner

Research Associate

Police Executive Research Forum

Ronald L. Davis

Director

Office of Community Oriented Policing 

Services
Adam Kemerer

Research Assistant

Police Executive Research Forum

Elizabeth Miller

Research Associate

Police Executive Research Forum

Toni Morgan 

Policy Analyst

Office of Community Oriented Policing 

Services

Jennifer Rosenberger

Special Assistant to the Director

Office of Community Oriented Policing 

Services

Jessica Toliver

Director of Technical Assistance

Police Executive Research Forum

Chuck Wexler

Executive Director

Police Executive Research Forum 

Worcester, MA

Dr. Barry Feldman

Professor

University of Massachusetts Medical 

School

Appendix B. Conference Participants 35

About the Police Executive Research Forum

The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) is an independent research organization that focuses 

on critical issues in policing. Since its founding in 1976, PERF has identified best practices on 

fundamental issues such as reducing police use of force; developing community policing and 

problem-oriented policing; using technologies to deliver police services to the community; and 

developing and assessing crime reduction strategies. 

PERF strives to advance professionalism in policing and to improve the delivery of police services 

through the exercise of strong national leadership; public debate of police and criminal justice 

issues; and research and policy development. 

The nature of PERF’s work can be seen in the titles of a sample of PERF’s reports over the last 

decade. Most PERF reports are available without charge online at http://www.policeforum.or

free-online-documents.

In addition to conducting research and publishing reports on our findings, PERF conducts management studies of individual law enforcement agencies; educates hundreds of police officials 

each year in the Senior Management Institute for Police, a three-week executive development 

program; and provides executive search services to governments that wish to conduct national 

searches for their next police chief. 

All of PERF’s work benefits from PERF’s status as a membership organization of police officials, 

who share information and open their agencies to research and study. PERF members also 

include academics, federal government leaders, and others with an interest in policing and criminal justice. 

All PERF members must have a four-year college degree and must subscribe to a set of founding 

principles, emphasizing the importance of research and public debate in policing, adherence 

to the Constitution and the highest standards of ethics and integrity, and accountability to the 

communities that police agencies serve. 

PERF is governed by a member-elected President and Board of Directors and a Board-appointed 

Executive Director. 
About the COPS Office

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) is the component of 

the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for advancing the practice of community policing by 

the nation’s state, local, territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies through information and 

grant resources.

Community policing begins with a commitment to building trust and mutual respect between 

police and communities. It supports public safety by encouraging all stakeholders to work together to address our nation’s crime challenges. When police and communities collaborate, they 

more effectively address underlying issues, change negative behavioral patterns, and allocate 

resources. 

Rather than simply responding to crime, community policing focuses on preventing it through 

strategic problem solving approaches based on collaboration. The COPS Office awards grants to 

hire community police and support the development and testing of innovative policing strategies. COPS Office funding also provides training and technical assistance to community members and local government leaders, as well as all levels of law enforcement. 

Another source of COPS Office assistance is the Collaborative Reform Initiative for Technical Assistance (CRI-TA). Developed to advance community policing and ensure constitutional practices, 

CRI-TA is an independent, objective process for organizational transformation. It provides recommendations based on expert analysis of policies, practices, training, tactics, and accountability 

methods related to issues of concern.

Since 1994, the COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion to add community policing 

officers to the nation’s streets, enhance crime fighting technology, support crime prevention 

initiatives, and provide training and technical assistance to help advance community policing.

•	 To date, the COPS Office has funded the hiring of approximately 127,000 additional officers 

by more than 13,000 of the nation’s 18,000 law enforcement agencies in both small and large 

jurisdictions.

•	 Nearly 700,000 law enforcement personnel, community members, and government leaders 

have been trained through COPS Office-funded training organizations.

•	 To date, the COPS Office has distributed more than eight million topic-specific publications, 

training curricula, white papers, and resource CDs.

•	 The COPS Office also sponsors conferences, roundtables, and other forums focused on issues 

critical to law enforcement.

The COPS Office information resources, covering a wide range of community policing topics—

from school and campus safety to gang violence—can be downloaded at www.cops.usdoj.go

This website is also the grant application portal, providing access to online application forms.

Policing in areas near military installations, or “garrison communities,” presents challenges as well 

as opportunities, requiring special policies and procedures. On a daily basis there can be jurisdictional issues, but local law enforcement can also benefit from sharing resources and information 

with the military. 

To help agencies build collaborative relationships and effectively police garrison communities, 

the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) and the Police Executive 

Research forum (PERF) held a meeting in 2015 which brought civilian law enforcement leaders 

together with their military counterparts to explore the best ways to work together. 

This report summarizes their discussions, describes promising practices, and provides detailed 

recommendations in areas such as interoperability of communications, crisis intervention training, and other issues specific to garrison communities. 

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

145 N Street NE

Washington, DC 20530

To obtain details about COPS Office programs, 

call the COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-6770.

Visit the COPS Office online at www.cops.usdoj.gov.

e051618757

Published 2016