Private security company named AMERICAN POLICE FORCE takes over Montana jail

[Tx4obama]

Excerpt:

We're From The Militia and We're Here to Help

A shadowy security company, which seems to have no history and which no one seems to know much about, has secured a contract to take over a jail in the small town of Hardin, Montana.

Only the jail has no inmates and the company -- American Police Force (you can see their oddly Balkan crest in the pic to the left) -- won't say what it is they plan to do with it. And then there's the stuff that's been freaking out the locals. As Justin Elliott puts it in our post, "residents of Hardin, MT, were alarmed last week when executives from the firm, American Police Force, showed up in the town, which does not have its own police department, with Mercedes SUVs bearing "City Of Hardin Police Department" decals."

Read more here: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/09/were_from_the_militia_and_were_here_to_help.php#more?ref=fpblg

[havocmom]

1. Thinkin Hardin just became a 'company town'

and still no grasp of who/what the 'company' is. Foolish to build a prison in hopes of creating jobs, without checking into whether the state needs more beforehand.

Whole thing makes me think Marc Racicot, former guv who bled the state coffers building prisons. MT did not have a big prison population, but thinking some Racicot patrons made $$ building prisons anyway. Racicot went on to head RNC for a spell, then bush/cheney 04 and into cushy job in Lobbyist Land. He left MT a mess.

The folks in Hardin probably figured prisons were the road to riches, or at least jobs, after Racicot's song and dance before he left for greener pastures.

I see Haliburton trucks on the Interstate whenever I venture that far afield. We also got a lot of $$ for little used state highways during the bush years. Probably lots of payolla for MT pols of the 'right' persuasion. Too many of the small town populations are easy marks for the snake oil salesmen operating under cover of GOP patron pols.

For me, it's :popcorn: time. Hardin might be learning some more hard lessons here soon.

[sarge43]

2. "their oddly Balkan crest"

That's Serbia's national coat of arms.

:wtf:

[fishwax]

9. well, their spokesman is from Montenegro and has a history of fraud

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_023e1c90-ae1b-11de-8891-001cc4c03286.html

Public records from police and state and federal courts in California show that Michael Anthony Hilton, using that name and more than a dozen aliases over several years, is cited in multiple criminal, civil and bankruptcy cases, and was sentenced in 1993 to two years in state prison in California.

Hilton pleaded guilty in March 1993 to 14 felonies, including 10 counts of grand theft, one count of attempted grand theft and three counts of diversion of construction funds, according to Orange County court records. He was sentenced to two years in prison, but it is unclear how much time he served.

I've posted some more about it here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6668993&mesg_id=6668993

[sarge43]

15. Quel surprise. Thanks for the background. n/t

[mzteris]

3. They're another Blackwater type company

http://www.americanpolicegroup.com/

[MiniMe]

7. Actually, they are Blackwater

Some great investigating from debbierlus http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6667901

[gimama]

4. Maybe the new site for Gitmo "detainees"? nt

[Tx4obama]

5. UPDATE: It's BLACKWATER/xe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6667901

[RB TexLa]

6. What is odd about a Balkan crest?

What is "shadowy" about a company that people do not know about, that would describe any small company until you do find out about them.

Using the town's name and saying you are a municipal police department is an issue. But why would anyone care that they use a Balkan crest? How could anyone care?

[sarge43]

13. Well, first of all it's not a crest; it's a coat of arms.

Coats of arms are property. They belong to an individual, an institution, a corporation. Using one without the permission of the owner is theft. It's also fraud, misrepresentation.

Would you care if a Serbian 'security' company were using the US Great Seal or flag as a logo?

[aikoaiko]

8. This story is weird. Hardin is a tiny town 3-4 k. How many criminals do they expect to roust?

:shrug:

[havocmom]

10. LOL In Montana, a town of 3K is not "tiny". A town that size is just a town. Tiny is where I live.

I fear the civic movers and shakers might have thought Marc Racicot's prison building scam was a real way to bust through bad economic times.

[aikoaiko]

11. Well, maybe tiny was too strong a word, but its still a small number of people from which to cull a

prison population.

[havocmom]

12. They knew that going in. They were counting on leasing beds to the state

But the state didn't need prison beds. Then they tried to lease beds to other states. They found out the State of Montana had some regulations about that too. Then they tried to blame the get jobs quick pipe dream on our DEM governor.

Then they tried for the GITMO prisoners. The rest of the state didn't like that much either.

Some construction company made money building a pipe dream for a rather naive population of a small town looking for some sort of future. Sad.

But they knew the prison would not be filled from the local area. That naive they are not.

[annabanana]

14. Note to tourists: STAY OUT OF HARDIN!

If Blackwater has been hired to fill that huge white elephant prison, an "out of towner" is going to look mighty suspicious.

[havocmom]

16. Read the info. Nobody hired the outside guys to do police work

They just showed up with decals on cars. The locals made them remove the Police Dept decals