Lt. Col Stanley P. Fugate Deputy Commander for Civil Capacity 1-3 AAB FOB Falcon, Baghdad, Iraq
Lt. Col. Stanley P. Fugate is the 1st Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, deputy commander for Civil Capacity in Baghdad, Iraq. This is his first deployment to Iraq, but he has been deployed to Kuwait three other times. Fugate is the second in command of the Brigade.
In the previous years, United States Forces’ (USF) Divisions and Brigade Combat Teams have only focused on advising and assisting the Iraqi Army (IA) and the Iraqi Federal Police (FP) throughout Iraq. Corps Military Police (MP) companies under a separate MP Brigade were primarily responsible for partnership with Iraqi Police.
Since the transition to Operation New Dawn and with only a few more months left in our brigade’s 12 month deployment in Iraq, we have added eight Iraqi Police (IP) Commands to our brigade’s operational problem statement. The Baghdad Provincial Directorate of Police, Baghdad Patrol Headquarters; Rusafa Local, Patrol and Traffic Police Directorates; and the Karkh Local, Patrol and Traffic Police Directorates have been added to our brigade’s mission as an advise and assist brigade in the Baghdad Province.
Our initial brigade objectives are to build strong partnerships and relationships with the Iraqi Police chain of command; close the existing communications and relationship gap between Iraqi Army, the Federal Police, and the Iraqi Police; and assist in the development of Iraqi Police skill sets such as: crime scene management and investigations, sustainment skills training programs, community policing, human rights and detention operations. In the future we will strive to help assist the Iraqi Police with their own Counter Narcotics Program and continue to build upon their present K9 Working Dog Program which is gaining momentum every day.
As an advise and assist brigade we know that we cannot cover all of the areas that the Iraqi Police need help and assistance on in our short time with them so we have concentrated on initially with the police investigation process. To provide expertise and professionalism in our support we have several Law Enforcement Professionals (LEP’s) and Civilian Police Advisors (CPA’s) with many years of law enforcement experience in the United States (FBI, CID, DEA, etc.). These professionals provide the instruction for example – of securing the crime scene (cordon, entry control, and accountability) and the follow-on sequence of investigative events (preservation of crime scene, evidence handling, fingerprinting, photographing of the scene, and evidence chain of custody).
Sometimes it is as easy as suggesting the use of disposable gloves or using plastic bags to hold items of evidence or having an Iraqi investigator take down notes during questioning of a witness. The LEPs and CPAs provide advice on police investigation best practices and give after action feedback to the Iraqi Police chain of command and police shurta (policemen).
Our Iraqi Police Advisory teams also provide enablers such as police investigation kits which enhance the Iraqi Police investigative abilities. In the long run we want to help assist the Iraqi police in increasing the quantity and quality of evidence collected, improve their quality of reports completed for major crime investigations, help them identify local trends and patterns of criminal activity, improve police/judiciary relationships and cooperation, and assist with their ability to follow-up on crime cases beyond the initial on-scene investigation. With our support and mentorship the capabilities of Iraqi Police investigators will significantly improve.
If our brigade can leave the Iraqi Police in the Baghdad Province with anything – it is a focused, coordinated mindset by all elements of Iraq law enforcement to combat the increasing frequency and intensity of terroristic criminal activity in this unstable geographic region and restore confidence in their law enforcement institutions and give the Iraqi Police primacy.
