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New civilian police officers take oath

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — The first graduates of the East Coast Regional Marine Corps Police Academy took the oath of office here Friday ready to start their new jobs at East Coast installations next week.

The class of 21 civilian police officers, clad in tan uniforms similar to the kind worn by sheriff’s deputies and city policemen, will begin their law enforcement duties here, at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga., and Marine Corps Support Facility, Blount Island Command in Jacksonville, Fla., on Monday.

Until now, civilian police forces have not existed at larger bases and stations. But the service has converted provost marshal offices to Marine Corps police departments since 2005. Installations with police departments include Albany, Blount Island and MCLB Barstow, Calif.

“You are about to take a historic leap,” said Col. John Fitzgerald, chief of staff for Marine Corps Installations-East. “You’re going to end up making … about 52 percent of our law enforcement.”

The other 48 percent will be uniformed Marines.

The Corps set out to hire more than 1,200 civilian police officers earlier this year as a way to augment the limited numbers of military police. The plan will end the Fleet Assistance Program for military police units, which sends Marines on loan to the base provost marshal’s office to guard gates and fill in. The units these Marines come from must absorb the loss, which is hard to do in wartime.

The remainder of the Corps’ PMOs will become blended police forces. Bases in Japan will not hire civilians because the nation’s laws do not allow civilians to be armed.

Raymond Geoffroy, assistant deputy commandant for Plans, Policies and Operations and Security Division director, said it took a long time for Marine leaders to understand the need for civilian police at installations.

“We recognize the utility of having a police force that is there every day,” he said. “You’re all part of the family now.”

Police academies have been established at Lejeune and Camp Pendleton, Calif., with new officers required to complete nine weeks of training. Training began at the West Coast academy April 28 with nine recruits. Their first graduation is scheduled for June 30 and officers will begin to conduct their official law enforcement duties July 1, base spokesman 2nd Lt. Tom Garnett said.

Aulio Bonilla was ready to hit the ground as soon as he graduated Friday. The former Marine left the Corps in 1998 after 16 years of service. Since then, he has worked for the North Carolina Department of Corrections and the state driver’s license office in Jacksonville.

“This was an opportunity to get back to my Marine Corps family,” he said.

Bonilla called the academy’s training “pretty intense,” saying instructors covered everything from interrogations to how to deal with different personalities. As a patrolman, he’ll work side-by-side with an MP for the next couple of months patrolling base housing areas and standing guard at the base gates, he said.

The Corps plans to hire all of its civilian police officers over the next three years.