An FBI guy speaks
Posted by BrianHere is a letter to the editor from today’s Huntsville Times from a purported FBI veteran:
In response to Lee Roop’s Feb. 3 column regarding the arrest of Rep. Sue Schmitz, D-Toney, for federal fraud charges, I would like to respond to his column questioning the FBI’s arrest procedures.
As a 24-year career veteran Special Agent of the FBI, I can assure you that law enforcement at all levels practice a “standard operating procedure” when executing a plan that involves the arrest of an individual based upon the issuance of an arrest warrant.
Law enforcement, including the FBI, will always plan for the unexpected when lawfully performing the duties of which they are duly charged.
Having sufficient personnel such as numerous FBI Special Agents, a contingency plan, and standard procedures are done not only for the safety of the arresting agents but for the safety of the subject and the general public at large.
There are no “routine arrests.” When a subject is lawfully taken into custody, when Schmitz was arrested on Jan. 31, it was done upon an indictment returned from a federal grand jury based upon probable cause.
To underestimate the behavior of an subject whose life and liberty is interrupted by a lawful arrest is a dangerous mind-set to those law enforcement officers making the arrest.
You do not have to look very far in the past to see that the unpredictable erratic and violent response of an arrestee resulted in the brutal and senseless line of duty death of a Huntsville Police Department officer.
The issue here is the alleged fraud charges against Sue Schmitz and not the FBI arrest procedures.
The government classes she teaches includes the role of the accused in the judicial branch as outlined in our nation’s Constitution. That same Constitution will now work for her on her own behalf.
David K. Jernigan,
Madison, 35758
Sounds a lot like what I said a few days ago.
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February 19th, 2008 at 6:42 am
Dave Jernigan is indeed an FBI Agent, and a very professional one, at that. I’ve known him for many years.
February 19th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
I’m sure the FBI was very professional.
It’s Ms. Martin’s decision to perp walk Schmitz that’s not exactly SOP. Ms. Schmitz, apparently, had offered, through her lawyer to turn herself in. She also, apparently, had been in contact with the U.S. attorneys office about this matter. SOP, to avoid the taint of a political prosecution, among other things, would have been to issue a summons and let her turn herself in.
Yes, the decision on how/when/where to arrest is up to the U.S. attorney. Perhaps the perp walk was useful, in this case, in educating Ms. Schmitz’s students in the legal process. Perhaps criminal activity by Democratic lawmakers and second-year college teachers is so much a danger to society that arresting her in public serves as a heads up for criminals. Perhaps Ms Martin wanted to do political damage to AL Dems. Given what we know so far, I’d guess the latter.
February 19th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
#2, I believe Martin has said that it is her office’s SOP to make arrests in cases of public corruption. As such it would have been a violation of SOP to allow Schmitz to turn herself in.
The arrest wasn’t a perp walk per se since there was no media to document the spectacle. As best I can tell it was Schmitz’s attorneys who decided to make the details of the arrest public and invite whatever prejudices might follow. If Martin was on a personal, reckless vendetta against Democrats she sure didn’t make a big deal about it. It also doesn’t make sense that federal agents searched at least one Republican’s office if she was just a Democrat head hunter.