By mid morning on Monday, September 17, as Occupy Wall Street
protesters marched around the perimeter of the Federal Reserve Bank of
New York, all signs that an FRPD (Federal Reserve Police Department)
existed had disappeared. The FRPD patrol cars and law enforcement
officers had been replaced by NYPD patrol cars and officers. That
decision may have been made to keep from drawing attention to a
mushrooming new domestic police force that most Americans do not know
exists.
Quietly, without fanfare or Congressional
hearings, the USA Patriot Act in 2001 bestowed on the 12 privately owned
Federal Reserve Banks, domestic policing powers.
Section 364 of the Act, “Uniform Protection Authority
for Federal Reserve,” reads: “Law enforcement officers designated or
authorized by the Board or a reserve bank under paragraph (1) or (2) are
authorized while on duty to carry firearms and make arrests without
warrants for any offense against the United States committed in their
presence…Such officers shall have access to law enforcement information
that may be necessary for the protection of the property or personnel of
the Board or a reserve bank.”
The police officers
are technically known as FRLEO, short for Federal Reserve Law
Enforcement Officer. The system has its own police academies for
training, their own patch and badges, uniforms, pistols, rifles, police
cars and the power to arrest coast to coast without a warrant. They
have ranks of Sergeant, Lieutenant, Captain and a recruitment ad
campaign with the slogan: “It’s about respect and recognition from your peers. It’s you.”
According
to a former St. Louis Federal Reserve Law Enforcement Training
Instructor, the officers are trained on pistol, rifle, auto-rifle,
sub-gun and shotgun with manufacturers encompassing Smith & Wesson,
Glock, Remington and Armalite.
The FRLEOs employed
by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. are
considered employees of the Federal government since the Board is a
government entity. Each of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks, as settled law
under Lewis v. United States confirms, is a private corporation owned
by commercial banks in its region. An email to several of the Federal
Reserve Banks confirmed that they regard their FRLEOs to be privately
employed by the bank.
The San Francisco Fed ran an ad
for Captain Specialist, noting that “you will be charged with gathering
and disseminating law enforcement intelligence information to the
District.” It also noted that the individual would need to “obtain and
maintain top secret clearance.” Typically, that clearance level is
reserved for only the highest positions in the Federal government.
A
recruitment ad for the Richmond Fed indicates their FRLEOs would be
plugged into the nation’s criminal databases: “The Law Enforcement Unit
has an immediate opening for a Communications Center Operator, reporting
to the Center leadership team in Richmond, Virginia. The pay is $32,458
— $40,573…[the officer will query] “information from a variety of law
enforcement data bases for information, wants/warrants, intelligence,
driver’s license and vehicle information, etc.” The Cleveland Fed notes
that the job “may include, but would not be limited to: use of deadly or
non-lethal force…”
FRLEOs now even have their own Federal Reserve Policemen’s Benevolent Association, Local 385. The group’s Facebook page carries
the statement that it is a “government organization.” The site says
the group “was established to create a fraternal organization for its
membership and to act on behalf of the members as a liaison between the
New Jersey State PBA and all other police agencies within the state and
the country.” The connection to New Jersey likely stems from a now
deceased police officer, James Rose, from Moonachie, New Jersey, who was
a FRLEO in New York and helped to establish Local 385. In addition,
the Regional office of the New York Fed is located in East Rutherford,
New Jersey.
In addition to regular policing functions, the
Federal Reserve police have been observed in airports with rifles,
functioning as dignitary protection teams. Various recruitment ads
confirm that this is sometimes part of the job.
Buttressing the
private nature of the Federal Reserve Banks, the Maiden Lane building
that the Occupy Wall Street protesters were swarming around this
morning, chanting “F*** the Fed,” was purchased on February 28, 2012 by
the New York Fed, which had previously been leasing the building.
According to the press release the “Federal Reserve Bank of New York
(New York Fed) today announced that it has acquired the building at 33
Maiden Lane for $207.5 million from Merit US Real Estate Fund III, L.P.
and established a new, wholly owned limited liability company called
Maiden & Nassau LLC to serve as owner of the building.”
The
Federal Reserve Building up for sale at 301 Rosa L. Parks Avenue in
Nashville has this slogan engraved on the building: “Federal Reserve
System Through Which Our Banks and Government Join Hands to Further the
Enduring Prosperity of American Commerce, Industry and Agriculture.”
There
is nothing in that motto that shows a concern for the average American.
And that’s the problem inherent in the continuing venting of anger
against Wall Street banks and their perceived crony patrons at the Fed
who gave them trillions of dollars in low-cost bailout loans and then
fought a court battle to keep the loans a secret. That domestic
policing functions have now been added to the mix can only create more
suspicions and hostility.
There is also the obvious
question as to why the expense, training and potential liability of
armed police would be necessary when all of the Federal Reserve Banks
are in cities with large municipal police forces. With private bankers
sitting on the Boards of each of these Reserve Banks, many of whom are
officers of banks under criminal investigation, there is the serious
need for Congressional investigation into how the Nation’s criminal
databases are being used by the private sector as well as the further
chilling of protest and dissent from another new sheriff in town.