TexasCHLforum.com

MPs absolutely have authority off post/base..... over military personnel and violations of the UCMJ (as it is federal law). becuase it applies to servicemembers everywhere at all times. We cannot enforce civilian laws outside of federal jurisdiction areas (proprietary, concurrent, partial and exclusive) due to posse comitatus.

srothstein wrote:

bronco78 wrote:No commander I've met, known, read about, seen, heard about is out there authorizing his (her) Soldiers to take a military weapon off post in open carry.. their are no military duties to be discharged in such a manner as far as my 24 years of service can come up with.

CID carries off post all the time since their patrol area is usually counties wide and they have to check all the school ROTC units and the recruiter stations too.

And the commander of the Armed Forces Police Detachment in San Antonio has all of his men open carry off post. They are in uniform, on patrol around the city, and based out of the city police headquarters. They were very helpful when we had a situation involving an active duty service member.

So, there definitely are military personnel open carrying off post. Most are in uniform, but some are in civilian clothes. The civilian clothes people usually carry concealed, but, like many cops, they get lax about putting their jackets back on every so often.

Lackland "used to have" an Armed Forces Police Detachement at SAPD but that program has been obsolete for 8+ years now. AD Personnel can and have carried off base and here are a few exceptions: SP Investigator following up crimes committed on base with remnant being off base (item stolen on sold at pawn shop off base), they can server warrants, etc on military persons living off base (w/ Local LEO assistance), or any investigation involving US Servicemembers, Every year during FIesta we have a contingent of USAF SPs downtown patrolling the carnival, market square and NIOSA. We have jurisdiction over US Servicemembers "wherever they are; on land, on the sea, in space, etc. We can excercise supremecy over state on any servicemember. In fact I can be downtown, see a crime commited (while on duty) and once that person is id'd as military - he belongs to me. Additionally, I am required to patrol off base because some things are geographically seperated. Then you have places where there is concurrent jurisdiction - meaning both fed and state have police powers Like Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio, they have the biggest off base patrol sector and quite often deal with non base affiliated civilians.