MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. --
The Marine Corps Police Department
acknowledges its 10-year anniversary as a civilian police force aboard Marine
Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., this year.
In 2005, MCLB Barstow became the first
Marine Corps base to transition from military police to a civilian police force
paving the way for the next two bases, Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany
located in Albany, Georgia and Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island in
Jacksonville, Florida, to follow suit. The transition from military to civilian
personnel was part of an ongoing effort to reduce military staffing on bases
and ended up allowing for more military police to serve overseas, said Darwin
O’Neal, MCPD police chief.
There was a great deal of collaboration with
Head Quarters Marine Corps in Washington D.C. during the transition to ensure
that proper regulatory requirements were met, processes were in place and
entitlements were clear, said Luciana Wais, personnel operations branch head
for MCLB Barstow.
The first civilian police employees came on
board as GS: 03 interns and GS: 04 employees promotable to GS: 05 then 07
positions. These initial MCPD employees began their academies in 2006, then
went through the standard hands on training with Field Training Officers before
serving in their hired roles.
Ten of those employees hired in that first
wave of hiring for MCPD still work aboard MCLB Barstow in leadership
roles.
“The officers are doing doing an
outstanding job with providing security and law enforcement to the employees
and family members who work and live aboard the installation,” said Darwin
O’Neal, chief of police with MCPD on MCLB Barstow. “I see nothing, but great
things. Some officers will move on to
other things, but some will remain and progress up through the ranks,” he
continued.
As these ten employees demonstrate their
loyalty to the base and to supporting the Marine Corps mission, they set an
example for new employees to follow. The
MCPD has 21 open positions at this time, which Chief O’Neal expects to fill
within the next year. Anyone wishing to
secure a position as a law enforcement officer may initially accept an
entry-level position, but may rest assured that with hard work and dedication
to training, doors to promotions may open.
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