Photo By Staff Sgt. Kimberly Johnson | The Baghdad River Patrol, with the Iraqi Police, conducts a joint mission Oct. 17 with...... read more read more
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BAGHDAD – The 94th Military Police Company, 1st Advise and Assist Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, United States Division – Center, along with police officers of the Baghdad River Patrol with the Iraqi Police, conducted a joint mission Oct. 17 to assess checkpoints along the Tigris River in Baghdad.
“The purpose for the joint patrol was to make the citizens of Iraq feel [the Iraqi Police and U.S. forces] are working together to try and secure Iraq,” said Col. Fadhil Abbas Bedewe, commander of the Baghdad River Patrol. “We work together—the Iraqis and Americans—both for the benefit of the Iraqi citizens to ensure their security and safety in this country.”
Lt. Col. George Pohlmann, team chief with the Rusafa Police Advisory Team, USD – C, and a Chicago native said there are two patrol objectives. There is the street patrol mission and the river patrol. The infrastructure in Iraq is tied together by the Tigris River and the bridges, on both sides of the river.
The river patrol has the task of securing the Tigris River while the Iraqi Army secures the bridges connecting both sides of the river. The U.S. forces do not patrol the river anymore, Pohlmann said.
Pohlmann said it is just as important for the Iraqi civilian law enforcement personnel to patrol the streets as it is for U.S. forces. He said by the Iraqi population progressively stabilizing and the Iraqi Police patrolling the streets and the Tigris River, the Iraqi Army is able to begin focusing more on national stability, which is the intent to make Iraq strong for the future.
When the citizens see the Iraqi Police officers patrolling daily, that has helped build the trust with the citizens of Iraq and the law enforcement personnel who patrol the streets, Bedewe said.
“One of the upsides of building those individual relationships with the Iraqis is their culture is very hospitable,” Pohlmann said. “In that respect, [the RPAT] was able to work with the Iraqis and get them to understand the areas [the RPAT] wants to help and why these patrols are so important.”
Pohlmann said there have been great rewards in working with the Iraqi Police and the (Baghdad) River Patrol by helping with their efforts to support fallen comrades and the families of those police officers killed in the line of duty.
“Anytime [American service members] can have contact with the police officers’ families and make a direct positive impact on those families is a great reward and a step in the right direction for the stability of Iraq,” Pohlmann said.
| Date Taken: | 10.17.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 10.27.2010 03:09 |
| Story ID: | 58890 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 134 |
| Downloads: | 5 |
This work, USD-C Soldiers, Baghdad River Patrol jointly assess Tigris River, by SSG Kimberly Johnson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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