Triple 7 MPs archive detainee records

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Vine | Sgt. Robert Beebe, from Madison Heights, Mich., and an MP with the 777th Military Police Detachment, sorts through and stacks 1000's of United States detainee's records. The 777th MP Det. is collecting and transporting more than 85,000 detainee's records back to the U.S. for digitization and archiving.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

11.06.2010

Story by Spc. Joseph Vine 

305th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

BAGHDAD - Throughout the course of the war in Iraq, more than 85,000 detainees were processed through the United States military detention centers.

With the records of so many detainees in the system,accurate record-keeping is critical.

Cataloguing and archiving these records are tasks the 777th Military Police Detachment, from the Michigan National Guard, doesn’t take lightly.

To accomplish this mission, the 777th is conducting a split deployment. The unit recently completed an internal relief in place. The first rotation of Soldiers redeployed back to Michigan and was replaced by their fellow unit members.

The soldiers received specialized training to collect and process all detainee records from Iraq, said Lt. Col. Edward D. Ziegenmeyer, from Silverwood, Mich., commander of the 777th MP Det., rotation 1.

The soldiers in the first rotation catalogued more than half of the 85,000 detainee records from Iraq. The Soldiers of the second rotation will continue to process and ship the remaining records to the National Detainee Reporting Center in the Pentagon

“The paperwork process starts from the ‘point of capture’ and doesn’t end until the detainee is no longer in U.S. custody,” said Sgt. 1st Class Carol Dalpe, from Shelby Township, Mich., the detachment sergeant for the 777th MP Det., rotation 2.

“When the detainee first gets to the Facility In-processing Holding Area, we collect biometric data such as fingerprints, a retinal scan and DNA,” said Ziegenmeyer.

“We also include information the detainee will give us like their birthday, residence, where they were born, and full name,” he said. “All of that information goes into the Detainee Reporting System.”

The information in the records comes from anyone who has contact with the detainee, from the legal department to the guards at the internment facility, Dalpe said.

The files contain sworn statements, evidence, medical reports, intelligence reports and conduct reports, she said.

“We’ve collected, catalogued, indexed and are currently shipping the records for all the detainees the U.S. has had in Iraq,” said Ziegenmeyer. “Those records filled eight, 20-foot shipping containers, and end to end would cover four miles.”

The records are being shipped to the U.S. to be digitized and put into the reporting system.

“If we collect a fingerprint off a shell fragment or casing, we can get a positive identification if they’ve been through our system,” said Ziegenmeyer.

The 777th will continue to serve the Provost Marshal’s Office at Camp Victory through August 2011, when their mission is complete.

• Date Taken: 11.06.2010
• Date Posted: 11.06.2010 06:02
• Story ID: 59545
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ