95th SFS welcomes first batch of new civilian police force

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Julius Delos Reyes
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The 95th Security Forces Squadron formally welcomed the first batch of new civilian police and security forces during a badge ceremony at the squadron's headquarters Oct. 9. 

Maj. Steven Heffington, 95th SFS commander, gave police badges to 23 civilians as a time-honored tradition to recognize them as police and security officers. 

"This is a big deal," said Major Heffington. "Whether you are wearing Airman Battle Uniforms or Department of the Air Force police gear, you are part of this unit. A badge is not a piece of metal; it is not something shiny you put on your uniform. A badge stands for something very few people have been willing to step up and accept. A badge says that whenever everything is going wrong, I will be the one to step up and fix it." 

This also marked the transition of Edwards civilian security guards from a contractor system to the new National Security Personnel System. 

"Security guards contracts are ordered to phase out by 2013," said Doug Christey, 95th SFS supervisory police officer. "Installations will have to staff entry points with federal security guards." 

Prior to the ceremony, the civilian police and security forces received 80 hours of initial training and will undergo a quality control examination after 45 days on the job.
The training includes Air Force Materiel Command and civilian orientation courses, Security Forces history, code of conduct and duties and responsibilities. They also received training on military law, authority and jurisdiction, search and seizure, handcuffing and searching, and base entry and exit point checks. 

Additionally, they received training on use of force, armory and clearing barrel procedures, foreign national access, visitor control center, credentials and media identification procedures. They were also trained on detection of driving under the influence, bomb threat procedures, operational security, anti-terrorism levels and emergency response. 

"Our primary mission is to perform entry control to Edwards," Mr. Christey said. "We will work side-by-side with the active-duty security forces. It is a great honor for us to serve Team Edwards and the 95th Security Forces Squadron."