# Blackwater/Xe front "American Police Force" to run big jail (& be the police?) in small Montana town **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 2, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302 "2009-10-02T01:01:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/21 "2009-10-02T06:04:27Z")
Its not for real, its a stunt. Somebody got drunk and mashed together a Tom Clancy reject and a deservedly forgotten Heinlien, and made a screenplay out of it. Totally ridiculous, of course, like _Red Dawn_, couldn’t happen. No way. Its about this guanobrained rightard who recruits an army of merc wannabes, the kind of guys who polish their gun reading _Soldier of Fortune_. Totally implausible. Never happen. So, anyway, they got Roger Corman out of storage, filmed it in three weeks just outside San Berdoo, and their out drumming up some buzz. So, they cooked up this stunt, and AP bought it, and are gonna look real silly tomorrow morning… Either that, or they’re for real, and they’re ACORN’s militant wing, and ACORN is making it’s move for world domination. ---
**Author:** ![THespos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@THespos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THespos)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/22 "2009-10-02T12:05:01Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > This has the makings of a good movie - Crazy Montanan separatists with hearts of gold stand up to the corrupt mega corporation that just took over the small town’s police force and is running roughshod over the liberties of Free Citizens… More like an episode of the A-Team. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/23 "2009-10-02T12:22:57Z")
> [@THespos](#): > > More like an episode of the A-Team. Nope, Jericho. ---
**Author:** ![THespos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@THespos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/THespos)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/24 "2009-10-02T12:29:15Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > Nope, Jericho. Young’un. Learn respect for your elders. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/25 "2009-10-02T12:40:23Z")
The Xe connection to APF, while unfalsifiable, seems bogus to me. If Xe wanted to keep the connection secret, why advertise a connection to USTC? And if Xe didn’t want to keep it secret, then why run such an amateur-hour website? And why would APF advertise USTC, when APF doesn’t offer training services? I think APF is one wannabe who made up the USTC connection. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Then why is everybody screaming blue murder about just possibly having Gitmo “terrorist”-prisoners in their back yards? I mean, every prison in America is full of dangerous people, but they’re **locked up,** that’s the point of a prison. Hardin specifically lobbied to have the Gitmo prisoners sent to them, but the feds refused. Probably because the people running the town and the prison don’t seem terribly competent. > [@Bricker](#): > > Well, the copyright notice at the bottom of the page says, "© 2009 US Training Center - All Rights Reserved [webmaster@ustraining.com](mailto:webmaster@ustraining.com). An Xe company. " > > So I’d say they’re not exactly hiding their affiliation with vigorous effort. US Training Center is an acknowledged subsidiary of Xe/Blackwater. That’s not the issue. It’s the connection to APF that’s in question. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/26 "2009-10-02T13:05:04Z")
And of course, at the end Erik Prince will slip away in his rocket ship. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/27 "2009-10-02T13:12:39Z")
I’m not sure the Blackwater folks are all that competent, either, and if I were the State of Montana, I’d be thinkin’ long and hard about this. And I vote for Steven Seagal movie, although I like 'luci’s vision. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/28 "2009-10-02T13:43:20Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > US Training Center is an acknowledged subsidiary of Xe/Blackwater. That’s not the issue. It’s the connection to APF that’s in question. Gotcha. Well, the APF connection to US Training Center seems … unproven. It’s unclear to me if they’re saying they use US Training Center for training, as clients, or they ARE US Training Center. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/29 "2009-10-02T14:04:14Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > And of course, at the end Erik Prince will slip away in his rocket ship. After his true cockroach-form crawls out of the shattered flesh-shell. ---
**Author:** ![Torpor\_Beast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/71e660/32.png) [@Torpor\_Beast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torpor_Beast)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/30 "2009-10-02T14:34:29Z")
I doubt that guy even has that many employees. Looks like a straightforward scam, and this Hilton figure is probably just namedropping with the Xe connection, to look more legitimate. The website looks like it was farted together in a single evening. Considering that the “APF” logo seems to be the heraldric arms of the former Yugoslavian royal family, and the guy on this [http://www.americanpolicegroup.com/careers\_american\_police\_force.html](http://www.americanpolicegroup.com/careers_american_police_force.html) page is wearing Russian Navy gear. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/31 "2009-10-02T14:55:58Z")
Perhaps he’s just a Slav to fashion? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/32 "2009-10-02T15:18:34Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > And of course, at the end Erik Prince will slip away in his rocket ship. …shaped like a Big Boy? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/33 "2009-10-02T15:24:25Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > And of course, at the end Erik Prince will slip away in his rocket ship. Brought to you by Carl Jr. and Amway. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/34 "2009-10-02T15:28:29Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Brought to you by Carl Jr. and Amway. “Welcome to Prisonco. I love you.” ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/35 "2009-10-02T15:30:05Z")
Enjoy your Extra Big Ass Fries! from Carl’s Jr… Carl’s Jr.: "Fuck You, I’m Eating!"™ ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/36 "2009-10-02T15:53:25Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What I actually find most disturbing about this story is its beginning: An economically depressed town’s government counting on incarceration as a growth industry! Is this what America has come to?! :eek::(:mad: When I taught college, it was in a rural area. A town nearby was in competition for a prison. They wanted it BAD! They also won. The town WAS elated. The school I taught at had to scramble to provide criminal justice courses. The prison tended to hire locally because, I imagine, it would be difficult to get people to move to that rural area. I even taught a few classes at the prison and enjoyed it very much (few faculty actually wanted to teach there but I volunteered, just like I did at the Air Force base which few wanted to teach at). For all the NIMBY projects, one should really consider really rural areas. Many of them would be glad for NIMBY projects if they provide decent jobs for the area. I don’t think it is disturbing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/37 "2009-10-02T16:01:39Z")
This guy from [the Examiner](http://www.examiner.com/x-14795-Page-One-Examiner~y2009m9d29-American-Police-Force)thinks they’re a scam. ---
**Author:** ![CannyDan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cannydan/32/548_2.png) [@CannyDan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CannyDan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/38 "2009-10-02T16:05:17Z")
> [@Torpor\_Beast](#): > > I doubt that guy even has that many employees. Looks like a straightforward scam, and this Hilton figure is probably just namedropping with the Xe connection, to look more legitimate. > > The website looks like it was farted together in a single evening. Considering that the “APF” logo seems to be the heraldric arms of the former Yugoslavian royal family, and the guy on this [http://www.americanpolicegroup.com/careers\_american\_police\_force.html](http://www.americanpolicegroup.com/careers_american_police_force.html) page is wearing Russian Navy gear. The links seem to come and go-- whether due to high traffic, or because they’re under modification, I do not know. One statement made is that “APF works in every country in the world” along with a host of references to what can only be Blackwater experience. If APF is a scam foisted upon Blackwater, that seems like a really dumb move for anybody to make. If this is a case of Blackwater re-branding itself and now bringing its vision of “protection” from overseas to small towns in America, I will be highly disturbed. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/39 "2009-10-02T16:12:47Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > This guy from [the Examiner](http://www.examiner.com/x-14795-Page-One-Examiner~y2009m9d29-American-Police-Force)thinks they’re a scam. [A link from that article](http://cryptogon.com/?p=10995) says the Montana Attorney General is now investigating them. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302/40 "2009-10-02T16:43:41Z")
Scamming who? Where is the required pot of money to suck up? Who is going to write them checks? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackwater-xe-front-american-police-force-to-run-big-jail-be-the-police-in-small-montana-town/512302.md?page=3)