全球智库信息集成服务系统

The Department of Defense's Authority to Assist in Counterdrug Operations

• Title 6 of the U.S. Code (USC) mandates information sharing among federal departments and agencies for national security purposes.
• Title 10 USC directs the Department of Defense to play a key role in domestic counterdrug (CD) operations in support of U.S. law enforcement agencies.
• Section 1205 of the 1990 National Defense Authorization Act states that the Secretary of Defense should ensure that DoD conducts adequate research and development activities to improve its ability to carry out the CD functions assigned to it.
• Other laws have granted the U.S. military additional, temporary authorities to support U.S. government CD operations on U.S. territory.

Restrictions on DoD's Authority to Assist in Counterdrug Operations

• Title 10 USC, Section 375 prohibits the direct participation of the U.S. military in a search, seizure, or arrest unless explicitly authorized in other parts of U.S. law.
• The Posse Comitatus Act (Title 18 USC, Section 1385) prohibits law enforcement agencies from using the U.S. military to execute the law on U.S. territory, except where expressly authorized by federal law.

Reconciling the Different Parts of the Law

• There appears to be no legal reason why a DoD sensor should be excluded from use in a Thunderstorm demonstration or in an actual CD operation as long as a valid request for support is made by an appropriate law enforcement official and so long as no personally identifiable information is collected.
• There also appear to be no such restrictions on the basis of how sensors were funded.