JP 3-28, page 61
Defense Support of Civil Authorities
Joint Publication: Defense Support of Civil Authorities
29 October 2018 public edition (Wayback JCS copy; S2 cited as JP 328 / JP 3-28 DSCA)
Searchable page text (OCR / PDF)
Supporting Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies
III-5
(5) Operation of equipment to facilitate communications in connection with law
enforcement programs specified in Title 10, USC, Section 274(b).
(6) DOD personnel may also be made available to operate equipment for the
following additional purposes subject to joint approval by SecDef and the Attorney General
(and the Secretary of State in the case of a law enforcement operation outside of the land
area of the US).
(a) Transportation of civilian law enforcement personnel along with any
other civilian or military personnel who are supporting or conducting a joint operation with
civilian law enforcement personnel.
(b) Operation of a base of operations for civilian law enforcement and
support personnel.
(c) Transportation of suspected terrorists from foreign countries to the US
for trial (so long as the requesting federal LEA provides all security for such transportation
and maintains custody of the suspect through the duration of the transportation).
e. Other Permissible Assistance. Under Title 10, USC, Section 271, the transfer of
information acquired in the normal course of military operations to civilian LEAs is not a
violation of the PCA. Additionally, DODI 3025.21, Defense Support of Civilian Law
Enforcement Agencies, provides that other actions that are approved by the Secretaries of
the Military Departments or the directors of the DOD agencies that do not subject civilians
to the regulatory, prescriptive, proscriptive, or compulsory use of military power are not a
violation of the PCA.
(1) Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Support. DOD provides
support to other federal agencies in border security and in the event of a mass migration
emergency. Historically, this law enforcement support is in the form of technical
assistance, services, and facilities and only on a temporary basis. GCCs can expect to be
designated as the supported commander for support to DHS in mass migration operations.
CDRUSNORTHCOM should expect to be designated as the supported commander for
limited support to DHS collection relocation processing centers on DOD installations in
CONUS. US Southern Command can be expected to be designated as the supported
command for temporary mass migration operations at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
(2) Counterterrorism Operations. The US Attorney General, acting through
the FBI and in cooperation with the heads of other federal departments, agencies, and
military criminal investigative organizations (MCIOs), coordinates domestic intelligence
collection and the activities of the law enforcement community to prevent, protect against,
mitigate, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks and to identify the perpetrators and
bring them to justice in the event of a terrorist incident.
(a) If there is a credible threat, DOD may also be requested to support LEAs
with the pre-positioning of forces. NG reaction forces can also be requested to support
counterterrorism operations. In the case of an imminent threat to life or severe property