What Do You Think? Masonic Police

General General Discussion
1

I saw this yesterday, not sure what to make of it. On the one hand they seem to have jobs that indicate they aren’t whack, but then again…

I know next to nothing about the Masons or their organization, but, what I am wondering is if they weren’t given the responsibility within the organization to assess security, provide intelligence and interact with outside authorities and then took it a little too far.

Any thoughts?

Headline: 3 Accused of Operating Fictitious Police Department

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three people, including one who works for California Attorney General Kamala Harris, were charged after claiming to operate a police department with jurisdiction in 33 states and Mexico and that traces its roots back 3,000 years, authorities said Wednesday.

Brandon Kiel, David Henry and Tonette Hayes were taken into custody last week on suspicion of impersonating officers as members of the Masonic Fraternal Police Department, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said.

Detectives believe other people may be involved in the operation, sheriff’s spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said.

Deputies found ID cards, uniforms and law enforcement-like vehicles along with other official police equipment during their search of a home and office linked to the group, she said.

However, Nishida said there were no indications the group was stopping the public or conducting other law enforcement activities.

State records show Hayes is licensed as a security guard and has a firearm permit. She previously owned Masonic Security Service, and she and Henry run the Beverly Hills-based MIB Investigative Agency, though its state license is suspended.

Henry is a licensed security guard and also has a firearm permit.

Kiel, 31, worked as deputy director of community affairs at the California Department of Justice since July 2013. He has been on paid administrative leave from his $67,416-a-year civil service job since Thursday. The Los Angeles Times first reported that Kiel worked for Harris.

Department spokesman David Beltran said the agency can’t comment on an ongoing personnel matter or criminal investigation. He said Kiel “worked with members of the public basically on issues and questions regarding the work of the department.”

Kiel, Henry, 46, and Hayes, 59, were arrested April 30 and released later that day, according to jail records. Telephone calls and text messages seeking comment were not immediately returned.

All three were charged on April 28 with multiple counts of impersonating an officer and other misdemeanors, said Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.

Henry has been charged with committing perjury under oath for declaring the Masonic Fraternal Police Department is a state agency. Kiel is charged with misusing his government identification.

Hayes is a pastor and moderated a debate between sheriff’s candidates in the most recent election, Nishida said.

Henry won an Emmy in 2002 for his work as a producer on a Fox11 story, according to Variety.com. He also co-produced a documentary with Hayes several years later about a longtime civil rights leader, the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper reported in 2007.

The investigation started after various police chiefs in California received a letter in late January that announced new leadership for the Masonic Fraternal Police Department.

The Jan. 20 letter obtained by The Associated Press was copied to Harris. It was written by Kiel, identified as its chief board of director, and Hayes, the grand chief director, and includes a badge emblem with Henry’s name below.

In the letter, the group claims it is registered with the state and is informing the chief it will be working with “Grandmasters, as well as fraternities and sororities throughout Sovereign Jurisdictions around the country.”

The letter claims there are 5,686 lodges and that the department “will be able to acquire intel that is not accessible to non-fraternal entities.” It said one aim of the department was to restore public trust.

A website for the Masonic police force says the group was created by the Knights Templar in 1100 B.C.

A man claiming to be Kiel and describing himself as chief deputy director of the police force later followed up with various law enforcement agencies to schedule sit-down meetings, officials said.

Capt. Roosevelt Johnson of the sheriff’s department’s Santa Clarita Valley station said he met with members of the Masonic Fraternal Police Department on Feb. 4.

Henry and Hayes showed up in black jumpsuits with Masonic Fraternal Police patches and stars on their collars. Hayes had a handgun on her utility belt, Johnson said.

Kiel was there too, wearing a dark navy business suit. They told Johnson they were opening a new Canyon Country police station.

Johnson said he grew wary when they couldn’t answer questions about where they derived their authority, or jurisdictional issues.

“Brandon Kiel gave me a business card from the Department of Justice, showing he worked out of Kamala Harris’ office,” Johnson said. “That really raised red flags for me.”

http://news.yahoo.com/3-accused-operating-fictitious-police-department-175440913.html

2

What little I know of the Masons is that they keep to themselves and avoid controversy. It may be that these guys are Masons, but that doesn’t mean the Masons as a national organization support this. I don’t see Masons as needing much security or wanting to shoulder the expense of their own full time, police-style security department.

If you know who Kamala Harris is, and you think about California for a minute, I think you’ll reexamine your assumption that their jobs “indicate they aren’t whack.”

I think this is probably some guys who wanted to start up their own “police” agency, maybe even for reasonable purposes, but didn’t have a clue about how far outside of the mainstream and/or government authority they actually are. The references to Knights Templar, etc. make me think they’ve been reading defective “history” books.

3

:confused: So anyone can start their own police force? :confused:

4

The Catholic Church did it years back. The Knights of Columbus were more than a fraternal organization. It was the strong-arm of the Catholic Church and would inflict violence on anyone who messed with their members.

5

Interesting, i was raised Catholic, ive never heard of anything like that. They always volunteer around here. But everything has its dark side… Every religion has a dark side.

6

My older brother was a member of the Masonic Lodge and one of the temples where they held events was in a rough area. They had uniform/armed security that were sworn reserve officers with the County Sheriff. They had no authority or powers of arrest off Masonic Lodge property.

If anyone were to abuse the limited authority granted them by the Sheriff, I know for a fact they would be immediately dismissed from the security contingent.

I don’t know how security commissions work out in California, but the Masons like to maintain a positive profile and would no doubt cooperate with law enforcement if someone were to act beyond the scope of their limited authority.

7

I did not read the whole post but first thing that caught my attention is a woman can not be a Mason.

8

Every Mason I have known could best be described as “idiot”. In the Marine Corps, ALL of my black SNCO and Officers were Masons, ALL of them. In fact, every Mason I have ever known, with the exception of my late grandfather, has been a black man with a severe superiority complex.

Check out the Masonic Fraternal Police website. It was put together by idiots. All three of these cats need some good ol’ jail time behind bricks that Masons built.

9

Masonic fraternal police??? Really now… Do these cretins seriously expect anyone to pay any attention to them or “obey” anything they say ? Douchebags. Unless the uniform is from a specific city pd or sheriffs office, I don’t know who in their right mind would give these yahoos the time of day.

10

We are not all idiots. :dance3:

11

I’ll second that! :smile:

12

I wanted to see if any Masons might have some knowledge or opinions regarding this. I didn’t intend it to become a bag fest on the Masonic Lodge. I have served and worked with a couple of guys who are Masons, they were upright guys, all of them. I’m not much into the whole fraternal organization thing, so never explored it. Thanks to all who replied.

13

I have been a Free Mason since 1983, but have not been active for several years.

The people who were arrested used their membership in a security contingent of the organization to promote their own interests to impersonate real LEO, which is despicable behavior. They should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and forfeit their memberships with the Free Masons for the rest of their lives.

14

I just wish I had an actual clue as to what the Masons really are and what they do. I get guys all the time that come into my store with fat Masonic rings and I have just always been curious. All the conspiracy theories and tinfoil aside.

15

Some background on Freemasonry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemasonry

16

As a Freemason and a Shriner (and a cop), these goons make us look bad because of their idiocy. I get enough of that from the Dept, I don’t need any from the lodge. The whole thing was fabricated on their end, no such activity exists, AFAIK.

17

Sounds like a threesome of impersonation of LEO. We get guys that have fully decked out (read that expensive) “smooth units” for their POVs. I never could understand this level of commitment of posers and wannabe’s. Some people watch way too much TV.

18

How can they claim they’ve been in existence since 1100 BC?

Maybe they got confused and meant 1100 AD? But then they said over 3000 years so… ya.

19

Well when you make believe and you are in your 40’s anything is possible . . .

20

Of course if there was some secret activity, you’d say the same thing!

/tinfoil

I’ll be honest, when I first read the story I thought they were claiming that their particular “police department” was in continuous use for 3000 years and were going to claim lineage to some local tribe of some sort.