“While there’s no way to tell with certainty that crimes will be prevented simply by listing felons on the FBI database, the tool serves an important purpose.”
The United States Armed Forces has an obligation to report criminal convictions of service members to the FBI for entry into their database. Failure to do so may have serious consequences. This was the case when the Air Force failed to report criminal convictions of Devin Patrick Kelley, who was able to legally obtain and maintain firearms because he wasn’t flagged in the FBI database when he should have been. He went on to shoot up a church in Texas, killing 26 people.
Gregory McQueen—a former Sergeant First Class— pleaded guilty to pimping female soldiers while he ran a prostitution ring at Fort Hood. He was subsequently sentenced to reduction in rank, 24 months confinement, and a dishonorable discharge.
Since the Army failed to report the felony convictions, McQueen and his wife were allowed to become foster parents for three months before his record was discovered. His crimes were particularly heinous because he recruited financially unstable female soldiers of a much lower rank than him to sleep with higher ranking service members for money.
McQueen was also a representative charged with preventing sexual harassment on the Fort Hood installation. That’s already two examples of how this sicko severely abused his power and failed those he should have been caring for. It completely blows my mind to think that this monster was able to take advantage of these women all while working in a position that was created to address sexual harassment and such issues within the military.
Of course, the Army pointed out that McQueen’s dirty deeds will pop up on a background check by gun dealers, just not one used by licensing agencies. They did, however, acknowledge the mistake and claim to be taking corrective actions to prevent such errors from occurring in the future.
Reporting felonies to the FBI isn’t the area we should accept the military dropping the ball on.
McQueen’s conviction makes him ineligible to foster parent for 20 years from the date he was convicted. After what he did, he should never be charged with taking care of anyone he could have power over—especially abused and neglected children. He’s already shown that he’ll gladly take the opportunity to make a few illegal dollars by pimping out those he should have been protecting.
While there’s no way to tell with certainty that crimes will be prevented simply by listing felons on the FBI database, the tool serves an important purpose. When used correctly, database listings can flag individuals who are at high risk and successfully disqualify them from legally owning firearms and holding certain positions of employment that might put others at risk.
Military branches need to start holding people accountable for these serious errors. It’s not enough to “acknowledge” that a mistake was made and promise “corrective action.” There needs to be a serious overhaul of procedure if branches of the military are unable to follow through with policies that may prevent offenders from striking again. Those who have served any length of time in the military know how easily paperwork “gets lost.” Reporting felonies to the FBI isn’t the area we should accept the military dropping the ball on.
