Personally, I think that the average civvy who walks into a military work environment is probably scared shitless of what might happen to them if they got busted stealing military kit (ie a night in a dungeon somewhere). I think that the military relies a little too heavily on the illusion of security (anybody who has been to the VERY permeable base of Gagetown knows what I mean) to keep the average civvy out. If the average ciivvy only knew how easy it would be to make off with some goodies (that might be construed as "baiting" any unwary civvies, so I better watch it.....).
I know in Bosnia, as soon as anything went missing, it was assumed that one of the locals stole it, and if I remember correctly (the 2 beer per day took their toll on my memory....) it was SOP to go into "lockdown" mode and search all the locals on their way out of camp, if anything serious went missing. I would like to think that was more commonsense, than overt racism, but considering that the same thing doesn't happen on a base in Canada (that I've ever been witness to) it makes you wonder.....
Speaking of which (searches by MP's), here's one that just came back to me: I was leaving the North gate (out to Burton) one time, and CFB Gagetown's finest were doing a spot check (oddly enough, the only one I've endured in 17 years..... keep up the diligence guys!!!!!) and I went throught the whole rigamarole: stop the engine, open the trunk, bend over and cough,er forget that one, ok....... Anyway, Barnie Fife saw that I had a pair of issue snowshoes in my trunk, and asked if I had proof on my person that they were mine. "Errr, my name is on them. Is that proof enough?". Redcap: "No!!". One can see from this event that a) "Barney" was never a Combat Arms type, and b) That common sense isn't taught in Borden at the MP school. Anyway, I made it out of this "takedown" ok, but what little respect I had for MP's at that point was lost (and I can't remember ever finding it again.... oh wait, I might have, once I found out they were getting Spec Pay..... no, that was a feeling of disgust....).
Al