Police and ex-burglar working together......

 

Reformed burglar: Jason Fleming, 32, who broke into more than
150 properties, is leading an anti-crime campaign with Police Constable Andy Pickerin

Having spent 1/3 of my career in England, there are moments I truly miss it - in particular their attitude towards crime prevention.  I found a fine example of this in a Daily Mail (UK) article.  It seems a burglar went around scouting out new places to rob.  During his burglary scouting trips, he would note all sorts of things like houses and cars that were easy to rob and which tools would be necessary to gain access to them.  If you're wondering how the cops got a hold of it, that's simple - he dropped them while burglarizing a home.  As you can imagine, the police caught this latest Darwin Award recipient and he's been sentenced to two years imprisonment as a reward for his diligent work.

What makes this a crime prevention masterpiece?  It seems like the local cops weren't just satisfied with just arresting this perpetrator.  No, they saw a "teachable moment" as we Americans like to say.  They magnified the note and began posting it while conducting face-to-face meet-and-greets between local citizens and a "reformed burglar".  So what did they talk about?  He mention the vulnerabilities these residents had such as unlocked vehicles and doors which led into tool sheds or gardens and how he tempted had he still been engaged in his previous profession to pay them another visit.

What happens online - NEVER stays there....

Pay VERY close attention to what I have to say:

1. The information you see below is not stored on our site and is only visible to you.  I found this site while looking for resources on background check (mostly locating skips).
2. The information was allocated using information (i.e. torrent files you downloaded, IP address) your computer provided when you, someone in your home, or someone who gained access to your WiFi network downloaded those files.
3. I am publishing this tool with the hope people will gain a better insight into how their activities can and are being monitored on the Web via information they provide sometimes unknowingly.
4. There is a removal tool.  However, it only removes your information from their site.  I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY suggest you use it and never have a need for it again.

Commentary: Have we "evolved" beyond incarceration as a punishment?

Have we gotten to a point as a civilization where we have "evolved" past incarceration as an effective means of crime deterrence and punishment? During a course I'm taking on corrections, I posed this question to my classmates. I am beginning to be of the opinion that we are getting close to seeing incarceration as not being punitive nor rehabilitative enough for certain offenders. How can it be when our culture glamorizes abhorrent behavior and has created an outside "culture" where our norms and morals are seen as inconsequential? We tend to think of punishments in terms of these values. Most law-abiding citizens enjoy freedom. Criminals place little value on freedom or the rewards of a compliant and peaceful lifestyle. So why do we structure our punishment towards them with this value? As my favorite Vulcan says, "It's illogical."

I'm not opposing incarceration for certain violent offenders. However, I firmly believe "jail time" for crimes against property and certain misdemeanors has become extremely costly and offers very little restitution for its victims and the community. In other words, "the punishment doesn't fit the crime".

So what do I propose? The time has come for our society to reexamine our criminal justice system and assess whether our expectations are realistic enough. I would surmise we would conclude those expectations are too high given the diminishing resources dedicated to eliminating crime. With budgetary cuts in rehabilitation programs and correctional facilities, we have attempted to solve our "crime problem" with a minimalist attitude. In other words, "there is money in the treatment and not in the cure".

Our national conversation needs to move beyond the "lock 'em up and throw away the key" paradigm and into one where we contemplate alternative punishment/rehabilitative environments. What are your thoughts?

And you thought you had a sh*Q@$ job!!

I just read a report, titled "The Safety of the Volunteer", on the safety and security of Peace Corps volunteers . It was written by the Peace Corps Office of Safety and Security and provides some interesting statistics for 2007. One should keep in mind the Peace Corps does have a global mission which is to say these crimes were reported in various locales to include many Western countries. Of course, the report was leaked by the world's most notorious leaker - WikiLeaks. Check out these stats:

Global Composite of All Physical Assaults (2007)

Type Of Incident Number of Incidents Percentage of All Physical Assaults
Aggravated Assault 36 47%
Major Physical Assault 15 20%
Other Physical Assault 25 33%
Total 76 100%

Rape/Attempted Rape Profile

Gender: Female
Age: 20s
Ethnicity/Race: Caucasian (71%)
Time in service: 7-12 Months (43%)
Relationship of Assailant: Friend/Acquaint. (33%)
Motive: Sexual Activity (95%)
Medical Attention: Yes (86%)
Location of Incident: Volunteer Residence (43%)
Occur at Vol. Site: Yes (76%)
Weapon Use: No (67%)
PCV Accompanied: No (76%)
Time of Occurrence: Early Morning (midnight-5:59 a.m.) (48%)
Number of Assailants: One (81%)
Day of Week: Weekday (57%) Weekend (43%)
Alcohol: Volunteer - Yes (52%), No (38%)/Assailant - Yes (52%), Unknown (43%)
Intention to Prosecute: Yes (43%) No (33%)

These statistics just prove that crime can follow you anywhere and to never ever let your guard down!

Red Alert!! Don't buy Sentex locks!!

Bruce Schneier, much hyped security-guru, writes in his blog to be wary of Sentex locks:

It has a master key:

Here's a fun little tip: You can open most Sentex key pad-access doors by typing in the following code:

***00000099#*

The first *** are to enter into the admin mode, 000000 (six zeroes) is the factory-default password, 99# opens the door, and * exits the admin mode (make sure you press this or the access box will be left in admin mode!)

Wow! This is why it is extremely important to properly vet ALL security appliances before installation. I used my "Google-fu" on a different device and got this little gem. You should check the vendor's web site to see if they have product manuals online. If they do, guess who also has the manual in their files. You get a 1, 000 points if you said "The Bad Guys".

Finally...Some Good news

It looks like the TSA has found something other than actor Dennis Farina's gun. Shemeka Greaves, a TSA officer at O'Hare International Airport, read a newspaper account about Janisia Grant, 8, who had disappeared with her mother a week ago Thursday, the TSA said in a news release.

According to the article, "Greaves checked the security tapes and confirmed that Janisia had been through an airport security checkpoint and boarded a plane to Atlanta with a companion, the TSA said. "

As you might imnagine, Grant's mother does not have custody of the child.

You have to be kidding..right?

Two idiots had an altercation with Tasers over a parking spot in Boulder, Colorado according to AP. The "duel" involved a restaurant co-owner and security supervisor over a boot that was placed by the supervisor's subordinates on the restaurant co-owner. Harvey Epstein, co-owner of Mamacitas restaurant, was arrested on suspicion of felony menacing and using a stun gun. Casey M. Dane told police he was afraid Epstein was going to hit him with a 2-foot-long pair of bolt cutters. Epstein and Dane both draw down on each other. I'm a proponent of Tasers for potential victims of violent crimes not for two grown men like this. Absolutely hillarious!

CCTV Camers, Crime, and San Francisco

The San Francisco Chronicle has written an article about a recent study at UC Berkly of SF's 60 CCTV cameras. Researchers looked at over 59, 000 crimes which occurred within 1, 000 feet of cameras between 1 January 2005 to 28 January 2008. What I found ironic was the discovery that the researchers found most violent crime around the cameras at 250 feet or less had decreased. The further you went away from the cameras the more crime. Wow. That's a novel concept. I'm not saying the researchers were inept at understanding basic criminal methodology but this does seem a bit odd.

Even odder was this comment in the article:

The only cameras' only positive effect appears to be the 22 percent drop in property crime within 100 feet of the cameras, though people broke into cars parked near the cameras at the same rate as they did before the cameras were installed, according to the study released today.

I'm not a fan of technology being a "save-all" in crime prevention but I find it very incredulous that a non-criminal justice professional would not understand the positive effect CCTV's have when properly utilized. Again, I go back to my previous statements about CCTV systems; They are only as good their operators and the money and expertise to maintain and upgrade then.

Crime relocation is not the same as crime prevention . By moving, it does provide some areas enough time to rebound and bring back positive ideas, people, and activities. So just because crime moved doesn't mean that was necessarily a bad thing. I'm sure the residents and cops who live and/or work on those streets where the crime moved from would tell you they welcome the break.

Hiding In Plain Sight

Do you ever have one of those conversations where you come up with a pretty remarkable revelation? I had such a revelation yesterday with my wife. We were discussing how good we both were at "hide and go seek". I'm sure we all discovered sooner or later it was much better to hide somewhere close to our "seekers" and in a place they would normally overlook. In other words, you have to "hide in plain sight". That thought found me no matter where I went this weekend. Getting a new birth certificate, burning your fingerprints, or playing dead seems a bit much like a semi-decent Hollywood movie. But the lessons are the same. Disguises don't work. Nothing works if you can't find a way to hide your real identity while you try to live your life as normal.

I know most of my security aficionados are probably somewhere asking, "Where's he going with this? And why discuss this in a public forum?". My answer to them is we should talk about this in the open because the bad guys already know what I'm telling you. In order to win at the proverbial game of "hide and go seek" in the security world, we must first think like our "hiders" and become much "seekers". For example, if you operate a CCTV system and need to know how to spot shoplifters and other rogue parties, I would begin to look at the ways in which they often try to appear as normal as possible such as dress and appearance, behavior, and demeanor. If you get a guy in an aisle who's trying his best to appear normal when in fact he is far from it, then hopefully you'll recognize this is as a "critical indicator".

I've attached a video I thought was relevant to this topic. Most fugitives evade capture by learning how to camouflage themselves with multiple behavioral patterns which suit their new identities. In the security disciplines, we find this sort of subterfuge with spies and terrorists. In order to gain the advantage, we must learn what mistakes someone like this would make. Maybe, their behavior will lead us to believe something is not quite right. Good cops know what these mistakes look like. If you've been to any escape and evasion course, you know this is one of the first things they teach. If you don't have this skill, might I recommend a good game of "hide and go seek" with your favorite five year old. I know it sounds strange but the games we play as children always come back to us as adults.

New threat

As security professionals, we're always on the hunt for the latest threat out there. The video below shows a threat which is well..pretty unique. It appears someone on the Internet is selling plastic knuckles. They are similar to brass knuckles and cause an equal amount of destruction and pain.

Disclaimer: Watching the video, I was a bit dismayed by the lack of knowledge the reporter seemed to have about plastic and METAL detectors. He was shocked that these knuckles had bypassed the checkpoints.

TSA doesn't have a body-scanner (that we know of) at Cleveland International so its METAL detectors wouldn't detect PLASTIC. Even if it could, that would mean a lot of people would lose a lot of valuable time getting to their gates delaying air travel even more and perhaps stifling our delicate economic growth.

The best advice I have is to be aware these sort of things do exist. You should follow the same rule I've always followed: If it looks like a weapon and acts like a weapon, then it more than likely is a weapon.



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Are Ipod's Causing a Crime Wave?

I've read an interesting article by the Associated Press about IPod's and whether or not they're responsible for an increase in crimes. The article said a think-tank called "The Urban Institute" raised the issue last September and held a panel to further explore the idea.

The Urban Institute's argument is there was a dramatic decrease in robberies since the 1990's, but we witnessed a sharp increase from 2005 to 2006 when IPod's went mainstream. The AP article states:

"FBI statistics show the robbery rate went from 137 per 100,000 people in 2004 to 141 per 100,000 in 2005 and 149 in 2006. That helped boost the overall rate of violent crime in those years, even as rape rates fell and aggravated assault was generally flat. During those years, iPods were going mainstream. In late 2004, Apple had sold about 5 million iPods. By the end of 2005 that had ballooned to 42 million, and in 2006 the number neared 90 million."

The think-tank believes the sudden surge of such a lucrative and portable consumer elctronic good such as the IPod increased the three factors of crime: a motivated offender, a suitable victim, and no natural observers or other significant deterrents.

Some of this makes sense when you think about it:

"Motivation: The IPod's several-hundred-dollar expense and pop-culture buzz made potential thieves, especially young ones, crave the device for themselves or for a lucrative resale market. Suitable victims: People listening through the iconic white earphones are easy to pick out and often unaware of their surroundings. Easy to get away with: IPods lack a mechanism that would pinpoint a thief's location or a subscription that could be canceled by the rightful owner."

I agree with the article's writer that there are quite a few holes in this way of thinking. For example, the report completely ignores the idea that thieves would have taken something else other an IPod and had been doing so before the IPod. What about a Playstation Portable or Nintendo DS? One of the more commonly stolen items, in some of the communal settings I'm familiar with, (military barracks and college dormitories) are laptops and digital cameras. IPods are there as well but rarely have I ever questioned a thief who said he tore apart a room looking an IPod.

The writer also looks at the definition a robbery versus a larceny. Robbery is the taking of another person's property by force or threat of force. The report only blames the IPod on a surge of violent crime (robberies and murders based on failed attempts to rob IPod's).

Here's what I think: IPod's take away a sense of situational awareness that people need to be able to use to adequately defend themselves against predators. Have you ever been jogging with your IPod on and lose track of time and space? What this says to any predator is that you're not paying attention to surroundings and an ambush would be easy. While I don't believe the IPod is solely to blame for the increase in violent crimes, I do believe it is a "critical indicator".

It's one of the reasons I'm beginning to like the Taser C2. If a would-be robber sees you with earphones and thinks of you as a target-of-opportunity, then at least the C2 will buy you time to stop the attacker, run somewhere safe, and get the police.

The Urban Institute's paper (in PDF format):

http://tinyurl.com/2euem5

Apple's patent filing for anti-theft locks:

http://tinyurl.com/yv6oa2

FBI crime statistics:

http://tinyurl.com/2ojwvd