Holy Cow, These People Are Weird!

Believable Characters

We’re having such a good time meeting and hanging out with new friends, such as my new buddy above, that I’ve decided to take one more day off from the blog. Actually, this has turned into quite the research trip. Believe me, you won’t believe the stories I’m hearing from a group of people who…well, let’s just say these folks are a bit on the odd side as you’ll soon see.

But, all good things, even the weird ones, must end at some point. Therefore, things will be back to the usual business of cops and robbers on Thursday. Thanks for hanging around while I’ve been goofing off.

 

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I’m Taking The Day Off!

Taking day off

I’ve posted a blog every single day for over five years, even while I was in the hospital having surgery. So, I’m taking today off from the blog, from the WPA, from writing, from cops and robbers, and from life in general. And I’m going to relax and enjoy spending time with my wife for the next couple days.

By the way, I took this photo around 8pm last night. Anyone have an idea where I was when I took the picture? You can post your guesses on my Facebook page, if you like.

*Due to recent offensive and threatening messages, the comment feature on this site has been temporarily switched off. Sorry for the inconvenience.

 

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Indiana: Where It’s Legal For Criminals To Kill Cops

Indiana, legal to kill cops

By now you should all be at least a little familiar with the Castle Doctrine, or “Stand Your Ground” law, as it’s often and mistakenly called (they’re not synonymous). After all, those three words—Stand Your Ground—were pounded into our ears, time after time, day after day, by most of the news media during the days leading up to a recent high-profile trial. And they did so even though Stand Your Ground was never part of the defendant’s defense. But, this post is not about that case. Not at all. This is about Indiana and just how dangerous it is to work as a police officer in that loony bin that calls itself a state. No offense to the citizens there. I’m sure you are all fine people. The lunacy I’m talking about is in the form of politicians (as if that’s news in any state, including the District), and I’ll explain.

Simply put, the Castle Doctrine is a law that permits a person to use force, including deadly force, to defend himself in his own home against intruders. In some states, the law extends to vehicles. And, in other states, such as the case in Florida, citizens have the right to use force, including deadly force, to defend themselves anywhere and anytime, without first attempting to retreat.

Personally, I believe everyone should have the right to defend him/herself anytime and anywhere. And, if the violence escalates to the point where your life is danger, well, your level of defense should rise to a level that terminates the threat.

Indiana, however, has taken the Castle Doctrine to the extreme. Governor Michael Pence signed a bill into law that legally allows the use of deadly force against police officers should you believe they entered your home illegally. That’s right, the governor of Indiana basically issued a free pass to kill cops.

Think about it for a moment…

Joe and Ima Dopedealer just sold the last eight ball of the night and then readied themselves for bed, gargling and brushing their nine teeth—Joe has four and Ima five. Crack and meth took the rest. They gathered up a few weapons—nothing fancy, just an AK and a couple of .45’s—and placed them on the floor beside their bed, a mattress they’d found leaning against the dumpster in the alley behind Jimmy Joe’s Reptile Emporium and Ice Cream Shoppe.

They were both sawing some serious Z’s when they heard the front door come crashing in. This was followed by what sounded like several people somewhere in the front part of the house yelling something about “serve porridge?” And why were they yelling it over and over again?

Joe grabbed the AK and Ima a .45, and when two of the porridge people broke through the bedroom door, well, Joe and Ima capped them both.

“Scary critters too,” Joe told the detective, “all dressed in black, wearing masks and carrying machine guns. But that wasn’t the end of it. No sir. They was more porridge folks coming down the hallway, and they musta’ been plenty scared ’cause they was a callin’ and a screamin’ for the po’leece the whole time. Come to find out, they was the po’leece, and they kicked in the front door ’cause they said me and Ima done sold some rock to an undercover po’leece woman.”

But, thanks to Indiana’s “kill a cop” law, Joe and Ima won’t be facing any charges because they didn’t know they were shooting and killing members of the Drug Suppression Unit’s entry team, who, by the way, were yelling “Search Warrant!” (not “serve porridge” as Joe thought) as they entered the house after using a battering ram to gain access through the locked door.

Joe and Ima both told investigators that they were defending their home against who they thought were robbers, or killers, or both, especially since they wore masks and carried guns. And, they broke down the front door just like those men who committed the home invasions two blocks over just one month before the police “hit” Joe and Ima’s house.

This Indiana law sets a horrible precedent. Sure, the scenario above is to the extreme. But, in the land of reality, a citizen’s rights of protection against unlawful search and seizure are already guaranteed by the 4th Amendment, and you can bet every single cop in this country has been taught what they can and cannot do based on the 4th. However, the average Bill and Jane have no clue what’s legal or illegal regarding search and seizure laws and protections. All they know now is that they have a new-found tee-totally new right to hit, punch, slap, and even shoot any cop who tries to make what the Bill and Jane’s of Indiana think is an illegal arrest.

So, what the governor of Indiana has done is to open year-round hunting season on police officers. I wonder if he also set a bag limit on the number of officers a crook can kill per day?

You know, an officer’s job is stressful enough as it is, worrying that you might not make it home at the end of your shift. And there are plenty of officers who don’t—57 so far this year. It’s a dangerous job, and the officers in Indiana sure have more to worry about now than ever before.

I’m guessing the law makers who dream up and pass garbage like this law have never been faced with danger of any kind, and don’t care about the people who do, ironically, while protecting the very politicians writing this stuff. I guess some of them have more important things to worry about, like how to get away with sexting and posting nude photos of themselves on the internet.

What law makers/politicians should be worrying about are, for example, finding solutions to the problems associated with the U.S. having the largest prison population in the world. And that southern states incarcerate more people than in other areas of the country. For example, Louisiana, the state with the highest murder rate, also has the highest population of prisoners—893 per 100,000 residents, and the majority of those inmates are serving their time in privately run prisons (prisons for profit).

Mississippi is second on the list, and it’s prison system is already $30 million in the hole for 2013. This state is also the proud owner of the highest poverty rate in the country.

Then comes Alabama, Oklahoma (23% of their inmates are housed in private prisons), and Texas (number 5 on the “most incarcerated” list). Georgia and Florida also made the top ten list. Again, a high poverty rate in Georgia while Florida is the nation’s eighth highest on the list for violent crimes committed (515 crimes per 100,000 residents).

What about the body count in Chicago. Young men, women, and children are murdered there in shocking numbers. What’s being done there to stop the carnage?

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that certain laws—new laws—are indeed badly needed in this country, and some of the ones we already have in place need some fine-tuning. What we don’t need is to make every thug and gansta’ a card-carrying member of the Kill-A-Cop Club.

This addition to the Castle Doctrine basically made a target of every officer in Indiana, and I’ve seen some bad guys who could shoot fairly well.

Be safe out there, guys. We don’t want to see a number 58. Unfortunately, I know the number of officers killed in the line of duty will continue to grow as the weeks and months pass. Sadly, law enforcement laws like the Indiana Castle Doctrine could very well help those numbers climb even higher.

 *I’m traveling today so I won’t be around to respond to comments until late afternoon or evening. This post is definitely not about the recent high-profile trial, so please let’s leave it out of the discussion.

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On A Blanket With Your Baby, That’s Where You Should Be

On a blanket

 

What’s that you say? You don’t have access to the beach? Well, worry and sweat no longer, because I’m taking you with me today for a short walk through the marsh and over the dunes. So grab the sunscreen, a big floppy hat and your flip-flops, and follow along.

But, before we take the first step, I encourage you to start the song below and enjoy the smooth sounds of The Drifters as you slowly scroll your way down to the sea. Come on. We’re almost there…

Even as the skies darken with the threat of an approaching storm, the magic of the ocean is still there.

And then there’s this…

And…

Now, don’t you feel better? Okay, so get back to work. Your editor won’t wait forever!

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Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen

Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

 

You gave your all to protect and serve us, and for that we are eternally grateful.

Officer Bruce Daniel Jacobs, 35

Jackson Mississippi Police Department

July 20, 2013 – Officer Bruce Jacobs was struck and killed while placing roadway debris into the trunk of his patrol car.

Officer David Vanbuskirk, 36

Las Vegas Nevada Metropolitan Police Department

July 22, 2013 – Officer David Vanbuskirk was part of a helicopter rescue team attempting to hoist a hiker who was stranded on a rock ledge above a canyon. Officer Vanbuskirk was lowered from the chopper to the ledge and, after attaching the hiker to the hoist line, both the officer and hiker were raised from the site. On the way up to the helicopter, Officer Vanbuskirk somehow became detached from the hoist line and fell to his death on the canyon floor. He is survived by his wife.

Trooper Winston I. Martindale, 40

New York State Police

July 24, 2013 – Trooper Winston Martindale succumbed to injuries he received in 2011 after responding to the scene of a plane crash involving two planes. While working to free the pilots from the wreckage, Trooper Martindale suffered severe internal injuries. Still, he continued his rescue efforts until the pilots were pulled to safety. In the years afterward, Trooper Martindale underwent several surgeries, but eventually passed away as a result of the injuries. He is survived by his wife, son, daughter, parents, sister, and brother.

 

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Show Me Your Blood Vessels: A New Form Of Suspect ID

Blood Vessels

Move over fingerprints and iris scans, because there’s a new sheriff in town…and this one’s darn near foolproof. Since people (mostly bad guys) have found ways to defeat other methods of identification, scientists went to work on building a better mouse trap, and this one is straight-up Star Trek material. *Above photo by Patti Phillips

A team at Jadavpur University in India has discovered that patterns of blood vessels just below the skin of a person’s face are totally unique. And, those vessels can be seen and isolated using thermal imaging.

Law enforcement officers are no strangers to thermal imaging, using the devices to detect the presence of humans in low- or no-light environments. Thermal imaging devices detect heat—radiation in the infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Recently, for example, police used thermal imaging to confirm that the surviving Boston bomber was indeed hiding in a covered boat.

Scientist Ayan Seal’s method of examining blood vessels of the face, including the smallest of the capillaries, is 97% accurate. And, since it is nearly impossible to alter the pattern of blood vessels within the human body and, considering that vessel patterns are as unique to humans as fingerprints and iris scans, well, I think it’s safe to assume this new technology will soon find its way into the law enforcement community.

What will they think of next, a robot that, when turned loose in your yard, will locate and kill every tick in its path? Oh, wait a minute…that’s on the way too.

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Josh Moulin: Covert Entry Tactics and Welfare Checks

Josh Moulin,

 

Law enforcement officers are frequently confronted with the need to gain access to something or someone. Most patrol officers don’t carry any specific “tools” for gaining entry so they must improvise by using duty boots and ASP batons as makeshift forcible entry tools. Having kicked in my fair share of doors and broken a few windows with a baton, I am the first to admit that doing so is not as easy as it looks on TV.

Circumstances often dictate how an officer will attempt to gain access to something. Is there an immediate need to gain access to save life or property? Is the officer in hot pursuit of a suspect who just ran inside of a building and locked a door? Is the officer serving a search warrant and the warrant is a “no knock warrant”, allowing for forcible entry without notifying the occupants? In some situations like high-risk search warrants and barricaded subjects, law enforcement may use forcible entry as part of their surprise, speed, and violence-of-action tactics. Other considerations for an officer making a decision about entry include department policies, the officer’s legal authority to gain access, and the amount of damage that may be caused.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

In other non life-threatening situations, law enforcement may need to gain access to a safe, vehicle, building, or other locked object as part of an investigation. These incidents provide additional time and options for an officer to gain access. Law enforcement may call upon the services of a locksmith to assist, look around for spare keys, contact landlords, etc. to try and gain access without forcing entry.

One common call that law enforcement responds to where access is frequently a problem is welfare checks. Officers are usually dispatched to welfare checks when a person hasn’t been heard from or seen in an unusually long time or missed an appointment. These calls come from employers who report an employee missed work unexpectedly, a family member who can’t get in contact with their loved one, the mail carrier who reports that newspapers and mail is stacking up, or the dreaded “unusual odor coming from a residence” call.

Welfare checks were never on my top-ten list of enjoyable calls to handle. It seemed to never fail that these calls would come in at night, during the graveyard shift and at the creepiest house in my beat. The standard protocol is to look for the obvious signs something is wrong; looking into any open windows for people that are dead or alive, checking for insect activity, looking at vehicles at the home for evidence they have moved recently, and talking with neighbors. Once an officer determines that more likely than not there is someone inside that may need assistance or may be deceased, they can enter the home without a search warrant under the authority of community caretaking laws.

These situations are challenging because unless the officer can see someone in distress, kicking in the door and causing damage is the last thing an agency wants. Sometimes people just leave for vacation and forget to tell anyone, or are admitted to the hospital and didn’t have time to notify their mail carrier or neighbors. For this reason, officers are trained to “try before you pry”, meaning they will check all doors, windows, and other access points to see if anything is unlocked. If nothing is unlocked and no keys can be located, the officer can try to get a locksmith to respond or make the decision to force entry to the residence.

Usually the rookie officer on the call is the lucky one who gets sent in through an opening and then has to unlock a door to let their backup officer in. It was always amusing to watch the officer walk as fast as they could to the door, without actually running. No officer wants to appear bothered by the fact that they are alone in a strange home with a possible dead or dying person that they may encounter between where they entered the home and the door to let their backup in. The officer has no idea what they are going to find from room to room. I have found deceased people sitting in their vehicle in the garage, lying in bed, on the ground somewhere within the house, and even outside in yards and sheds. The cause of death in some of my cases ranged from suicide to homicide to natural causes.

Emergency responders are trained to imagine the worst-case scenario. Mentally, this is supposed to help a first responder if they picture the worst in their mind’s eye and once on-scene are pleasantly surprised. Doing the opposite of hoping for the best but finding the worst can affect a responder’s ability to perform because they become overwhelmed due to their lack of preparation. This can affect them mentally both immediately during the incident and in the future.  It is for this reason, most officers go into a welfare check expecting to find someone who died a violent death and is in advanced stages of decomposition. Then it is no big deal to find the victim recently died of apparent natural causes.

Several years ago I heard about classes being offered which taught law enforcement the art of covert entry. I was accepted into the course and learned how to successfully pick or bypass a wide variety of lock mechanisms. Having this skill caused me to get called out to assist in search warrants, welfare checks, children locked in vehicles, and other calls for service where locks needed to be accessed. Every one of these calls could be a blog entry of their own, there was never a dull moment when deploying these tools.

Standard lockpicking set – image courtesy of Wikipedia

Usually, the police want people to know they were inside of their home or business. For example, anytime the police serve a normal search warrant and there is no one present at the target location, the police must post the search warrant in a conspicuous location to notify the occupants. There are instances though where the police must access something and they don’t want anyone to know they were there. This is where “covert” entry really comes in handy.

Law enforcement sometimes has the need to enter a building just to look around without actually seizing any evidence. There are instances where law enforcement may need to enter a residence or business in order to install technical surveillance measures (e.g., cameras and audio transmitters) or gather additional intelligence. These search warrants are commonly referred to as sneak and peek warrants, covert entry search warrants, and surreptitious search warrants. Law enforcement must be able to pick or bypass locks quickly and quietly in order to access these buildings without drawing any attention or leaving evidence behind of their presence.

 

Pocket Lockpick set – image courtesy of lockpicks.com

Covert entry techniques can also be used to save lives and property. Several years ago I overheard a radio call sending patrol units to a local hotel to check the welfare of a possible suicidal subject. After a few minutes, the patrol officers started calling for the fire department to respond to force entry into the hotel room.

I decided to respond to see if I could be of any assistance. When I arrived, several officers were standing outside of the hotel room along with the hotel manager. For some reason, the hotel manager’s key card would not open the door. The officers told me that the subject called 9-1-1 and said he had overdosed on pills. The officers also found the subject’s car still in the parking lot and were afraid for his safety.

This particular hotel had the standard solid-core fire door, deadbolt locks, and a solid metal frame around the door. The hotel manager was about to authorize the fire department to actually cut a whole in the wall next to the door because it would be easier to access the room via the wall instead of trying to pry the door open. Using a specialized tool that bypasses the “L” style door handles, I was able to get the hotel room door open in about 60 seconds. As soon as the door opened, it hit the latch that had been thrown on the door. We immediately knew someone was in the room and we could hear labored breathing (agognal respirations) coming from inside. This type of breathing is commonly referred to as the “death rattle” because of its ominous sound.

 

“L” handle door bypass tool.  Photo courtesy of mbausa.com

My next tool in my bag of tricks was something called a Lock Jockey, which is specifically designed to bypass the hotel throw-latch. I placed this tool inside of the door and over the latch, closed the door slightly and we were in. We had no idea what to expect once we entered the hotel room. Suicidal individuals are often homicidal, so officer safety was paramount. As we went inside the room, we located the man who was completely unconscious and unresponsive. An empty pill bottle was near him and he was just a few minutes from respiratory arrest. The paramedics rushed in and began treating the man and he ultimately made a full recovery. There is no doubt that the officers and firefighters would have gained access to this man somehow, but the time it would have taken and the damage in the process would have been detrimental.

 

Lock Jockey tool unlatching hotel style throw-latch.  Picture courtesy of lockjockey.com

*     *     *

Josh Moulin has a long history of public service, beginning in 1993 as a Firefighter and EMT. After eight years of working assignments including; suppression, prevention, training, and transport ambulance, Josh left the fire service with the rank of Lieutenant when he was hired as a police officer.

Josh spent the next eleven years in law enforcement working various assignments. Josh worked as a patrol officer, field training officer, arson investigator, detective, forensic computer examiner, sergeant, lieutenant, and task force commander.

The last seven years of Josh’s law enforcement career was spent as the commander of a regional, multi-jurisdictional, federal cyber crime task force. Josh oversaw cyber crime investigations and digital forensic examinations for over 50 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. Under Josh’s leadership, the forensics lab was accredited by the American Society of Crime Lab Directors / Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) in 2009.

Josh has been recognized as a national expert in the field of digital evidence and cyber crime and speaks across the nation on various topics. He has testified as an expert witness in digital forensics and cyber crime in both state and federal court on several occasions. He also holds a variety of digital forensic and law enforcement certifications, has an associate’s degree and graduated summa cum laude with his bachelor’s degree.

In 2012 Josh left law enforcement to pursue a fulltime career in cyber security, incident response, and forensics supporting a national security federal agency as the Monitor and Control Team Lead.  Josh also holds an active Top Secret security clearance.

Josh is happy to answer questions for authors and can be contacted at his website http://JoshMoulin.com.  Josh is also on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn which can all be found on his website.

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Ford’s New Police Interceptor: You Watch The Front, It Has Your Back

Ford's new interceptor

Police cars have come a long ways since the early days of the red “bubble gum machines” and fender mounted siren and light combinations. Even further back, 1899 to be precise, was the first police vehicle, an electric wagon in Akron, Ohio. Then came New York City’s Radio Motor Cars of the 1920’s.

But it was Ford who began mass producing cars with V8 engines, and the company soon captured the hearts of police departments all across the country. Their powerful engines and heavy-duty parts made the perfect combination to stand the wear and tear and abuse that came with police work.

Ford’s Crown Victoria Police Interceptor became the standard police car, and remained so, except for the  brief time when Chrysler ruled the roost, until Ford phased it out in 2011 in favor of the sleeker, lighter Ford Taurus Police Interceptor. I think it would be safe to say that nearly all police officers of a “certain age” have driven a Crown Vic at least once in their lifetime. Of course, nowadays, it is quite common to see officers behind the wheel of the powerfully fast Dodge Chargers.

But, Ford has recently announced a brand new safety feature on their Taurus Interceptors. The car is now able to protect officers in a way never before seen.

There has been an increase of ambush attacks on police officers, and one of their most vulnerable times is when parked and completing paperwork. As the officer is busy writing reports, using the data terminal, etc., her mind is preoccupied, focusing on the task at hand. Therefore, she’s not totally aware of her surroundings, especially when someone is approaching her vehicle from the rear.

Well, Ford’s new surveillance system stands watch over the area behind the police vehicle, sounding a chime when it senses someone approaching. It automatically rolls up the windows, locks the car doors, and the backup camera projects a real time image of the area behind the car directly onto the rear-view mirror. That image is a large angle view so a person’s full body is visible. This allows the officers to see the hands of the approaching person.

After reading about the Interceptor’s new safety option I couldn’t help but wonder had the system been installed on the MIT officer’s car, the officer who was murdered by the Boston bombers, if he’d be alive today. Certainly, the two killers approached the car from the rear, surprising the officer. What if the officer could’ve heard an alert chime? Or, if the windows rolled up and the doors locked automatically…would he be alive today? Unfortunately, we’ll never know.

What we do know is that this new system could prevent the same horrible incident from happening again. And that’s a good thing.

First, though, Ford, needs to correct the fuel tank leaks on the new Interceptors. The car manufacturer recalled 20,000 of the police vehicles just last month to correct a tiny problem that had a slight potential of causing a fire. Of course, if the buyers select Ford’s optional fire suppression system…

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You Are Being Watched: You Can’t Hide From Prying Eyes

You are being watched

What if I told you the government is watching, tracking and recording your every move, including your trips to the grocery store, the bank, to the free STD clinic, church, and the regular noon “meetings” at the Pay-By-The-Minute Hotel that, by the way, started the whole free clinic thing in the first place? Would it bother you that all your movements have been fed into a huge database that can be accessed by law enforcement any time they want—no warrants necessary?

You don’t do anything wrong, so why worry? Okay, let’s say, for example, you loan your prized 1985 Yugo to your neighbor for the day. The neighbor, unbeknownst to you, is a psycho serial rapist and killer and is not caught until thirty years later. Police tie him to 13 murders, one of which was committed the day he borrowed your car.

Well, as your luck would have it, the police have a record of your car parked in the driveway of murder victim #4. In a flash, the cops are at your door, waking up the wife and her folks who’re up from Tampa visiting for two weeks. Officer Cawtcha Redhanded loudly asks you, in front of the little woman and the in-laws, to explain why, thirty years prior, were you at the home of a Ms. Bleedeasy, a deceased call girl who was found murdered the day your car left an amoeba-shaped oil stain on the concrete. ‘Spain that one, bubba.

Could the above scenario happen. Sure it could, and here’s why.

Automatic license plate readers. They’re everywhere. On police cars. Mounted to sign posts. Attached to bridges. Bolted to parking garage walls. You name the place and law enforcement is trying to think of a way to get one there.

The devices take a photo of every single passing car, even if the vehicle is stationary, like the Yugo in Ms. Bleedeasy’s driveway. They also record every single license plate number, the time and date the information was recorded, and the precise location where the car was at the time the photo was taken. As a former Alaska politician would say…“Gotcha’.”

In the beginning, plate readers were a wonderful tool for law enforcement. They helped cops spot cars that had been involved in crimes (robberies, kidnappings, etc.), cars that had been stolen, and, well, you get the idea. The cool part of this technology is that officers receive a “hit” in real time on numbers they’ve manually entered into the reader. Best of all, the readers are capable of scanning every single car and truck, even during rush hour traffic!

Now, though, since the introduction of plate readers to law enforcement, all of this data collected on private citizens has poured into massive databases where much of it now sits. That’s right, your trips to the hardware store have probably been recorded and, that information is in limbo waiting for a police officer to call it up the next time Joes’ Nuts and Bolts is robbed. And, if the robbery occurred anywhere near the day and time you stopped by to pick up a roll of chicken wire, well, you can probably expect a call or visit from Officer Notso Friendly. That is, unless you live in Minnesota, where the state patrol only retains the information for 48 hours. In other locations, though, such as Yonkers, NY and Mesquite, Texas, they keep the data on file indefinitely. Raleigh, N.C. – 6 months. High Point, N.C. – 1 year (remember that WPA attendees).

Are the license plate readers effective in the effort to locate criminals? Well, according to one report, out of every 1 million plates read in Maryland, only 47 “hits” were associated with serious offenses (stolen cars and/or plates, a wanted person, a sex offender, etc). And, not all 47 hits resulted in an arrest.

License plate readers have also been used for non-law enforcement purposes too. Everybody and her “big brother” wants a piece of this spy action, including repo companies and parking enforcement officials

For example, a small city in the south purchased and installed a plate reader on a city vehicle. A worker now drives all over town, slowly passing through parking lots hoping to get a “hit” on vehicles registered to citizens who’re delinquent in paying local taxes, city court fees, water bills, and even dog licenses. If the city employee does receive a hit on a vehicle, he stops and places a boot on the car, and the locking device is not removed until the delinquent fees are paid.

With all of this in mind, now might be a good time to re-think your appointments for the day. Well, at least re-think how you’ll get to those appointments. After all, “they’re” watching.

You know, this article brings to mind an old Eagles tune whose title should be altered to You Can’t Hide From Prying Eyes…

 

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A Shot In The Dark: Kids And Guns

 

Country roads. Dark tree-lined tunnels.

Speed.

Telephone poles and mailboxes zipping by. A blur.

Handcuffs swing from spotlight handle. Metal against metal. Tap, tap, tap.

Winding curves. Hit the apexes. Feed the wheel. Don’t cross your hands.

Is it hands at ten and two, or three and six?

Eyes darting from ditch to ditch, watching for deer.

Moonlight behind trees.

Limbs and branches like back-lit gnarled fingers disappearing into a black night sky.

Blue strobe lights transform fog into winking, blinking azure cotton candy.

“Are we close?”

“No, not yet. We was a long ways in the country.”

“Maybe three more miles.”

Radio lights blink in sequence.

Dispatcher speaking in monotone.

Stolen car on interstate.

Disturbance in West End.

Shoplifter at convenience store, Third and Bellview.

More blinking.

“There. Right there. The body’s in the woods to your left.”

“We drug him across the ditch right there.”

“See where them weeds are knocked down?”

Entourage of patrol cars stop.

Guns drawn.

Flashlights.

Shiny shoes on dew-dampened grass.

Careful, don’t disturb scene.

Belt leather creaking.

Keys jingle.

Fallen leaves crunch and crackle.

Twigs snap.

“Where’s the body?”

Shrug. “Thought it was here.”

Humidity high.

Sweating.

Vests like dense clay around torso.

Hours pass.

Cadaver dogs.

Noses to ground.

Mosquitoes.

Hundreds of mosquitoes.

Sunlight begins to squeeze through tree canopy.

Translucent yellow wands.

“Over here!”

A boy.

Lying in leaves and pine needles.

Eyes closed, mouth open.

Hands bound in back.

Gray duct tape.

Insects in and out of nose and mouth,

Like cars traveling the 101.

Buzzing flies.

Beetles scurrying and burrowing.

Someone’s son.

A brother.

A grandchild.

Cameras flash.

Measuring. Gathering.

Bullet casing in roadway.

Execution.

Gansta’ wannabes.

Interrogation.

“Didn’t know gun was loaded.”

“Took it from Dad’s nightstand.”

“It was a joke.”

“Honest.”

“We didn’t mean to hurt him.”

A joke.

“We just wanted to scare him.”

Teenagers.

One dead.

Four in prison.

Life sentences.

A joke.

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