Madam Zorba’s Weiner Predictions

 

From time to time I turn to my good friend Madam Zorba for advice, especially when I’m troubled. And what could be more concerning than the 2016 presidential election? So, I stopped by the wise soothsayer’s place of business this morning to see if she had any thoughts about the latest scandal involving FBI director, James Comey, and his recent announcement regarding a federal “Weiner probe.”

Here’s what she had to say.

1. FBI Director James Comey will soon land a new job as a street-food vendor selling weiners to Washington tourists and politicians.

2. Trump, if elected (this information is still extremely cloudy), will appoint Anthony Weiner as the new FBI director.

3. Hillary Clinton says hot sauce is great on Comey’s weiners.

4. It is because of Comey’s Weiner probe that hot dog stocks plummet to record lows.

5. Trump loves Comey’s weiners, with or without hot sauce.

6. Huma Abedin announces – “Hillary doesn’t like my Weiner.”

7. The Trump campaign trades their tour bus for the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile.

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8. Madam Zorba showed me an image that appeared inside her crystal ball.

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9. The first image faded and was replaced by …

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10. And …

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*Please, I am not endorsing or promoting either presidential candidate. This post is intended as a tongue-in-cheek chuckle, albeit a corny one, at the latest development in the election. It’s a JOKE. Do NOT attempt to read between the lines because there’s nothing there but blank space. And, this blog is not the place for political rants and raves or arguments about gun control, race, and/or religion.

Finally, Madam Zorba was not harmed during the writing of this blog post. However, she did report feeling a bit nauseous. I certainly understand.

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Madam Zorba, I Know The Victim’s Dead, But What’s The Charge?

 

Detectives Hans Cuff and Hank Ketchemall caught their third case within a week that involved a dead body. The first two were open and shut cases. Slam dunks. After all, they had eye witnesses, confessions, and videos. Easy money. But this third one, well, it wasn’t so easy to solve. The victim, a young man, was found dead in a locked closet. No wounds, no marks or bruises, no weapons, no pill bottles, no poisons, no nothing. Just a lock on the doorknob, a door, and a dead body. But the body was extremely thin … malnourished. Nearly as thin as a supermodel. Looks like he simply starved to death. But was that possible? What really happened? Somebody’s sure got some ‘splainin’ to do.

So, during an interview with the parents, the mother says she locked the teen in the closet as a form of punishment for not cleaning his room. “No big deal,” she says. “He’s just a foster child, anyway. I didn’t mean to forget him, but we have so many foster kids. It’s easy to lose track, you know.”

Her words disgust the investigators. Unfortunately, it’s not the worst they’ll hear before they pull the pin at twenty-five years. Cuff and Ketchemall, detectives working in the Commonwealth of Virginia, now know they indeed have a homicide. Well, actually, this one’s a murder (homicide is the killing of one person by another, but not always a murder) so they must arrest the parents for something. But what charge? Is this a death penalty case? 1st degree murder? 2nd degree? What? Is the process so convoluted and confusing that detectives and other law enforcement officials consult psychics and readers of crystal balls to help with selecting proper charges?

Well, the process is a bit more precise than bringing out the old Ouija Board or speaking with Madam Zorba. Therefore, in the case above, Detectives Cuff and Ketchemall, after a quick flip through the code books, decided the parents have committed murder in the first degree, a second class felony that carries a sentence of 20 years to life.

*Note – Officers do not have to be this specific at the time of arrest. 

How about you? Have you ever wondered how and why crooks and killers are charged with various crimes? Sure, sometimes it sounds as if the  prosecutors and police had a peek into the old legal mumbo-jumbo crystal ball before they issued the warrants. But, believe it or not, there are guidelines—code sections—that spell out individual charges for specific acts. And, since most of you reading this blog deal with writing about murder, here are the charges (in the state of Virginia) directly from the books, the Code of Virginia.

Our police academy even issued a set of these books to every recruit (I still have my first set). Remember, laws vary from state to state, and they’re amended from time to time.

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So, to find the proper criminal code section we go to the handy bookshelves in our office. There, we select Volume 1, the book that spells out the proper statutes that deal with the matters at hand.

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Title 18.2 relates specifically to Crimes and Offenses.

Sections 18.2-30 thru 18.2-76.2 deal with crimes against the person.

18.2-77 thru 18.2-167.1 addresses property crimes.

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We thumb through the book until we land on the sections dealing with dead bodies and what caused them to be, well … dead. Here’s what we see on just a few of those pages.

§ 18.2-31. Capital murder defined; punishment


The following offenses shall constitute capital murder, punishable as a Class 1 felony

1. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person in the commission of abduction, as defined in § 18.2-48, when such abduction was committed with the intent to extort money or a pecuniary benefit or with the intent to defile the victim of such abduction

2. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person by another for hire

3. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person by a prisoner confined in a state or local correctional facility as defined in § 53.1-1, or while in the custody of an employee thereof;

4. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person in the commission of robbery or attempted robbery;

5. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person in the commission of, or subsequent to, rape or attempted rape, forcible sodomy or attempted forcible sodomy or object sexual penetration;

6. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of a law-enforcement officer as defined in § 9.1-101, a fire marshal appointed pursuant to § 27-30 or a deputy or an assistant fire marshal appointed pursuant to § 27-36, when such fire marshal or deputy or assistant fire marshal has police powers as set forth in §§ 27-34.2 and 27-34.2:1, an auxiliary police officer appointed or provided for pursuant to §§ 15.2-1731 and 15.2-1733, an auxiliary deputy sheriff appointed pursuant to § 15.2-1603, or any law-enforcement officer of another state or the United States having the power to arrest for a felony under the laws of such state or the United States, when such killing is for the purpose of interfering with the performance of his official duties;

7. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of more than one person as a part of the same act or transaction;

8. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of more than one person within a three-year period;

9. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person in the commission of or attempted commission of a violation of § 18.2-248, involving a Schedule I or II controlled substance, when such killing is for the purpose of furthering the commission or attempted commission of such violation;

10. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person by another pursuant to the direction or order of one who is engaged in a continuing criminal enterprise as defined in subsection I of § 18.2-248;

11. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of a pregnant woman by one who knows that the woman is pregnant and has the intent to cause the involuntary termination of the woman’s pregnancy without a live birth;

12. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of a person under the age of fourteen by a person age twenty-one or older;

13. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any person by another in the commission of or attempted commission of an act of terrorism as defined in § 18.2-46.4;

14. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of a justice of the Supreme Court, a judge of the Court of Appeals, a judge of a circuit court or district court, a retired judge sitting by designation or under temporary recall, or a substitute judge appointed under § 16.1-69.9:1 when the killing is for the purpose of interfering with his official duties as a judge; and

15. The willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing of any witness in a criminal case after a subpoena has been issued for such witness by the court, the clerk, or an attorney, when the killing is for the purpose of interfering with the person’s duties in such case.

If any one or more subsections, sentences, or parts of this section shall be judged unconstitutional or invalid, such adjudication shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remaining provisions thereof but shall be confined in its operation to the specific provisions so held unconstitutional or invalid.

§ 18.2-32. First and second degree murder defined; punishment.

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Murder, other than capital murder, by poison, lying in wait, imprisonment, starving, or by any willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing, or in the commission of, or attempt to commit, arson, rape, forcible sodomy, inanimate or animate object sexual penetration, robbery, burglary or abduction, except as provided in § 18.2-31, is murder of the first degree, punishable as a Class 2 felony.

All murder other than capital murder and murder in the first degree is murder of the second degree and is punishable by confinement in a state correctional facility for not less than five nor more than forty years.

Felony Sentences

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§ 18.2-10. Punishment for conviction of felony; penalty.

The authorized punishments for conviction of a felony are:

(a) For Class 1 felonies, death, if the person so convicted was 18 years of age or older at the time of the offense and is not determined to be mentally retarded pursuant to § 19.2-264.3:1.1, or imprisonment for life and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000. If the person was under 18 years of age at the time of the offense or is determined to be mentally retarded pursuant to § 19.2-264.3:1.1, the punishment shall be imprisonment for life and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000.

(b) For Class 2 felonies, imprisonment for life or for any term not less than 20 years and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000.

(c) For Class 3 felonies, a term of imprisonment of not less than five years nor more than 20 years and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000.

(d) For Class 4 felonies, a term of imprisonment of not less than two years nor more than 10 years and, subject to subdivision (g), a fine of not more than $100,000.

(e) For Class 5 felonies, a term of imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than 10 years, or in the discretion of the jury or the court trying the case without a jury, confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both.

(f) For Class 6 felonies, a term of imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than five years, or in the discretion of the jury or the court trying the case without a jury, confinement in jail for not more than 12 months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both.

(g) Except as specifically authorized in subdivision (e) or (f), or in Class 1 felonies for which a sentence of death is imposed, the court shall impose either a sentence of imprisonment together with a fine, or imprisonment only. However, if the defendant is not a natural person, the court shall impose only a fine.

For any felony offense committed (i) on or after January 1, 1995, the court may, and (ii) on or after July 1, 2000, shall, except in cases in which the court orders a suspended term of confinement of at least six months, impose an additional term of not less than six months nor more than three years, which shall be suspended conditioned upon successful completion of a period of post-release supervision pursuant to § 19.2-295.2 and compliance with such other terms as the sentencing court may require. However, such additional term may only be imposed when the sentence includes an active term of incarceration in a correctional facility.

For a felony offense prohibiting proximity to children as described in subsection A of § 18.2-370.2, the sentencing court is authorized to impose the punishment set forth in that section in addition to any other penalty provided by law

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Friday’s Heroes: Remembering the Fallen

Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

 

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Sergeant Alphonso Lopez, 47

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

October 24, 2016 – Sergeant Alphonso Lopez suffered a fatal heart attack while responding to assist in a high-speed pursuit. He is survived by his wife and two children.

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Trooper Timothy P. Pratt, 55

New York State Police

October 26, 2016 – Trooper Timothy Pratt was struck and killed by a vehicle while assisting a motorist who was lost. He is survived by his three children and fiancee.

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Kathleen Donnelly: Reflections on the Writers’ Police Academy—My Rookie Year

 

This year I had the pleasure of attending my first Writers’ Police Academy (WPA) at the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay. This was my rookie year and for anyone worried about being a rookie, there were no initiations—just lots of fun, action and excitement.

Being a Chicago Bears fan I thought about wearing a Bears t-shirt, but decided I didn’t want to be the first crime scene of the day. So I laid low, ate lots of cheese curds and learned a ton from this fascinating conference tailored to mystery and thriller writers.

What I didn’t know is that each day started with morning announcements. I suppose at some conferences morning announcements includes coffee, doughnuts, and you know, announcements. But during my WPA rookie experience, I learned morning announcements have a whole new meaning. They set up real life crime scene scenarios so that authors can get a better feel of all the emotions and senses that go into different emergency responses.

My fictional account of day one’s morning announcements went something like this:

A driver spends all night partying with her friends. She drinks, maybe smokes a little dope, but it’s nothing big and she’s fine to drive. On the way home, there’s times where she swerves over the line, but hey, everyone does that now and then. Fighting her eyes wanting to close, for a moment she gives in and then BAM. What was that? Stumbling out of the car, the driver sees she hit a vehicle head on. There’s a person lying on the hood of the other car. Pretty soon the first responders arrive and she’s questioned and examined.

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            There’s a loud sound behind her and as the driver turns around, she realizes that the jaws of life are cutting through the car she hit. Then a white sheet reflects off the morning light as a sliver of sun peaks through the gray clouds. She realizes the person on the hood is dead. Did she do that? She doesn’t remember. A loud noise disrupts her thoughts and debris starts flying around. Papers swirl in the air as the medivac helicopter lands. A person is loaded in the helicopter and taken away.

            The driver holds her head in her hands, realizing the severity of the scene around her. She is taken away to be examined at a hospital and have tests to see what her blood alcohol level reads.

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After the car accident scenario we asked questions of the various emergency personal.

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And there really was a medivac chopper!

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Day two’s morning announcements started out a bit slower. We were learning about the statistics of terrorist attacks and how response has changed for situations such as school shooters. I was thinking to myself, hmmm…what’s going to happen today when the door burst open. My mind wrote the opening pages of the scene played out before the classroom:

The man had been strolling over to his first class on campus thinking about the Packer’s game that evening. Would they win? His wife interrupted his thoughts telling him she was heading off to her class. They said their goodbyes and as he turned around, a sharp stabbing pain hit his ribs. Then he heard a loud suction sound as a knife pulled out of his skin.

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            The man yelled at his wife to run and he pushed the man with the knife and ran in the same direction as his wife. He managed to find an open door and stumbled into a room of first responders who gave him immediate treatment. But he kept thinking about his wife and asking about her.

            Then, through the haze of trying not to black out, the man sees several more people run into the room holding various parts of their body, trying to stop the bleeding.

            The police show up and tell everyone to keep their hands on their heads with their fingers interlaced. The police catch the suspect fleeing from the campus.

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Yep, morning announcements are pretty interesting at WPA. Here are few more reasons to consider attending WPA, (as if you needed another reason):

  • This is one of the few conferences where you can actually tell people you played with handcuffs.
  • You learn all the steps that go into pulling someone over. Yes, it’s harder than it looks.

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  • You meet great teachers who have worked in various aspects of law enforcement and emergency services.
  • These amazing teachers want to share their knowledge and you walk away with fantastic contacts. These contacts will answer questions such as; what is the proper way to process this crime scene? Should I shoot the guy or just hang him? What would the blood spatter look like if I shot my character versus dismembering him?
  • You get to take extra hands-on classes like “Shoot, Don’t Shoot.”

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  • I would have loved to do the precision interruption techniques (PIT) driving class. However, I think my husband is happy that I didn’t take that one.
  • After going to Defense and Arrest Tactics, you can come home and say, “Honey, look what I learned,” and then hang off your 6’7” husband’s arm attempting to take him down. Once the hold is correct, it works!
  • You meet great mystery, true crime, and thriller authors including this year’s WPA guests of honor Tami Hoag and Lee Goldberg.

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Me with Tami Hoag

  • I also met Robin Burcell, Tod Goldberg, and fellow Coloradan Terry O’Dell.
  • I sat in the back of various police vehicles and I was free to go afterwards.

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  • Seeing the K-9’s in action is always fun. We tried on the canine bite sleeve without having a Malinois hanging off our arm.

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These are just a few of the many exciting moments at WPA. I’d say my rookie year was a great success and I’ll be back. Until then, I have some murders to commit on paper. Thanks to the “hands on” experience from this writers’ conference, I can bring my fiction writing to life in a way I never imagined.

~

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About Kathleen Donnelly

Passionate about animals and the outdoors, all of Kathleen’s interests end up in the written form one way or another.  Her experiences being a part owner and handler for Sherlock Hounds Detection Canines, a private pro-active drug dog service that works primarily in schools, has been the subject of much of her writing. She is currently working on a book with a female protagonist who’s a K-9 handler for the National Forest Service. Kathleen lives in Berthoud, CO with her husband and all their four-legged friends

 

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Josh Moulin: Who Are You Allowing in Your House at Night?

Josh Moulin

 

If I were to ask you to install an exterior door in your child’s bedroom and told you that this door could not have any locks, alarms, or other security, how would you react?  Most people would be uncomfortable with an unlocked door anywhere in their house and especially in their child’s room.  How could a parent properly protect their child if strangers on the outside could walk right in?  How would parents get alerted if someone had entered the child’s bedroom?  This scenario might seem crazy or even rise to the level of negligence.  The risks to the child could be anywhere from a simple burglary to physical assault, sexual assault, kidnap, and even murder and could extend beyond the child to any other occupants of the house.

The thought of this is disturbing and it is hard to imagine any parent would be this careless.  Unfortunately though, there are homes in nearly every neighborhood in our country with unlocked and unmonitored doors.  These doors are not your traditional doors though, these are virtual doors disguised as computers, tablets, smartphones, smart TVs, and a host of other gadgets referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT).

Most parents teach their children common safety messages to keep them safe: look both ways before you cross the street, don’t go anywhere with a stranger, don’t touch the stove because it could be hot, etc.  But what do many parents teach their kids about Facebook, Snapchat, Kik, instant messaging, texting, or web surfing?  In my experience as a career technologist and former law enforcement investigator of cybercrime, parents rarely have this kind of dialog with their kids.  Stranger abductions of children are incredibly rare (less than 1% of all kidnappings), yet parents spend a great deal of time talking about stranger-danger with their kids and completely miss the much bigger and more common risk of online predators.

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I cringe when I hear parents ask what kind of smartphone they should buy their tween, or I see kids walking to the local elementary school staring at their smart devices along the way.  In a recent study, it was found that 21% of kids in kindergarten to second grade have cell phones!  I completely understand the need for parents to contact their children, but does that really need to include a data plan and 12 megapixel camera?  Any of these Internet capable devices are a portal to the world and kids who do not yet understand the consequences of their actions can quickly make fatal errors.  The social impacts and long-term exposure to this technology aside, kids don’t need $800 smartphones to remain in contact or to use during an emergency.  Believe it or not, cell phone providers do still make basic phones especially for kids.

The risks associated with kids and technology are not born from my paranoia or hypothetical scenarios I have dreamt up over the years.  During my career I have seen firsthand the devastation brought to children and families from having an unlocked virtual door to a child’s bedroom.  In one such case, an adult man lured an autistic 14-year-old girl over the Internet.  This man used online gaming as his method of choice.  Over the course of a few weeks he established a rapport with her and kept her distracted with the game (World of Warcraft), while he asked seemingly innocuous questions spread over time to not be obvious.  Questions like what her parents did for work, what their schedules were, where she lived, and what school she went to were asked of her.  The suspect recorded these answers within the dossier he was building on this girl.  As the two communicated via voice chat in the game, she thought she had found a great friend.  What she did not realize was that this man had no interest in World of Warcraft or being her friend.  That realization became apparent the day he showed up at her front door when she was home alone.  This man arrived from out of state when he knew her parents would be at work and he kidnapped her.

When the police was notified of her kidnapping they began searching and luckily found the vehicle several hours later in a different state as it was traveling on the freeway.  I remember getting a phone call on a weekend about this case and was asked to assist the agency that stopped the suspect’s vehicle.  They had taken the male suspect into custody and the girl was safely with child welfare.  I conducted a forensic analysis of the suspect’s multiple computers he had in his truck as well as searched the truck itself.  In the back of this truck was rope, knives, sex toys, and a mattress.  I have always believed that if this man would not have been stopped, that young girl would have been raped, tortured, and killed.

In another case I investigated, an adult man was searching for young boys in chatrooms and other online venues.  He knew exactly the type of boys to target and could quickly establish rapports with them.  After having sexually explicit chats with these boys, he would ask them to send nude images of themselves to him.  If the boys refused, the suspect told them that he was a police officer and had already traced their Internet connection back to their physical address.  The suspect told them that if they did not send the pictures, he would show up to their home and tell their parents that they were homosexual. Out of fear of embarrassment, almost every boy was coerced into send the images to this man.  In many cases, he continued the blackmail and had young boys travel to his home where he would sexually abuse them.  He often would send money to these boys to facilitate getting them to his home.

These two examples drive home my point, but unfortunately I have many more stories; some of which have worse outcomes.  On so many occasions parents would tell me they had no idea that their kids were on the Internet, or that they couldn’t keep up with all the technology.  I argue that parents have a duty and obligation to protect their children from danger and simply saying they don’t understand technology does not suffice.  Parents either need to learn the technology or not allow their children to use it.  Before parents allow technology to be introduced to their child or home, they should understand what the device is capable of and how to secure it.

If you are interested in protecting your own family or help someone else with their children, here are some high level suggestions that you can take:

  1. Limit Access: No computers, laptops, tablets, iPhones, smartphones, Xboxes, or other Internet capable devices are allowed in kids rooms, period.
  2. Have Oversight: Computers are located in a common area of the home that can easily be seen by adults at a moment’s notice.
  3. Least Privileged Access: Kids have a separate non-administrative account on computers so they cannot change settings or install software.
  4. Protect Passwords: Kids do not know parent’s passwords.  Change your passwords and PINs occasionally.
  5. Start the Dialog: Parents need to have real and frank conversations with their kids about Internet safety and what kind of sexual predators exist in the world. Most kids do not tell their parents when something makes them feel uncomfortable online because the kids are embarrassed, don’t want to get in trouble, or don’t think their parents will understand the technical pieces of what happened.  Parents must build trust and have these discussions often.
  6. Know Their “Friends”: If children are allowed on social media, parents should have full access to the profiles and ensure that any “friend” is someone they actually know in real life.  A 14-year-old probably doesn’t have 750 real friends.  It should not be thought of as a popularity contest.
  7. No Cameras Allowed: 22% of girls have posted nude images of themselves online or sent them to another person.  Having kids and cameras together is an exceptionally bad combination.  I have investigated cases of girls as young as 10 taking nude images of themselves and sending them to adult males.
  8. Use Parental Controls: Both Mac and PCs have excellent parental controls.  Lock down what websites kids can go to, what times they are allowed online, and who they can communicate with.  Make sure kids can’t sneak devices into their room at night, or go out to the family PC while everyone is asleep.
  9. Review their Browsing Habits: 90% of children ages 8-16 have viewed online pornography, the largest group of Internet pornography consumers are ages 12-17, and 70% of kids ages 7-18 have accidentally encountered pornography while searching for unrelated material.  Know what kids are looking for and looking at.  Examine Internet history on browsers to see where kids are going.  If Internet history is being deleted, ask why.  There are other ways to capture Internet history at the home router level too, which kids would should not have access to or be able to manipulate those logs.
  10. Use Internet Filtering Solutions: Implement technical controls both on the device (e.g., parental controls) but also on the home Internet connection.  OpenDNS is an awesome way to do this, see this blog post for more:  http://www.joshmoulin.com/protecting-your-family-against-inappropriate-internet-content/  This can prevent children from accidentally coming across inappropriate content and block intentional access to sites.
  11. Thing About All Sites: Think YouTube and Flickr are educational and should be OK for your kids to have access to?  Think again, these sites are full of nudity, sexual content, violence, and many other categories of inappropriate content.  If there are videos that your child needs access to, give them access to just the URL of that video in YouTube and block everything else.
  12. Internet Rules are for Everywhere: The rules established about appropriate Internet behavior must be for the Internet, not just within a home.  Many kids find themselves in trouble while at a friend’s house or somewhere outside of the home.  Make sure they understand the family acceptable use policy applies anywhere.
  13. Parents get Full Access: Frequently review their social media pages, posts, pictures, and sites.  Ensure there is nothing that could be considered cyberbullying or that a sexual predator could use to find out where the child goes to school, lives, or works.  Limit personal information such as birthdays and phone numbers and check the background of images and videos to make sure there are no hints that could lead a predator to the child.  Also consider Exif data in images that may lead someone directly to the front door (for more on this, see this blog post: http://www.joshmoulin.com/how-digital-pictures-and-videos-can-be-a-threat-to-privacy/)
  14. Understand the Technology: Ignorance is no longer a viable option.  There are many resources for parents to learn about technology and how to protect their child, some of which are provided in this post.  A simple Google search for protecting kids online would be a great start.
  15. Consider Internet Monitoring Software: There are software products on the market that are designed to covertly monitor kids’ activity online and provide reports.  These programs can be helpful and range from free software to paid commercial products.
  16. Ensure Profiles are set to Private: Utilize privacy settings on social media and make sure all privacy settings made available are enabled.

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While apps and websites may change names, the principles and mitigating controls are the same. If parents teach kids how to use technology responsibly, have frequent communication with their kids, and follow the steps outlined above, the virtual door can be closed.  Technology can be amazing and kids must know how to use it properly to be successful as they grow older and prepare for college and their careers.  By taking the time to implement what is suggested here and balancing the convenience of technology access with the security controls to make it safe, kids can have a healthy relationship with the Internet and devices.

~

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Josh Moulin is a federal defense contractor and Chief Information Officer (CIO) of an agency with a national security mission, overseeing all classified and unclassified IT and cybersecurity functions for the agency that spans the country.  Josh has been recognized nationally and in courtrooms as an expert in the areas of digital forensics, cybercrime, and cybersecurity.  He spent 11 years in law enforcement with his last assignment as a police lieutenant and commander of an FBI cybercrimes task force, investigating hundreds of complex high-tech crimes.  Josh has a Master’s Degree in Information Security and Assurance and holds multiple certifications in law enforcement, forensics, hacking, and cybersecurity.

Website:  www.JoshMoulin.com

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshmoulin

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/JoshMoulin

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Why Have Thousands of Writers Attended the Writers’ Police Academy? Well …

 

The 2016 WPA marked our 8th year of providing heart-pounding action and real police, EMS, and firefighting training. Our instructors are the best in their fields and our workshops (over 50 different sessions throughout the event) are second to none.

Simply put, the WPA is the best event of its type on the planet and that’s why writers from all over the world—the Netherlands, Singapore, Germany, Australia, Ireland, Guam, Ecuador, Canada, every state in the U.S., and more—travel to attend each year.

And, to top off this unique and thrilling learning experience, we deliver more fun than a room full of puppies.

Well, shooting guns, blowing up stuff, investigating murders, and driving patrol cars while performing PIT maneuvers may not be quite as cuddly or snuggly as a lap full of cute, tiny beagles, but hey, we brought in a helicopter!

Remember, the WPA is always designed especially for you and your needs as a writer! As a plus and in addition to actual academy training at a renowned international academy, we believe in pampering our attendees. Therefore, our event hotel, the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center Green Bay, is luxurious. Sleeping rooms are extremely nice and well-appointed. There are several in-house restaurants, lounges, and bars, a Starbucks, and a fantastic Noodle House. It’s situated on the Oneida Indian Reservation and it’s attached to the Oneida Casino. The hotel is the official hotel of the fabulous Green Bay Packers. We provide transportation between the hotel and the academy and to offsite training grounds and workshops, and much, much more.

If all of this sounds like we’re bragging … well, we are, and we earned the right to do so because we, along with your loyal and generous support, have worked hard over the years to be the best at what we do.

Anyway, as a recap, here’s a brief video/slideshow of the 2016 Writers’ Police Academy. So crank up the volume and hang on. It’s a thrilling ride!

See you in 2017!

*Planning for the 2017 WPA is well underway and, believe it or not, we’re going to try our best to top this year (is that even possible?).

Sisters in Crime, a major WPA sponsor, is once again offering a huge discount for members attending for the first time! Not a SinC member? No problem. Simply join SinC to receive the discount!

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Friday’s Heroes: Remembering the Fallen

Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

 

deputy-sheriff-jack-hopkins

Deputy Sheriff Jack Hopkins, 31

Modoc County California Sheriff’s Office

October 19, 2016 – Deputy Jack Hopkins was shot and killed shortly after responding to a domestic disturbance call. The suspect, a registered sex offender, fled the scene and was later wounded in a shootout with police.

Deputy Hopkins is survived by a large family and his dog, Bandit.

*    *     *

New-Picture-44

*Officer death by gunfire is up 53% this year compared to the same time in 2015.

Remember, this total includes only the officers who died as a result of their wounds. The number does not include the numerous officers who’ve been shot but were fortunate to have survived.

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I Am Offline: Be Back Soon

 

I am currently offline and will be for a few days. Denene and I are assisting with repairing damage to family property caused by the recent hurricane that struck the East Coast.

Many roads in the area are still flooded, impassable, and/or totally washed out. Some businesses and homes are still partially submerged and people sometimes navigate parking lots and side streets in small boats.

Conditions in many places are definitely less than desirable and in some cases, devastating. But it is what it is and the locals are survivors.

Until I return, I thank you for your patience.

In the meantime, #hurricanematthewsucks

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Friday’s Heroes: Remembering the Fallen

Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

 

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Officer Lesley Zerebny, 27

Palm Springs California Police Department

October 8, 2016 – Officer Lesley Zerebny was shot and killed after responding to a domestic disturbance. The suspect, a known gang member, fired at officers through a closed door after telling family members he wanted to shoot police officers.

Officer Zerebny is survived by her husband and her four-month-old child.

c_pspd-10-08-2016

Officer Gil Vega, 63

Palm Springs California Police Department

October 8, 2016 – Officer Gil Vega was shot and killed after responding to a domestic disturbance. The suspect, a known gang member, fired at officers through a closed door after telling family members he wanted to shoot police officers.

Officer Vega is survived by his wife and eight children. He was scheduled to retire in two months, after serving 35 years as a police officer.

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Juvenile Crime: Before and After the Arrest

 

Prior to serving as a police officer and detective, I was employed in the prison system as a corrections officer. I spent part of this miserable portion of my life working in a prison that housed a unique group of inmates, those who were absolutely and totally unwanted by the state’s numerous other institutions. It was a place for criminal misfits. They were unmanageable, unruly, and they hated the air and the sky, the water they drank, and they hated themselves. Just plain nasty is what they were.

This particular facility, the place where I spent most of my waking hours in those days, was divided into four separate buildings with each surrounded by a tall fence. One section was for the super mean and out of control, another for just regular mean guys, a third for prisoners with special needs, and the fourth for mentally ill inmates who’s diet consisted largely of handfuls of medications such as Thorazine and Wellbutrin.

The prisoners there enjoyed throwing things at us (feces was a favorite). They liked to fight us. They often attempted to catch one of us alone so they could deliver a beating from hell. Escape attempts were often and killing other inmates was a sport. Didn’t happen too often, but when it did the fellows seemed to derive a bit of pleasure from seeing blood and dead bodies.

The place was a nightmare for officers. As I stated earlier, it was miserable.

In the late 1980’s, Virginia opened the doors to what they called the Youthful Offender Centers. These were prisons designated to house young males between the ages of 18-21 who’d been convicted of various crimes.

It was my understanding, after speaking with a few of the officers who worked there, that they, too, felt pretty darn miserable at the end of the day. You know, same old, same old—the victims of tossed feces and squirts of urine and other body fluids, fights, escape attempts, yada, yada, yada. Most of the officers there also said they felt as if they worked in a facility that trained young inmates to be better older prisoners and the best criminals they could possibly become.

But this is where the young criminals ended up. What about prior to prison and the process that eventually lands those troubled youths behind bars?

Well, in Virginia, for example:

  • Juvenile is any child under the age of eighteen.
  • Delinquent: A juvenile who has committed an act that would be a crime if committed by an adult.
  • CHINS – Child in Need of Services: A juvenile whose behavior, conduct or condition presents or results in a serious threat to the juvenile’s well-being and physical safety of another person.
  • Child in Need of Supervision meets one of these criteria:
    1. A juvenile subject to mandatory school attendance, is habitually absent without valid excuse.
    2. A juvenile who remains away from his family or guardian.
    3. A juvenile who escapes or remains away from a residential care facility ordered by the court.

  • Child Abuse and Neglect

    1. A caregiver who creates or inflicts a physical or mental injury upon a child.
    2. A caregiver who creates the child to be at risk of physical or mental injury.
    3. A caregiver who refuses to provide for juvenile’s health and well-being.

    Court Services: 

    1. Intake – Reviews all complaints regarding juvenile crime and determines whether there are enough facts to involve the court. If so, the intake officer may either proceed informally to make practical adjustments without filing a petition (a petition is basically a warrant, akin to an adult arrest warrant) or the intake officer may authorize the filing of a petition (a warrant) to bring the matter before the judge. An intake officer may also order the placement of a juvenile offender in a secure detention facility designated for juveniles whose present offense requires such security prior to a detention hearing by a juvenile and domestic relations district court judge. Note: Intake officers used to be called probation officers.
    2. Investigation – Intake officers conduct background studies, such as examination of a juvenile’s familial, social and educational history. Such studies may be used by the court as a factor in determining the disposition appropriate to the subject and by the probation staff in the formulation of a services and supervision plan.
    3. Probation. Supervises delinquent juveniles and children in need of services released into home probation and supervises adults released on probation in support and other cases involving the defendant’s relation with family members and individuals to whom he has a support duty.

    Residential Care: Supervises juveniles being held in detention, shelter care and post dispositional probation facilities. In most localities, the staff of these facilities are employees of the localities served by the court and work cooperatively with the staff of the respective court service unit.

    Social Services: Welfare and social service agencies are in frequent contact with the court in certain types of cases. They perform the initial investigation in abuse and neglect cases. Juveniles may be committed to such agencies when they are removed from home. Other agencies provide such services as may be ordered by the judge.

    Juvenile Delinquency and CHINS Cases; Adult Criminal Cases Detention or Shelter Care

    A juvenile may be taken into custody if one of the following applies:

    1. A judge, clerk at judge’s direction or intake officer issues a detention order requiring the juvenile to be taken into custody.
    2. A juvenile is alleged to be a CHINS and there is clear and substantial danger to the child’s life or health and this is necessary for the child’s appearance before the court.
    3. A juvenile commits a crime that is witnessed by a police officer or would be a felony if committed by an adult (a crime punishable by more than 12 months in jail).
    4. A juvenile commits a misdemeanor offense involving shoplifting, assault and battery, or carrying a weapon on school property.
    5. A juvenile has absconded from lawful incarceration or a court ordered residential home, facility, or placement by a child welfare agency.
    6. A juvenile is believed to be in need of inpatient mental health treatment.

    If not immediately released by the intake officer or magistrate, the juvenile is held in custody (detention) until being brought before the judge for a detention hearing. The juvenile’s detention hearing should be held the next day the court sits within the city or county but no longer than 72 hours after being taken into custody. Prior notice of the detention hearing must be given to the juvenile’s parent or guardian, and to the juvenile if over 12 years of age. A detention hearing is not a trial, but merely a hearing to determine whether the detention of the juvenile should be continued.

    The judge decides whether to hold the juvenile in secure detention or release the juvenile to a parent, guardian or persons having custody of the juvenile, or to shelter care. Shelter care is defined as the temporary care of children in a physically unrestricted environment.

    The judge may set bail and/or certain rules to be followed while the juvenile released awaiting trial. The judge may order the juvenile be held in detention if the judge believes that there is probable cause the juvenile committed the act and:

    1. The juvenile is charged with violation of probation or parole.
    2. The juvenile is charged with a felony or class 1 misdemeanor and: (a) is a threat to self or others or the property of others or (b) has threatened not to come to court or has failed to appear to court within the past 12 months. While the juvenile is in a detention home or shelter placement, parents or guardians wishing to visit may do so only during permitted visiting hours. Parents or guardians should find out in advance of a visit: the hours of visitation, the documentation needed, dress code, the number of visitors allowed at one time and any restrictions concerning who is allowed to visit.

    Certification or Transfer to Circuit Court for Trial as an Adult

    A case involving a juvenile 14 years or older accused of a felony may be certified or transferred to circuit court where the juvenile would be tried as an adult. A hearing to determine whether to transfer the case cannot occur unless the juvenile’s parents or their attorney are notified of the transfer hearing.

    Certification to Circuit Court

    A juvenile 14 years or older at the time of the alleged felony offense(s) may be transferred to the circuit court and tried as an adult. Some felony charges require that a judge make the decision whether to hear the case in juvenile or circuit court. The Commonwealth must provide notice requesting transfer of the juvenile’s felony cases to circuit court. This written notice must be sent to the attorney for the juvenile or to the juvenile and one parent or legal guardian. A judge will hold a hearing to consider whether probable cause exists regarding the offense(s) charged and whether transfer of the case to circuit court is appropriate. Some factors the judge may consider when determining whether the case should be heard in circuit court or in juvenile court are: the juvenile’s previous court contacts, competency, school record information and the child’s age and emotional maturity.

    Transfer to Circuit Court

    If a juvenile was 14 years or older and charged with a violent felony, then the Commonwealth may certify the charge to circuit court for trial. Written notice to the juvenile’s attorney or to the juvenile and one parent or legal guardian, must be provided. In these cases, the judge solely determines probable cause as to whether or not the charged juvenile committed the crime. These charges are: felonious injury by mob, abduction, malicious wounding, malicious wounding of a law enforcement officer, felonious poisoning, adulteration of products, robbery, carjacking, rape, forcible sodomy, or object sexual penetration. OR A list of these violent juvenile felony charges is listed in Virginia Code section 16.1-269.1C. If the judge finds that probable cause exists that the juvenile committed the crime(s) charged then the juvenile’s case will be tried in circuit court.

    The crimes of murder or aggravated malicious wounding are automatically certified to the circuit court if the juvenile is 14 years or older at the time of the offense and the court has found probable cause that the juvenile has committed the offense(s) charged. No Commonwealth request is needed.

    Statements made by the juvenile during the transfer hearing may not be used as evidence of the offense at a later court hearing but may be used if the juvenile testifies during trial.

    Both the Commonwealth and juvenile may appeal a transfer decision within 10 days of the transfer hearing. Any juvenile convicted in circuit court will be treated as an adult in all future criminal cases.

    *Much of the information in this article is from The Commonwealth of Virginia, The Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. I suppose to copy and paste is lazy, cheating, and plagiarizing. All I can say is “Guilty!” But I’m in a time crunch today. Still, the information is important and I’m really hoping the text, since it’s a government agency, is in the public domain. Fingers crossed. In the meantime … wish me luck, and I hope you find the material useful. By the way, as far as I know the little guy in the top photo is not a juvenile delinquent. 

 

 

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