A Tacoma man called 911 to report the truck he had just stolen had run out of gas. But not only was he arrested, he learned not all vehicles run on the same type of fuel. Minutes later, and before troopers arrived, the suspect called 911 to report the vehicle had run out of gas. When troopers got there, they say the suspect tried to disguise himself as a City Transfer worker by wearing a fluorescent green reflector vest he found in the truck. As it turns out, the truck did not run out of gas. The suspect apparently didn't realize that the truck took diesel. He filled it up with unleaded instead and it became disabled.
Link:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34625277
Favorite Quotes
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Cellphones posing problems in courts across the Country.
Interruptions from cellphones have grown increasingly common in courts throughout the country, judges and state judicial-branch advocates say.
Aside from the noisy interruption of musical ringtones, the technology poses new challenges for judges, who must maintain courtroom décor and consider other legal issues in a world where Facebook, Twitter and cameras are now at the fingertips of many cellphone users.
A federal judge in Georgia in November banned a local newspaper reporter from posting information on Twitter from a handheld electronic device, after the man on trial objected. U.S. District Judge Clay Land ruled that the online microblogging service qualifies as "broadcasting," which is banned under federal court rules.
The technology has evolved so rapidly that many court administrators are still trying to decide what policies to enact for phone usage, and how best to use it to promote understanding of the courts, said Chris Davey, an Ohio courts spokesman.
Link:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2009-12-30-cellphones-courts_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
Aside from the noisy interruption of musical ringtones, the technology poses new challenges for judges, who must maintain courtroom décor and consider other legal issues in a world where Facebook, Twitter and cameras are now at the fingertips of many cellphone users.
A federal judge in Georgia in November banned a local newspaper reporter from posting information on Twitter from a handheld electronic device, after the man on trial objected. U.S. District Judge Clay Land ruled that the online microblogging service qualifies as "broadcasting," which is banned under federal court rules.
The technology has evolved so rapidly that many court administrators are still trying to decide what policies to enact for phone usage, and how best to use it to promote understanding of the courts, said Chris Davey, an Ohio courts spokesman.
Link:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/2009-12-30-cellphones-courts_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence.
The Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence (SWGDE) brings together organizations actively engaged in the field of digital and multimedia evidence to foster communication and cooperation as well as ensuring quality and consistency within the forensic community.
SWGDE is focused on the practice of digital evidence forensics primarily in the laboratory setting. However, we have endeavored to adopt documents that will be useful to agencies that perform these tasks in a non-traditional forensic laboratory or the field. Some of SWGDE’s earliest work explored the principles of digital forensics and developed some baseline definitions.
Link: http://www.swgde.org/
SWGDE is focused on the practice of digital evidence forensics primarily in the laboratory setting. However, we have endeavored to adopt documents that will be useful to agencies that perform these tasks in a non-traditional forensic laboratory or the field. Some of SWGDE’s earliest work explored the principles of digital forensics and developed some baseline definitions.
Link: http://www.swgde.org/
Friday, December 25, 2009
Collaborative research of corporations, watchdog website.
Crocodyl is a collaboration between nonprofit organizations such as Center for Corporate Policy, CorpWatch, Corporate Research Project, other contributing organizations and individual contributors from around the world.
For small activist community groups campaigning against Bechtel in Nevada or Barrick Gold in Papua New Guinea, attempting to track and hold global multinationals accountable for environmental or human rights abuse in their communities is a formidable endeavor. Crocodyl can help them challenge the public relations machines of big business by providing an easy-to-access snapshot of information about these companies, including an inventory of their misdeeds. Crocodyl also increases traffic flow in the reverse direction, drawing attention to information gathered by small watchdog groups working on the front lines of corporate accountability. In addition, Crocodyl is intended to be useful to researchers, journalists, concerned investors, consumers and the public at large.
Using network tools such as the Wiki, Crocodyl.org enables disparate groups and individuals to pool our knowledge about specific corporations in order to reduce the high cost of corporate research and ensure maximum efficiency in holding corporations accountable. Now professional researchers in Mumbai, India can team up with a citizen journalist in the Netherlands to track international companies not easily held accountable in one country.
Our information is divided by Issue and Industry and tracks the impact of corporations on public policy, health, sustainability, human rights, social justice, labor, and issues relating to corporate responsibility. We use our contributors' knowledge and experience of these industries and issues to inform the global conversation in other online communities of knowledge, such as Wikipedia, SourceWatch, OpenCongress.org and WiserEarth.
Links: http://www.crocodyl.org/
http://www.crocodyl.org/spiesforhire
For small activist community groups campaigning against Bechtel in Nevada or Barrick Gold in Papua New Guinea, attempting to track and hold global multinationals accountable for environmental or human rights abuse in their communities is a formidable endeavor. Crocodyl can help them challenge the public relations machines of big business by providing an easy-to-access snapshot of information about these companies, including an inventory of their misdeeds. Crocodyl also increases traffic flow in the reverse direction, drawing attention to information gathered by small watchdog groups working on the front lines of corporate accountability. In addition, Crocodyl is intended to be useful to researchers, journalists, concerned investors, consumers and the public at large.
Using network tools such as the Wiki, Crocodyl.org enables disparate groups and individuals to pool our knowledge about specific corporations in order to reduce the high cost of corporate research and ensure maximum efficiency in holding corporations accountable. Now professional researchers in Mumbai, India can team up with a citizen journalist in the Netherlands to track international companies not easily held accountable in one country.
Our information is divided by Issue and Industry and tracks the impact of corporations on public policy, health, sustainability, human rights, social justice, labor, and issues relating to corporate responsibility. We use our contributors' knowledge and experience of these industries and issues to inform the global conversation in other online communities of knowledge, such as Wikipedia, SourceWatch, OpenCongress.org and WiserEarth.
Links: http://www.crocodyl.org/
http://www.crocodyl.org/spiesforhire
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
The Innocence Project has published 27 case notes concerning wrongfully convicted people across the U. S.
The Innocence project has printed 27 cases where failed forensic science and other glaring problems have exonerated these individuals. How many wrongfully convicted people are still in prisons across the U. S.?
Link: http://www.innocenceproject.org/docs/Innocence_Network_Exonerations_2009.pdf
Link: http://www.innocenceproject.org/docs/Innocence_Network_Exonerations_2009.pdf
Friday, December 18, 2009
Free private investigator monthly podcasts.
This is a great resource for private investigators...
Link: http://www.americanprivateinvestigator.com/private-investigator-podcasts-videocasts/
Link: http://www.americanprivateinvestigator.com/private-investigator-podcasts-videocasts/
Major airline companies flying different planes across the country, what are the safety implications?
So you've booked a flight home for the holidays. The flight number on your receipt shows you're flying on one of the nation's major airlines. You check in at its terminal. You proceed to one of its gates. And when you board, the aircraft is painted with the colors and logo of the major carrier.
But if you read the fine print when you book -- or check the asterisk on your e-mailed receipt -- you could well find you're flying on a plane owned and operated by somebody else. Often, it's an obscure regional airline.
This system is known as code-sharing. Major airlines insist it presents travelers with a "seamless" experience. It also presents a truth-in-advertising problem. Imagine, for instance, how you'd feel if you bought a ticket to a Philadelphia Phillies game and, when you got to the ballpark, the Phillies' Triple A farm team, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, took the field instead.
Link:
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/12/debate-on-air-travel-our-view-when-airlines-share-codes-truthinlabeling-suffers.html?loc=interstitialskip
But if you read the fine print when you book -- or check the asterisk on your e-mailed receipt -- you could well find you're flying on a plane owned and operated by somebody else. Often, it's an obscure regional airline.
This system is known as code-sharing. Major airlines insist it presents travelers with a "seamless" experience. It also presents a truth-in-advertising problem. Imagine, for instance, how you'd feel if you bought a ticket to a Philadelphia Phillies game and, when you got to the ballpark, the Phillies' Triple A farm team, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, took the field instead.
Link:
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/12/debate-on-air-travel-our-view-when-airlines-share-codes-truthinlabeling-suffers.html?loc=interstitialskip
The New York State Police crime lab comes under scrutiny, are there more across the country?
The New York State Police’s supervision of a major crime laboratory was so poor that it overlooked evidence of pervasively shoddy forensics work, allowing an analyst to go undetected for 15 years as he falsified test results and compromised nearly one-third of his cases, an investigation by the state’s inspector general has found.
The analyst’s training was so substandard that at one point last year, investigators discovered he could not properly operate a microscope essential to performing his job, the report released on Thursday said.
And when the State Police became aware of the analyst’s misconduct, an internal review by superiors in the Albany lab deliberately omitted information implicating other analysts and suggesting systemic problems with the way evidence was handled, the report said. Instead, the review focused blame mostly on the analyst, Garry Veeder, who committed suicide in May 2008 during the internal inquiry.
“Cutting corners in a crime lab is serious and intolerable,” said the state’s inspector general, Joseph Fisch. “Forensic laboratories must adhere to the highest standards of competence, independence and integrity. Anything less undermines public confidence in our criminal justice system.”
“It is a wake-up call to the forensic community,” said Barry Scheck, director of the Innocence Project and a member of the New York State Commission on Forensic Science, which monitors all the state’s crime labs. “What’s alarming about this report and others that we’ve seen like it is it’s not so much the bad actors, it’s the fact that the system didn’t detect them earlier.”
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/nyregion/18statepolice.html?_r=3&hp
The analyst’s training was so substandard that at one point last year, investigators discovered he could not properly operate a microscope essential to performing his job, the report released on Thursday said.
And when the State Police became aware of the analyst’s misconduct, an internal review by superiors in the Albany lab deliberately omitted information implicating other analysts and suggesting systemic problems with the way evidence was handled, the report said. Instead, the review focused blame mostly on the analyst, Garry Veeder, who committed suicide in May 2008 during the internal inquiry.
“Cutting corners in a crime lab is serious and intolerable,” said the state’s inspector general, Joseph Fisch. “Forensic laboratories must adhere to the highest standards of competence, independence and integrity. Anything less undermines public confidence in our criminal justice system.”
“It is a wake-up call to the forensic community,” said Barry Scheck, director of the Innocence Project and a member of the New York State Commission on Forensic Science, which monitors all the state’s crime labs. “What’s alarming about this report and others that we’ve seen like it is it’s not so much the bad actors, it’s the fact that the system didn’t detect them earlier.”
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/nyregion/18statepolice.html?_r=3&hp
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Three dangers of posting information on social media websites.
Negative comments about your company could cost you a job.
Debt collectors use social media to glean information about debtors.
Scam artists may use personal information to set up schemes.
Andy Beal, CEO of the social media monitoring platform Trackur.com, says jobseekers should assume potential employers will do a Google search of candidates' names.
Social media profiles typically appear near the top of the search page.
Social media has become a key tool for collection agencies trying to track down debtors, says Michelle Dunn, CEO of the American Credit and Collections Association and author of "Do's and Don'ts of Online Collections Techniques."
Social media sites ask for, and often get, a large amount of personal information from users. Unfortunately, identity thieves may use that information to perpetuate scams, especially if you use personal information when creating security passwords, McCarthy says.
Link:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/3-financial-dangers-of-social-media-1.aspx
Debt collectors use social media to glean information about debtors.
Scam artists may use personal information to set up schemes.
Andy Beal, CEO of the social media monitoring platform Trackur.com, says jobseekers should assume potential employers will do a Google search of candidates' names.
Social media profiles typically appear near the top of the search page.
Social media has become a key tool for collection agencies trying to track down debtors, says Michelle Dunn, CEO of the American Credit and Collections Association and author of "Do's and Don'ts of Online Collections Techniques."
Social media sites ask for, and often get, a large amount of personal information from users. Unfortunately, identity thieves may use that information to perpetuate scams, especially if you use personal information when creating security passwords, McCarthy says.
Link:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/3-financial-dangers-of-social-media-1.aspx
Is the air toxic near hundreds of schools across the nation?
WASHINGTON — Government regulators have found high levels of manganese, a dangerous metal that can affect the brain, in the air outside a school in eastern Ohio.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials cautioned Monday that the results outside LaCroft Elementary in East Liverpool, Ohio, were still preliminary. Even so, the samples — taken this summer and fall — averaged well above the level that the government considers safe for long-term exposure.
The monitoring is part of a $2.25 million EPA effort to examine the air outside 63 schools in 22 states. The program was launched in response to a USA TODAY investigation that identified hundreds of schools across the nation where the air outside appeared to be rife with toxic industrial chemicals.
Links: http://content.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/index
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2009-12-15-epa-toxic-schools_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials cautioned Monday that the results outside LaCroft Elementary in East Liverpool, Ohio, were still preliminary. Even so, the samples — taken this summer and fall — averaged well above the level that the government considers safe for long-term exposure.
The monitoring is part of a $2.25 million EPA effort to examine the air outside 63 schools in 22 states. The program was launched in response to a USA TODAY investigation that identified hundreds of schools across the nation where the air outside appeared to be rife with toxic industrial chemicals.
Links: http://content.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/index
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2009-12-15-epa-toxic-schools_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip
Monday, December 14, 2009
DNA gaps found in databases across the country.
MADISON, Wis. --An Associated Press review found tens of thousands of DNA samples are missing from state databanks across the country because they were never taken or were lost. The missing evidence - combined with big backlogs at the nation's crime labs that result in DNA samples sitting on shelves for years without being analyzed and entered into the databanks - is preventing investigators from cracking untold numbers of cases. And some of those gaps have had tragic consequences.
"If you got missing samples, some of those people are out there raping your wives and abducting and murdering your children this week," said former Charlottesville, Va., police Capt. J.E. Harding, who helped uncover missing samples in that state during a search for a serial rapist.
Crime lab supervisors, state police and prison officials blame the failure to collect samples on new and confusing laws and a lack of coordination among the many different law enforcement agencies and institutions responsible for taking DNA.
"I would just about guarantee you every state has an issue with this," said Lisa Hurst, who tracks DNA convictions for Gordon Thomas Honeywell, an organization that lobbies on public safety and biotechnology issues.
Exactly how many samples are missing across the country is unknown. The National Institute of Justice estimated in 2003 that offenders owed up to 1 million uncollected samples and as many as 300,000 samples may be waiting for processing. The backlog grew to about 450,000 by 2008. The institute had no updated estimate of uncollected samples.
Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/crime_safety/story/240152.html
"If you got missing samples, some of those people are out there raping your wives and abducting and murdering your children this week," said former Charlottesville, Va., police Capt. J.E. Harding, who helped uncover missing samples in that state during a search for a serial rapist.
Crime lab supervisors, state police and prison officials blame the failure to collect samples on new and confusing laws and a lack of coordination among the many different law enforcement agencies and institutions responsible for taking DNA.
"I would just about guarantee you every state has an issue with this," said Lisa Hurst, who tracks DNA convictions for Gordon Thomas Honeywell, an organization that lobbies on public safety and biotechnology issues.
Exactly how many samples are missing across the country is unknown. The National Institute of Justice estimated in 2003 that offenders owed up to 1 million uncollected samples and as many as 300,000 samples may be waiting for processing. The backlog grew to about 450,000 by 2008. The institute had no updated estimate of uncollected samples.
Link:
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/crime_safety/story/240152.html
Pawnshop capital of the Northeast in Salem, NH?
SALEM, NH – Two longtime local businesses have applied for second-hand dealer licenses, bringing the number of pawnbrokers in town to 19 and adding to the town's reputation as a pawnshop capital.
Hannoush Jewelers and Ed's Heritage Tattoo Body Piercing and Jewelry Sales are the newest stores on the Route 28 strip to join what law enforcement officials are describing as a bustling trade in the down economy.
"Somehow over the last 20 years we have become a place with the tax free shopping, right over the state line, right off of the highway and we've had a lot of tattoo and pawn shops over the years," said Capt. Shawn Patten. "Right now the economy is down and more people need to pawn their stuff. They're making a lot of money and it's a thriving business, but a business that needs to be constantly monitored."
Link:
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Pawnshops%27+success+adds+to+police+work&articleId=7469916b-e307-4b64-b85b-de3da6e41dd6
Hannoush Jewelers and Ed's Heritage Tattoo Body Piercing and Jewelry Sales are the newest stores on the Route 28 strip to join what law enforcement officials are describing as a bustling trade in the down economy.
"Somehow over the last 20 years we have become a place with the tax free shopping, right over the state line, right off of the highway and we've had a lot of tattoo and pawn shops over the years," said Capt. Shawn Patten. "Right now the economy is down and more people need to pawn their stuff. They're making a lot of money and it's a thriving business, but a business that needs to be constantly monitored."
Link:
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Pawnshops%27+success+adds+to+police+work&articleId=7469916b-e307-4b64-b85b-de3da6e41dd6
A MySpace date and a burglary
Jason Barker is a hardworking St. Clair Shores guy who thought he'd try meeting a nice girl on MySpace.
Instead, as a kind 24-year-old woman from Oak Park chatted with him during their first date at a Chili's restaurant, police say her accomplice was cleaning out Barker' s Downing Street home Dec. 1.
Now charged with two counts each of home invasion and conspiracy are the woman, April Evelyn, and Vernon Henderson, 26, of Mount Clemens, according to police.
"I don’t really go out, I don’t go to the bars much," Barker said today. "Some of my friends had met people on MySpace, so I just figured I’d give it a shot."
Barker said everything seemed normal from the start, but Evelyn insisted she pick him up for the date at his home. Barker didn't think anything of her chatting on the phone and texting during dinner.
Link:
http://www.freep.com/article/20091212/NEWS02/91212009/1001/rss01
Instead, as a kind 24-year-old woman from Oak Park chatted with him during their first date at a Chili's restaurant, police say her accomplice was cleaning out Barker' s Downing Street home Dec. 1.
Now charged with two counts each of home invasion and conspiracy are the woman, April Evelyn, and Vernon Henderson, 26, of Mount Clemens, according to police.
"I don’t really go out, I don’t go to the bars much," Barker said today. "Some of my friends had met people on MySpace, so I just figured I’d give it a shot."
Barker said everything seemed normal from the start, but Evelyn insisted she pick him up for the date at his home. Barker didn't think anything of her chatting on the phone and texting during dinner.
Link:
http://www.freep.com/article/20091212/NEWS02/91212009/1001/rss01
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Are attorneys, prosecutors & judges friends on social networking websites?
Florida:
Judges and lawyers in Florida can no longer be Facebook friends.
In a recent opinion, the state’s Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee decided it was time to set limits on judicial behavior online. When judges “friend” lawyers who may appear before them, the committee said, it creates the appearance of a conflict of interest, since it “reasonably conveys to others the impression that these lawyer ‘friends’ are in a special position to influence the judge.”
In practice, of course, actual friends and Facebook friends can be as different as leather and pleather, and the committee did recognize that online friends were not the same as friends in the traditional sense. A minority of the panel would have allowed Facebook friendship, which it characterized as more like “a contact or acquaintance” without conveying the notion of “feelings of affection or personal regard.”
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/us/11judges.html?_r=2
Judges and lawyers in Florida can no longer be Facebook friends.
In a recent opinion, the state’s Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee decided it was time to set limits on judicial behavior online. When judges “friend” lawyers who may appear before them, the committee said, it creates the appearance of a conflict of interest, since it “reasonably conveys to others the impression that these lawyer ‘friends’ are in a special position to influence the judge.”
In practice, of course, actual friends and Facebook friends can be as different as leather and pleather, and the committee did recognize that online friends were not the same as friends in the traditional sense. A minority of the panel would have allowed Facebook friendship, which it characterized as more like “a contact or acquaintance” without conveying the notion of “feelings of affection or personal regard.”
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/us/11judges.html?_r=2
Friday, December 11, 2009
Was a public defender mistreated in a New Orleans, Criminal District Court?
New Orleans:
The Judiciary Commission should investigate the summary ejection of an Orleans Parish public defender from Criminal District Court during a hearing about his client, which resulted in the lawyer being roughed up by sheriff's deputies, Chief Public Defender Derwyn Bunton said this week.
Bunton said defense attorney Stuart Weg was trying to persuade Judge Benedict Willard to release a man incorrectly picked up on a warrant meant for another person. During this discussion, Willard at some point directed the sheriff deputies who serve in his courtroom to remove Weg, according to a letter Bunton sent this week to the Judiciary Commission, the arm of the Louisiana Supreme Court that investigates judges, Weg was booked by the deputies with battery, criminal trespass and resisting arrest. He suffered "bruised ribs" during the arrest, the letter stated.
Link: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2009/12/public_defender_mistreated_in.html
The Judiciary Commission should investigate the summary ejection of an Orleans Parish public defender from Criminal District Court during a hearing about his client, which resulted in the lawyer being roughed up by sheriff's deputies, Chief Public Defender Derwyn Bunton said this week.
Bunton said defense attorney Stuart Weg was trying to persuade Judge Benedict Willard to release a man incorrectly picked up on a warrant meant for another person. During this discussion, Willard at some point directed the sheriff deputies who serve in his courtroom to remove Weg, according to a letter Bunton sent this week to the Judiciary Commission, the arm of the Louisiana Supreme Court that investigates judges, Weg was booked by the deputies with battery, criminal trespass and resisting arrest. He suffered "bruised ribs" during the arrest, the letter stated.
Link: http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2009/12/public_defender_mistreated_in.html
Gangs are using Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites to post their information.
By trimming the tail off the 'Y,' the famous Major League Baseball trademark is turned into an interwoven VN, standing for Van Nuys. The gang is touting its Yankee-esque symbol on social networking Web sites and YouTube.
It's just one example of what law enforcement say is an increasing trend among gangs to use cyberspace to broaden their appeal, boast of illegal exploits, pose threats and recruit new members.
And more than ever, prosecutors are scouring sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter for potential evidence in gang-related criminal cases.
"Five years ago we would find evidence in a gang case on the Internet and say, 'Wow.' Well, there's no more 'Wow' any more. Sadly, it's much more routine," said Bruce Riordan, director of anti-gang operations for the Los Angeles City Attorney's office.
Cyberbanging, as authorities call it, can provide prosecutors with the proof they need in criminal cases to demonstrate affiliation in a street gang - something typically denied by defendants at trial.
"When the gang member has basically put his or her admission of gang membership up on the Internet, it can not only help prosecutors prove a case, it can also help us disprove a false defense," said Riordan.
Links: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_13931149
It's just one example of what law enforcement say is an increasing trend among gangs to use cyberspace to broaden their appeal, boast of illegal exploits, pose threats and recruit new members.
And more than ever, prosecutors are scouring sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter for potential evidence in gang-related criminal cases.
"Five years ago we would find evidence in a gang case on the Internet and say, 'Wow.' Well, there's no more 'Wow' any more. Sadly, it's much more routine," said Bruce Riordan, director of anti-gang operations for the Los Angeles City Attorney's office.
Cyberbanging, as authorities call it, can provide prosecutors with the proof they need in criminal cases to demonstrate affiliation in a street gang - something typically denied by defendants at trial.
"When the gang member has basically put his or her admission of gang membership up on the Internet, it can not only help prosecutors prove a case, it can also help us disprove a false defense," said Riordan.
Links: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_13931149
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Private investigators and Attorney's who need to identify an informant, should check out this website.
"Who's A Rat is a database driven website designed to assist attorneys and criminal defendants with few resources. The purpose of this website is for individuals and attorneys to post, share and request any and all information that has been made public at some point to at least 1 person of the public prior to posting it on this site pertaining to local, state and federal Informants and Law Enforcement Officers. This includes an Informant who makes his or her Informant status known to any person."
Link: http://www.whosarat.com/
Link: http://www.whosarat.com/
Sim card readers for as little as $17.00 and other equipment.
For private investigators this website offers a few interesting gadgets.
This project details how to build a Smart/SIM card reader/writer for experimentation and investigation of SIM & Smart cards.Once the reader design is built, the open source software can be used to read and write from the card. Together they can be used to backup stored SIM card data, recover deleted SMS's and phone contacts, examine the last phone numbers dialed, etc.
Link: http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=27
This project details how to build a Smart/SIM card reader/writer for experimentation and investigation of SIM & Smart cards.Once the reader design is built, the open source software can be used to read and write from the card. Together they can be used to backup stored SIM card data, recover deleted SMS's and phone contacts, examine the last phone numbers dialed, etc.
Link: http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=27
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Moving Scam watchdog website
The number one question MovingScam.com receives is "Can you recommend a good moving company?". If the answer to that question was easy, then there wouldn't be a reason for maintaining a web site called MovingScam.com (see our article "How to Find a Reputable Moving Company" for more information).
Currently moving companies are overseen by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), part of the Federal Department of Transportation (DOT). At last count the FMCSA had only nine investigators to handle all of the thousands of complaints against moving companies each year. What does that mean for consumers? It means this:
Most complaints against movers are overlooked and the consumer becomes a statistic while no action is ever taken against the moving company.
When Congress dissolved the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1995, they also removed the authority from the FMCSA to step in on a consumer's behalf if they are taken advantage of by a moving company. In other words, they don't have the authority to help you even if they want to.
If an investigation does occur, it takes months if not years for the FMCSA to, yes, get this... Fine the moving company.
The scam moving companies get away with not paying the fines and if they did, the consumers don't see a dime of their money back. The money from the moving company's fines go to pay for highway improvements!
There are in fact laws governing moving moving companies, but the moving industry is unique in having special privileges and protections that no other industry could even imagine enjoying.
Link: http://www.movingscam.com/
Currently moving companies are overseen by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), part of the Federal Department of Transportation (DOT). At last count the FMCSA had only nine investigators to handle all of the thousands of complaints against moving companies each year. What does that mean for consumers? It means this:
Most complaints against movers are overlooked and the consumer becomes a statistic while no action is ever taken against the moving company.
When Congress dissolved the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in 1995, they also removed the authority from the FMCSA to step in on a consumer's behalf if they are taken advantage of by a moving company. In other words, they don't have the authority to help you even if they want to.
If an investigation does occur, it takes months if not years for the FMCSA to, yes, get this... Fine the moving company.
The scam moving companies get away with not paying the fines and if they did, the consumers don't see a dime of their money back. The money from the moving company's fines go to pay for highway improvements!
There are in fact laws governing moving moving companies, but the moving industry is unique in having special privileges and protections that no other industry could even imagine enjoying.
Link: http://www.movingscam.com/
Phoenix, AZ: A dentention officer, reports to jail after defying a Judge's order.
Maricopa County Detention Officer Adam Stoddard turned himself in to jail Tuesday night, according to his attorney Thomas Liddy.
Stoddard was ordered to jail for disobeying a judge's order to apologize for taking an attorney's papers. Courtroom surveillance video showed Stoddard removing handwritten notes from attorney Joanne Cuccia’s files during a hearing.
Stoddard claimed he did it for security reasons, but a judge agreed with Cuccia's claim that it made her look like she was smuggling contraband into the courtroom and ruined her reputation.
The judge ordered Stoddard to publicly apologize to Cuccia Monday night, but when he refused, he was ordered to go to jail for defying the judge’s order.
Link: http://www.kpho.com/news/21778683/detail.html
Stoddard was ordered to jail for disobeying a judge's order to apologize for taking an attorney's papers. Courtroom surveillance video showed Stoddard removing handwritten notes from attorney Joanne Cuccia’s files during a hearing.
Stoddard claimed he did it for security reasons, but a judge agreed with Cuccia's claim that it made her look like she was smuggling contraband into the courtroom and ruined her reputation.
The judge ordered Stoddard to publicly apologize to Cuccia Monday night, but when he refused, he was ordered to go to jail for defying the judge’s order.
Link: http://www.kpho.com/news/21778683/detail.html
MA state corrections budget on the rise.
Spending on correction agencies in Massachusetts has exploded in the past decade despite only a modest increase in the number of people incarcerated and now accounts for a bigger chunk of the state budget than each of the departments that oversee higher education, social services, and public health, according to a new study.
The study by the Boston Foundation says the more than $1.2 billion spent this year on correction stems largely from a decades-old, lock-’em-up approach that has put about 11,000 people in state prisons and about 14,000 people in county jails, resulting in mammoth labor and facility costs.
Spending on prisons, jails, probation, and parole exceeds every form of state spending this year except money funneled to public elementary and secondary schools and to communities as local aid, according to the 33-page study, which will be made public today. Spending on probation alone has soared 163 percent in the past 10 years.
Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/12/03/state_correction_budget_is_soaring_new_study_says/
Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/12/03/state_correction_budget_is_soaring_new_study_says/
The study by the Boston Foundation says the more than $1.2 billion spent this year on correction stems largely from a decades-old, lock-’em-up approach that has put about 11,000 people in state prisons and about 14,000 people in county jails, resulting in mammoth labor and facility costs.
Spending on prisons, jails, probation, and parole exceeds every form of state spending this year except money funneled to public elementary and secondary schools and to communities as local aid, according to the 33-page study, which will be made public today. Spending on probation alone has soared 163 percent in the past 10 years.
Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/12/03/state_correction_budget_is_soaring_new_study_says/
Link:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/12/03/state_correction_budget_is_soaring_new_study_says/
How did Kennethe Howe die? Attorney Frances A. King claims the police beat a suspect to death.
The lawyer for the family of the Worcester man who died in police custody last week believes state troopers “beat him to death” and expects to meet with Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett next week.
“I saw Kenneth’s body yesterday, and this man was beaten to death,” Boston lawyer Frances A. King said, referring to Kenneth R. Howe. “We still believe at this time the DA’s office will hold the responsible officers accountable - and we’re looking for criminal charges.”
Howe, a 45-year-old carpenter and father of three, was a passenger in a truck that was stopped at a sobriety checkpoint in North Andover on Nov. 25. According to authorities and a witness, he had a joint in his hand. According to the DA, he struck a trooper after being asked to exit the vehicle, fled, was apprehended after a struggle, charged with assault and battery on a police officer and died after collapsing at state police headquarters in Andover
Link:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1216214&srvc=news&position=2
“I saw Kenneth’s body yesterday, and this man was beaten to death,” Boston lawyer Frances A. King said, referring to Kenneth R. Howe. “We still believe at this time the DA’s office will hold the responsible officers accountable - and we’re looking for criminal charges.”
Howe, a 45-year-old carpenter and father of three, was a passenger in a truck that was stopped at a sobriety checkpoint in North Andover on Nov. 25. According to authorities and a witness, he had a joint in his hand. According to the DA, he struck a trooper after being asked to exit the vehicle, fled, was apprehended after a struggle, charged with assault and battery on a police officer and died after collapsing at state police headquarters in Andover
Link:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1216214&srvc=news&position=2
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)