On Q Professional Investigations

City Clerk Susana Mendoza is investigating claims that the city’s 2012-13 vehicle sticker — intended for every windshield in the city — includes symbols honoring the gang that Police Supt. Garry McCarthy vowed to destroy.

The city sticker design — which includes the city’s skyline inside a heart, with hands pointing up towards a police hat, fire department helmet and paramedic symbol — was advertised as honoring Chicago’s emergency responders.

But allegations surfaced online Tuesday on a blog popular with Chicago Police officers that it in fact pays respect to the Maniac Latin Disciples, the street gang that Supt. McCarthy made public enemy number one following the shooting of little girls in June.

The heart is a symbol of the MLD’s, and it is alleged on the blog that the hands on the sticker are making the “pitchfork” hand symbol that MLD gang members use to identify themselves.

Herbert Pulgar, the 15-year-old Lawrence Hall Youth Services student who designed the sticker, has photos of youths throwing the sign on his Facebook page, and of himself in a red bandana — the MLD’s color.

The Facebook page, which also features a photo of Pulgar posing with the winning sticker design, includes a long section of comments about the photo with people showing gang signs. One commenter asks: “what u doing throwing up the fork ha what are u a gangbanger.”

Speaking Tuesday evening, Mendoza said she was “shocked” at the allegations about the sticker, which came “just days before we were about to print the stickers.” The city sells about 1.2 million stickers each year.

“We’re looking into it,” she said “We hope it’s not true.”

“We wanted something that would honor first responders and if that is not the case and it is something that disrespects the police, then, clearly, I don’t think that should be rewarded.”

Pulgar could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

Jill Watson, a spokesman for Lawrence Hall Youth Services, which cares for at-risk students, defended the freshman, saying “somebody recognized his talent and his beautiful artwork and it changed his life,” Watson said. “The sticker isn’t gang-related — it’s a beautiful piece of art.”

Ten police officers were on the committee that selected Pulgar’s work as a finalist for the city sticker, Watson said.

Mendoza said her family left a crime-ridden neighborhood because of the Latin Kings street gang when she was 8. “Hard working families should not have to move neighborhoods to get away from violence,” she said. “It’s a tragedy.”

Chicago Police Spokeswoman Melissa Stratton said the department was notified of the controversy.

“This matter has been brought to our attention and we are looking into it,” she said.

Jody Weis, president of the Chicago Crime Commission, which just published a book on Chicago gangs, told WGN-TV the hands in the student’s sticker drawing are “pretty consistent with gang signs.”

Around 18,000 Chicagoans voted for a city sticker design late last year. Pulgar’s was one of several potential sticker designs by Chicago students supplied to the Sun-Times by the city. The Sun-Times published the designs, encouraging people to vote for a winner on the city clerk’s website or in person at the city clerk’s office.

When he won the sticker contest last month, Pulgar praised first responders.

“Those people did a lot of things for me and my family,” a thrilled Herbert said last month.

He “nearly died” after he was severely burned when a candle set fire to his clothes as a young boy, he said at the time. “They’re Chicago’s heroes.”

Herbert said last month that his mom came up with the idea for the heart and he decided to incorporate the hands after noticing that they were featured in several previous winners.

When he found out he’d beaten 240 entrants to win, “I started screaming — I was so happy!” he said.

He also won a $1,000 savings bond.

Read more

WASHINGTON — The Homeland Security Department has appointed a public advocate to handle complaints and questions about its immigration enforcement policies.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton said Monday that senior ICE adviser Andrew Lorenzen-Strait will lead the effort.

Lorenzen-Strait’s appointment was to be announced Tuesday.

Morton said the position was created to ensure that the public and immigration advocates understand various changes being made within the department and what the changes mean for those immigrants being jailed by immigration authorities or those facing deportation. Lorenzen-Strait will also address concerns about ICE enforcement involving U.S. citizens.

“We have undertaken a significant number of reforms from a policy perspective and we want to make sure they are evenly understood in the public and advocacy communities,” Morton said.

Lorenzen-Strait, a lawyer who has been an ICE adviser since 2008, said he sees his new job as being the facilitator “of a two-way dialogue.” He will report to Gary Mead, ICE’s head of enforcement and removal operations.

In recent months DHS has announced changes in the way authorities determine which illegal immigrants are deported.

In June, Morton outlined when agents and immigration prosecutors could use discretion in opting not to pursue a deportation case. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano went a step further in August when she announced the review of roughly 300,000 pending deportation cases as part of the department’s efforts to focus its resources on deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records, repeat immigration law offenders and those who pose a public safety or national security threat.

After a review of cases pending in Baltimore and Denver, DHS officials earlier this year recommended closing more than 1,600 deportation cases involving non-criminal illegal immigrants. The review is ongoing in other parts of the country.

Morton said Lorenzen-Strait will be responsible for helping the public understand the prosecutorial discretion policy and other changes as well as addressing complaints about the changes.

Read more

At what point are you crossing the line when you invade a partner’s privacy?

When Patricia Masterson’s boyfriend broke into her email account in search of evidence that she had been cheating, she was deeply offended by the violation of her privacy. The fact that she had, indeed, been cheating hardly seemed like a good excuse.

She changed her tune 10 years later, when, married and pregnant, Masterson innocently spotted a text message on her husband’s cellphone from a woman regarding a baby. Her husband said it must have been sent to him by mistake, and Masterson, sensitive to privacy, left it alone — until a few months later, when the woman contacted Masterson through Facebook to reveal she’d recently given birth to her husband’s child.

“I became a snooper,” said Masterson, now 39, a Defense Department contractor living in northern Virginia. She tore through cellphone records and installed software to recover deleted emails, gathering all the details she could. “It was so not me; up until that point I had believed in absolute privacy.”

When, if ever, is it OK to invade a romantic partner’s privacy? Masterson and others who have perpetrated or suffered betrayal (or both) say it’s often the only way to confirm suspicions of infidelity when all else fails.

But it can take much less for people to snoop.

Thirty-three percent of dating couples and 37 percent of spouses — slightly more women than men — say they have checked their partner’s email or call history on the sly, according to a survey last year by the gadget shopping site Retrevo.com, which queried more than 1,000 people online. Among those under 25, almost half reported snooping. Just 9 percent discovered evidence of cheating.

Retrevo.com spokeswoman Jennifer Jacobson said she doesn’t think young couples are less trusting. “It’s just that technology has made everyone’s communications highly accessible and people probably don’t see it as a violation of trust, because of how easy it is to do.”

Larry Rosen, author of “iDisorder: Understanding Our Obsession With Technology and Overcoming Its Hold on Us” (Palgrave Macmillan), said millennials raised on a culture of Facebook stalking view privacy differently from baby boomers or Gen Xers (roughly people over 35).

“For older people, the lines are clear: Private is private, public is public,” said Rosen, a research psychologist and professor at California State University at Dominguez Hills. “For younger people it’s much more murky.”

Flirting with fire

If technology has made it easier to spy, it has also made it easier to cheat, muddying what is considered appropriate relationships. Facebook invites flirting with exes, and some people never know whom their partner is texting. Is that OK? Depends on the couple. But it can get out of hand.

The ping of a saucy text message stimulates the brain’s pleasure centers, as does cocaine, and people want more, Rosen said.

He recommends people abide by a five-minute “e-waiting period” before sending an electronic communication so that they can be more clear-headed about whether it’s a good idea.

“It’s an issue of higher-level thinking versus lower-order responding,” Rosen said. “We have turned into salivating dogs, and we have to back off a bit.”

Read more

It was a night of chaos at an over-crowded West Side club.

Before police were able to clear Brick’s Sports Bar and Grill, shots rang out, a fight erupted in the parking lot, a woman got hit by a car, and a man who fired more shots drove off, hitting a building and a parked car, authorities said. No major injuries were reported.

Police said they were called to the club at 4422 West Madison St. about 1 a.m. after someone reported overcrowding. When officers got there the doors were locked and the people inside wouldn’t let them in, according to a police report.

The officers were eventually admitted and counted at least 270 people in a building with a legal limit of only 99, police said. Shots then rang out inside the club, and a group of apparently intoxicated women began fighting outside, police said.

One of the women tried to drive away but struck several parked cars and hit another woman involved in the fight, police said. She was arrested for driving under the influence. The woman hit by the car was taken to Stroger Hospital and was listed in good condition, police said.

While the fight was going on, a man outside the club fired a handgun, jumped in his car and took off down an alley, police said. The driver hit a building and a parked car before running away, according to the report. The car was found in the alley behind South Kostner Avenue near the club.

A handgun was found inside, but the driver was still at large this morning, police said.

Officers from three West Side police districts, along with specialty units, responded to the scene after the first officers on the scene radioed an emergency request for additional officers, police said.

The holder of the club’s license, Bettie Johnson, 56, was charged with reckless conduct and license violations, police said.

Johnson, of the 4100 block of West Madison Street, is listed in city records as the owner and secretary of Bricks.

As FBI and Scotland Yard investigators recently plotted out a strategy for tracking suspects linked to Anonymous, little did they know that members of the group were eavesdropping on their conference call and recording their plans.

The online vigilante group has released a 17-minute clip of a Jan. 17 conference call between investigators discussing evidence gathered against members of the group as well as upcoming plans for arrests. The group also released an e-mail sent out by an FBI agent to law enforcement agents around the world with a phone number and password for accessing the conference call.

The FBI has confirmed to the Associated Press that the recording is authentic.

FBI Conference Call Being Hacked

AnonymousIRC, a Twitter account purporting to be connected to the group, sent out a tweet on Friday with a link to an audio recording of the call, followed later by a message that read, “The FBI might be curious how we’re able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now.”

The call, between participants named Stewart and Bruce from Scotland Yard and the Los Angeles office of the FBI, began with the callers laughing over an inside joke about McDonald’s and cheese, then moved on to a discussion about a cyberconference in Sheffield. A few minutes later another agent from FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., joined in.

At that point, the participants began talking about Ryan Cleary and Jake Davis, two U.K. suspects linked to Anonymous. The investigators also discussed setting back arrests connected to two suspects known online as Tflow and Kayla. On the call the agents appeared to give the real names of these suspects, but Anonymous bleeped them out. The U.K. investigator notes that local authorities have made a secret application to a judge to request a delay in proceedings to assist the FBI.

“We’ve set back the further arrests of Kayla and Tflow, that being [redacted] and [redacted], until we know what’s happening,” the U.K. investigator said. “We’ve got our prosecution counsel making an application in chambers, without defense knowing, to seek a way to try and factor some time in that won’t look suspicious.”

“How much time do you think is reasonable?” the U.S. caller asked.

“I’ve gone and said eight weeks, if they come back and say they’ll only give us six weeks I think it still helps you guys out…,” was the reply. “We have got Ryan Cleary’s indecent images, which have been found partly by our guys and partly by the USAF team who looked at his hard drive. So what we’re going to propose is that they get dealt with first, historically they’re the older offenses, and then that would take six to eight weeks before we then rolled onto the second half of that. But it’s down to the trial judge.”

The FBI agent thanked the Yard investigator for being flexible and helping out U.S. authorities.

“Hey, we’re here to help,” the Yard investigator responded. “We’ve cocked things up in the past, we know that. It gives us more time to examine the chat logs in any event, so it’s not that much of a hardship.”

The discussion then turned to another 15-year-old suspect who used the online moniker Tehwongz, and who was apparently arrested in the U.K. before Christmas for DDoSing his school and allegedly defacing the website of a Manchester-based credit union. The U.K. agent explained that the hacker wrote a statement revealing how he became a hacker and allegedly asserting that he was responsible for the hack of the gaming site Steam, which suffered a breach last year.

The FBI investigator noted that the agency’s Baltimore office was looking into the compromise and would be interested in seeing the hacker’s statement.

“He’s just a pain in the bum,” the Yard investigator said in the call, adding that investigators had a copy of the suspect’s hard drive and would look at prosecuting him for the Steam hack if they can make evidence against him.

Read more

I was startled to read that in 2010 the United States was ranked sixth in the world for “kidnapping-for-ransom” crimes according to the available statistics (after Columbia, Italy, Lebanon, Peru, and the Philippines). In June 2010, Senator John McCain stated that Phoenix, Arizona was the “Kidnapping Capital of America.” With 370 cases in 2010, Phoenix is ranked second in the world only to Mexico City. The increasing frequency of these types of headlines caused me to investigate kidnapping further to better understand the overall risks of abduction, how to avoid being kidnapped and what to do if being held captive for any period of time.

What I have come to learn is that kidnapping is a growing global epidemic with no realistic solution.

By definition kidnapping is “the taking away or transportation of a person against the person’s will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority.” This may be done for ransom or in furtherance of another crime, or in connection with a child custody dispute. Non-custodial parent abductions of children were, by far, the number one type of kidnapping occurring across the globe in 2010 and often does not get included in the most common statistical reporting of abductions.

Kidnapping for ransom is certainly a common occurrence in many parts of the world today (especially in Latin America) and certain countries are often described as the “Kidnapping Capital of the World.” In 2010, Mexico clearly earned the title but very few abductions were for financial gain; it is estimated that over 90% of the kidnappings in Mexico were due to the wars being fought among and between the various drug cartels and the Mexican government. Statistically, nearly all of the victims in Mexico were killed. In 2007, the title “Kidnapping Capital of the World” belonged to Iraq with possibly 1,500 foreigners kidnapped; estimates break that number almost in half between kidnapping for ransom and kidnapping for ideological purposes. In 2004, Mexico held the title and in 2001, it was Colombia.

How does a kidnapper choose his victim?

Kidnappers tend to develop a profile of their likely target before making an abduction based upon their overall goals, which usually falls into one of three categories: financial gain, extremism or emotional disturbance.

If a kidnapper is going to take a hostage for ransom, he will target the victim based upon an outward appearance of wealth or information given to him from someone who knows the victim intimately, such as a household employee, a bank teller, a waitress at the victim’s favorite restaurant or someone else that suspects that the victim has a lot of cash.

Have you ever inadvertently “flashed” a lot of cash while digging through your wallet or purse to pay for something at the local market? If you are a regular, that sort of gossip tends to get a lot of attention from minimum wage workers and the dollar amounts often gets blown out of proportion the more times the “story of your wealth” gets told!

The good news is that hostage-for-ransom victims tend to survive their ordeal. Avoid carrying large amounts of cash or wearing expensive jewelry. Be discrete about how much money you have and where you keep it. Hire domestic employees carefully and do not give your trust to them easily.

Zealots, extremists and terrorists tend to target their victims based upon such things as nationality, ethnicity, religion, social status or organizational affiliation (i.e. employees of a specific company or political party might be targeted). Unfortunately, because the primary aim of these types of abductions is to create sensationalism, be visible or to make a statement, the percentage of hostages that are killed can be quite high.

Strong emotion and mental defect also play a large part in the overall number of kidnappings. The kidnapping of a child by a non-custodial parent or other adult is usually based upon an emotion upheaval created when the kidnapper feels that the child’s welfare and best interests are at risk or that the child will be gone completely from their lives. Non-custodial parent kidnappings also occur out of spite or revenge. People take hostages during periods of rage and profound loss, too. One classic example is that of a man taking an ex-lover hostage because he is emotionally unable to let go. The feeling of loss festers into the irrational thought that he might be able to convince the victim to reconsider resuming their relationship… if she could just be made to listen. Gender-based kidnappings occur as well; the mentally disturbed who have sexual deviancies often target people just because they are male or female.

There really is nothing one can do to avoid the attention of a would-be kidnapper who is either an extremist or otherwise mentally disturbed. Apply standard personal safety precautions to lessen the chances of becoming a victim; situational awareness is of paramount importance.

Tips for avoiding being kidnapped.

It is critical that you pay attention to your surroundings and maintained a sense of privacy.

If you are a tourist or business traveler dress like the locals. Blending in helps avoid the attention of people who are looking for obvious or lucrative targets. Avoid wearing extravagant jewelry, expensive clothing, company logoed apparel and religious garb that identifies a specific faith if it is not appropriate for your surroundings. Don’t wear clothing with your name on it – the same applies to your children. Keep your itinerary and travel plans to yourself!

Are you being watched or followed? Does it appear that you are about to be approached by a stranger or group of strangers? People who are surveilling or following others tend to fixate on their target, which causes them to stare. Personally, I like to spin around really quickly every so often while I am walking just to see who instantly averts their eyes. Likewise, when I am driving I make a random series of turns or make two abrupt u-turns to see if I am being tailed.

Targets are especially vulnerable while travelling. An abductor tends to surveil his victim while planning his attack because he is looking for a weakness in the victim’s routine. People get comfortable and settle into a predictable pattern of daily activities from which the abductor can study and choose when and where he will have an advantage over the target and have the least risk of being caught in the act. The best defense against becoming a victim to your own routine is to consciously change your routine every day: Vary the times that you leave and return home. Use several different routes during your daily travels. If you travel by bus, try and limit the amount of time you are waiting at bus stops and only use stops that are well-used during the times you are typically waiting there. Only use clearly-marked and licensed taxis and never except a ride from a stranger.

If you are driving a personal vehicle make sure that it is well-maintained and has plenty of fuel; the last thing you want to have happen is to run out of fuel at night! You don’t want to become a “target of opportunity” because you are helpless on the side of the road. Keep your car doors locked and a mobile phone where you can get to it quickly in an emergency. Don’t be afraid to call for help if you are stranded, uncomfortable or need any type of assistance.

Carry and use a “GPS-aware” mobile phone. It is absolutely possible to locate your phone through a process of pinging or triangulation. Many fugitives and abducted children have been recovered through the use of cell phone pinging by various State and Federal law enforcement agencies.

If you have a flat tire or are in an automobile collision (we don’t call them “accidents” because the collision could have been planned) and your vehicle is still operable drive to the nearest public place before exchanging information with the driver. Always call the authorities who are responsible for investigating collisions whether or not the impact felt “minor” if it is dark or you are unfamiliar of with your surroundings. One important consideration to take into account about your mobile phone: if it is resting untethered on your car’s dash or center console when you are in a vehicle collision the phone will probably be thrown about the car’s interior and can be nearly impossible to find, especially if you are disoriented, injured or the car is badly damaged.

Self-defense classes, personal safety equipment and concealed firearms (where legal) really can make a difference!

Most importantly, darkness and isolation are tools that abductors leverage to their best advantage! Concealment offers him the ability to catch a victim off-guard with very little chance of interference from bystanders. If you must be alone, remain in well-lit places with a lot of people around.

What to do if you are being abducted:

Fight your abductors like your life depends on it and make as much of a commotion for as long as you are able. Oftentimes an attacker will give up if there is a perceived risk that the attacker might be hurt or caught during the process or if you are more trouble than you are worth. The longer you can drag out the instance of being abducted, the better your odds become of avoiding the eventuality of the attacker’s success. If you believe that you are the victim of a hate crime, a target of an extremist or are being moved to facilitate a violent sexual act against you, then you MUST fight with everything you’ve got. Your chances of survival after being moved under these circumstances are almost zero percent. Personally, I would rather die at that moment and location where I had a chance of survival than be drug away where I do not; the probability of an excruciatingly painful death is almost certain, too.

Screaming “Fire!” is better than screaming an unintelligible sentence like, “Help, I’m being kidnapped!” and do it in the language spoken by likely bystanders or others who may hear you; for example, you’ll want to know the correct words or phrases in Spanish if you are in Latin or Central America. Learn and practice those words and phrases ahead of time.

If you are subdued and can no longer fight or scream, stop struggling and calm down. You need to be able to think rationally and strategically. You must clear your head of the clouding effects of adrenaline. If you believe that you are the victim of a hostage-for-ransom scheme, then work with them through negotiations and giving them points of contact. People often die while trying to escape; the longer you remain in captivity the better chance you have of eventually being freed or rescued.

Be overly courteous to your abductors and mind your manners! Don’t argue with, complain to, or threaten your captors. Listen to them when they speak and follow their instructions if you are not in imminent danger.

If your abductors let you speak, do so in a gentle voice. Project humility and gain empathy; talk with your captors in a manner that might suggest you understand their circumstances and the reasons that led them to target you because “you are human and face difficult situations as well.” Find commonality, sports, children, religion, shared experiences, etc., and convince them that there is no real reason to hurt you physically. If you are unclear as to your captor’s motive for taking you, then you might suggest that you are worth more alive than dead to buy you some time.

If you learn the abductor’s name, your location or potential plans DO NOT use their name or talk about them unless they shared that information with you directly. There is no need to make the situation worse because you “know too much.”

Do not tell your captors anything that will endanger the lives of others or that can be used against you to further their crime.

Most importantly, retain your sense of dignity and self-worth. Maintain your hygiene the best you are able. Find religion and pray regularly; studies have shown that people who pray regularly and thoughtfully have higher confidence levels, elevated endorphin and serotonin levels within the body and are able to deal with traumatic experiences more effectively. P.O.W.s have often related that prayer emboldened their spirit and maintained their will to live.

Read more