On Q Professional Investigations

NEW ORLEANS — A gunman approached a couple in the 500 block of Dumaine Street and attempted to rob them Wednesday morning.

It’s a crime that might have gone unsolved before, but thanks to Safe Cam 8, police know a nearby businesses’ surveillance camera captured the entire thing.

“Very quickly the detective are on the case and looking for video,” said Bob Simms, chairman of the French Quarter Management District’s Security Task Force. “We found video from one of the businesses on the 500 block and she just sent that to the detectives.”

The business and its cameras are one of 1,300 cameras registered on Safe Cam 8, a database used by police to keep track of all the privately-owned and operated cameras in the French Quarter and the CBD.

“It’s very rewarding, but I am very surprised at how quickly it has taken off,” Simms said. “People in the 8th District want to be a part of making the French Quarter a safer place.

” Because of its success, police are now launching a city-wide version of the crime-fighting tool.

“Our district supervisors or our district investigations supervisors and detectives can now just go to one database and say show me anything in the 900 block of Royal Street, and it will give them a visual as well as well as the contact information and the detectives will immediately start trying to contact people,” said NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas.

Serpas said their new citywide database Safe Cam NOLD will be rolled right into the Safe Cam 8 program so detectives will knows where cameras are up throughout the city.

But the NOPD stressed one important point, and one that could be a deterrent for residents if they’re don’t with how Safe Cam NOLA works.

“We are not tunneling in in anyway,” he said. “We are not using the Internet in any way to look at people’s videos or house any of that data. This information stays on their personal camera systems in their homes and business.”

The Safe Cam NOLA website went live Wednesday. So if residents or businesses have surveillance cameras installed, they can start registering their cameras immediately.

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Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur heading toward Beijing on the morning of March 8, but lost contact with air traffic control an hour later and disappeared off the radar.

No trace of the plane and the 239 people on board have been found and few details about what could have happened to the plane have been released.

Here’s what we know now as of now about the investigation into missing flight MH370.

“Indications” Send Searchers into Indian Ocean

The U.S. moved the USS Kidd into an area where the Indian Ocean and the Andaman Sea merge because there are “indications” the plane may have crashed into the water there, a senior official told ABC News. That is hundreds of miles to the west of flight MH370′s flight path, which was northeast towards Beijing.

The Pentagon official said the U.S. didn’t have detailed information about why they think it went into the Indian Ocean, but that it may have flown four to five hours after its last contact with radar and gone into the sea there.

Malaysian officials admit that the plane could have continued to fly for several hours after it dropped off the radar.

They dismissed as “inaccurate” a Wall Street Journal report that the plane’s Rolls Royce engine sent signals after radar lost contact. The engines, which are designed to transmit bursts of data to ground during the flight, did not convey any meaningful data about the plane’s location or disappearance, they said.

Malaysia, which continues to be the lead country investigating the disappearance, said that the last concrete data they have from the plane is a radar contact at 1:07 a.m. local time.

Chinese satellite images that were thought to show possible plane wreckage led to a search that came up empty.

The Search Expands:

The search has been expanded again, now into the Andaman Sea and the northern edge of the Indian Ocean.

Malaysia has asked India for help in searching for radar contacts with the plane and for searching for the plane.

More than 40 ships and 39 aircraft from 12 countries are scanning the Straits of Malacca, the Andaman Sea and the South China Sea for signs of the plane but have not found any debris yet.

The search has been broadened to encompass 27,000 square nautical miles, an area roughly the size of Indiana.
The Timeline

Flight MH370 departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia, headed for Beijing, China, around 12:41 a.m. local time on Saturday. It showed up on radar two minutes later.

The last reading from MH370′s transponder was at 1:21 a.m. The last sighting of the plane on radar was at 1:30 a.m. At the time the plane was on its route over the South China Sea heading for the southern tip of Vietnam. An air traffic controller told the plane’s captain he was about to be handed over to air traffic control out of Ho Chi Minh City. The pilot responded, “All right, good night.” The pilot never made contact with air traffic control in Ho Chi Minh City.

Authorities have discovered that a flight showed up on the country’s military defense radar at 2:15 a.m. local time in the Straits of Malacca, hundreds of miles due west of their last contact point and far from its route to Beijing. They said today that contact could possibly have been MH370.

The military radar also showed something make a turn back, meaning some aircraft reversing course, but they are not sure whether it was flight MH370. Because of the uncertain radar data, they are not sure of the plane’s last position.

The Investigation

Aviation experts say there are two possible causes of the disappearance: mechanical error or human error on board, which could include an electrical outage, a fire, a hijacking or bomb, and many other reasons. There is no hard evidence one way or another at his point, they say.

The transponders on board the plane that transmit signal’s about the plane’s location were somehow disabled or turned off, according to authorities.

Investigators are looking at how and why they transponders were not functioning.

Authorities have not ruled out terrorism but have found no evidence of it.

The Passengers

Four passengers who were waiting on the stand-by list to board flight MH370 were given seats on the plane after four ticketed passengers did not show up for the flight.

239 people were on board the flight, made up of 227 passengers (including one infant and one toddler) and 12 crew members.

Three Americans, including two children, are among the missing. Philip Wood, 50, an IBM executive, had just come from Texas where he was visiting family on his way to Beijing.

Fourteen nationalities were on board, though 152 passengers were Chinese.

Twenty passengers on the plane worked for the Austin, Texas, company Freescale Semiconductor. Another passenger, Chng Mei Ling, worked as an engineer for the Pennsylvania company Flexsys America LP.

Pilot Zahari Ahmad Shah, 53, was a veteran pilot who joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981 and had over 18,000 flying hours.
Fake Passports Used By Two Passengers

Investigators discovered that two passengers used stolen passports, one from Austria and one from Italy, to board the flight.

Interpol identified the two as Iranians Seyed Mohammad Reza Delavar, 29, and Pouria Nourmohammadi, 18, and said they have no known links to militant groups, downplaying the possibility they were terrorists.

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Crashing websites and overwhelming data centres, a new generation of cyber attacks is costing millions and straining the structure of the Internet.

While some attackers are diehard activists, criminal gangs or nation states looking for a covert way to hit enemies, others are just teenage hackers looking for kicks.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks have always been among the most common on the Internet, using hijacked and virus-infected computers to target websites until they can no longer cope with the scale of data requested, but recent weeks have seen a string of particularly serious attacks.

On Feb. 10, internet security firm Cloudflare says it protected one of its customers from what might be the largest DDoS documented so far.

At its height, the near 400 gigabyte per second (gbps) assault was about 30 percent larger than the largest attack documented in 2013, an attempt to knock down antispam website Spamhaus, which is also protected by Cloudflare.

The following day, a DDoS attack on virtual currency Bitcoin briefly took down its ability to process payments.

On Feb. 20, Internet registration firm Namecheap said it was temporarily overwhelmed by a simultaneous attack on 300 of the websites it registers, and bit.ly, which creates shortened addresses for websites like Twitter, says it was also knocked out briefly in February.

In a dramatic case of extortion, social networking site Meetup.com said on Monday it was fighting a sustained battle against hackers who brought down the site for several days and were demanding $300 to stop. It would not pay, Meetup CEO Scott Heiferman told Reuters.

DDoS attacks were at the heart of attacks blamed on Russian hackers against Estonia in 2007 and Georgia during its brief war with Russia in 2008. It is unclear if they played a role in the current stand-off between Moscow and Ukraine in which communications were disrupted and at least one major government website knocked out for up to 72 hours.

A report this month by security firm Prolexic said attacks were up 32 percent in 2013, and a December study by the cyber-security-focused Ponemon Institute showed them now responsible for 18 percent of outages at U.S.-based data centres From just 2 percent in 2010.

The average cost of a single outage was $630,000, it said.

“It’s really a game of cat and mouse,” said Jag Bains, chief technology officer of Seattle-based DOSarrest, a firm that helps government and private-sector clients protect their sites.

“I’d like to say we are ahead, but I just don’t think it’s true.”

As well as growing in volume, he said attacks were becoming much more sophisticated in targeting the most vulnerable parts of websites, making even a small attack much more effective.

The aims of attackers include extortion, political activism, providing distraction from data theft and, for “hobbyist” hackers, just testing and showcasing their skills, security experts say.

Other victims in recent months have included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Royal Bank of Scotland and several major U.S. banks, which analysts believe were targeted by Iran in response to sanctions. Iran denies the charge.

HIJACKING PRINTERS, SMARTPHONES

Many attacks, however, appear to be homegrown. The most popular point of origin for DDoS attacks in the last three months of 2013, Prolexic said, appeared to be the United States, followed by China, Thailand, Britain and South Korea.

As well as hijacking computers, Prolexic said attackers are increasingly targeting smartphones, particularly those using Google’s Android operating system, which by the third quarter of 2013 accounted for more than 80 percent of new phones.

Even wireless printers, experts say, have sometimes been co-opted into attacks, packed together in botnet groups. That, they warn, can put previously unprecedented cyber firepower in the hands of relatively unskilled hackers, who increasingly include teenagers.

Last year, British police arrested a 16-year-old as part of their investigations into the attack on Spamhaus, while German police arrested an 18-year-old after a DDoS attack paralysed the Saxony government website.

DDoSarrest says some of the most recent attacks it has dealt with were on U.S. universities and largely blamed on students showing off or protesting against high tuition fees.

The sheer volume of attacks means many perpetrators are never traced, and some computer security experts complain law-enforcement authorities remain reluctant to prosecute the youngest offenders.

Until recently, DDoS attacks were seen less of a threat than attempts to steal customer data or intellectual property. That, however, is changing fast.

SLOWING THE INTERNET

Last year’s Spamhaus attack was described by some as slowing the entire global Internet, and most experts agree the largest attacks can slow access across entire regions. Cloudflare says there were anecdotal reports of slowness in Europe during the latest attack.

Crashing data centres can wreak havoc with other services based there, including phone systems and vital industrial facilities.

The Ponemon report showed DDoS attacks are now the third largest cause of outages after power system failure and human error, outstripping traditional causes such as weather events.

Even if attacks do not succeed, the cost of mitigating them is rising fast, providing many millions of dollars of business for firms such as Cloudflare and Prolexic, taken over last month by Akamai Technologies for about $370 million.

Namecheap, which aims to offer cut-price hosting for websites, said it had already spread its data centres across five countries and three continents to better handle constant attacks but was still overwhelmed by the roughly 100 Gbps incident.

Attacks on that scale, Prolexic says, now occur several times a month and are now frequently so complex and fast moving that automated systems can no longer tackle them.

Prolexic itself runs a permanently manned operation centre at its headquarters in Florida, allowing it to keep one step ahead and instantly move material between data centres.

“It’s very hard to know what to do,” said Alexander Klimburg, a cyber security expert at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs currently on exchange at Harvard Kennedy School of Government. “The tools to do this can be purchased online incredibly cheaply, while the damage they can do and the cost of mitigating it is exponentially higher.

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Every Florida school could have an employee carrying a concealed gun, under a bill a House education panel approved Wednesday. The bill is a reworked version of an armed-teachers bill that died in the Florida Legislature last year. Both are a response to the fatal shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012 and an effort, one lawmaker said, to provide “one additional gun for the good guys.”

Like last year’s bill, this year’s is controversial, though opponents said the 2014 version was much improved.

The House bill (HB 753) would allow districts to have at least one “school safety designee” on each campus. That person would carry a concealed gun but would first need to meet firearm and school safety training requirements. To be tapped, that person would have to be an active duty or retired military or law enforcement or licensed to carry a concealed weapon.

Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, said previous laws that made schools “gun-free zones” were well intended but inadvertently left schools defenseless, if a “monster” got on campus.

“They don’t even have a water pistol in which to charge the gates of hell…to confront this monster,” he said.
“I think it’s time to embrace this,” he added. “Firearms save people’s lives. That’s why policemen carry them.”

The bill passed with strong support from the House education k-12 subcommittee’s Republican leadership.

But Democrats on the panel said their local school districts did not support the legislation.

“They’re saying arming administrators and teachers does not guarantee any more safety in the school system than what is in there now,” said Rep. Gwyndolen Clarke-Reed, D-Deerfield Beach.

But Rep. Dave Hood, R-Daytona Beach Shores, said it was a “creative solution” to school safety worries and provided “one additional gun for the good guys.”

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, the bill’s sponsor said it would allow “properly trained individuals” to help defend students. Schools would not have to create the new armed “designee” program, however.

But Steube said it could help those campuses that feel vulnerable. “Let’s give ourselves the Constitutional and God-given rights to defend ourselves.”

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ROMULUS MI March 11 2014 — Calling it “another layer of security,” Marty Rotz believes having cameras at Romulus Central School linked to the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office is another way to give parents peace of mind.

“We’re very excited about this partnership with the sheriff’s office and the extra security it will provide,” the Romulus superintendent said Wednesday during an interview with Sheriff Jack Stenberg and Undersheriff Gary Sullivan at the sheriff’s office.For the last several weeks, the sheriff’s department has had access to school cameras via computer through LAKENet, which connects dozens of school districts through Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES.

Rotz believes Romulus is the first district in the region to have its cameras linked to a police agency.

Rotz said the link was established after Romulus made upgrades to its camera system last summer. There are about 50 cameras in the school, mostly in corridors, entrances and around parking lots; because of privacy issues, they are not in classrooms and bathrooms.

“We have had cameras for years, for our own use such as investigating student trouble … and we started asking questions to the sheriff’s office about the possibilities,” he said. “Getting the sheriff’s department to have access to what we have is frosting on the cake.”

While Rotz, Stenberg and Sullivan said the cameras can certainly alert police to an emergency situation, they can also help with the investigation of less serious incidents at the school. The district’s computer server stores video on the cameras for about two months.

“We can look at back tapes if we’re looking into criminal mischief, maybe somebody joyriding in the parking lot,” Stenberg said. “To be able to go back and look at the footage could be invaluable.”

While the cameras at Romulus Central are not monitored continually at the sheriff’s office, Sullivan said road patrol deputies can also access them by vehicle computers. The Internet portal allows for numerous camera angles to be seen at one time.

“We’ve found it works beyond our wildest expectations,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan credited two information technology employees, Sue Fegley from the school district and John Palladino from the sheriff’s office, for their work. Sullivan added that the camera link is among several measures Romulus has added to increase security, including putting large classroom numbers on windows and having key fobs for access to entrance doors, which deputies can use to make sure doors are locked during non-school hours.

“Romulus is at the forefront of schools when it comes to security,” he said.

Stenberg said the sheriff’s office may also reach out to the South Seneca school district on a similar partnership, and possibly work with police in Waterloo and Seneca Falls on doing the same in those school districts.

Rotz said the district’s increased security, in part, is due to the lack of a school resource officer. The district cut that positions several years ago due to funding.

He added that the cameras and the link to the sheriff’s office is not meant to provide constant surveillance.

“This is not something we were looking to throw in people’s faces and say we’re always watching,” he said. “We just want folks in the district and parents to know there is a level of security here. We also think there will be an element of deterrence by having the cameras and people knowing the sheriff’s office has access to them.”

Stenberg said in the event of an emergency, access to the cameras could give officers valuable information before entering the building.

“It could save a tremendous amount of time in assessing a situation. Going into a building is scary enough. Without information makes it even moreso,” he said. “With the cameras, now the first man in the door has some information, and getting to the scene quickly and having that information is crucial.

Time is of the essence in these situations and critical to our response.”

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A cellphone case promises to spit out a quick read of your blood pressure, heart rate, blood oxygen, temperature and lung function. But how much data do people really need—or even want—about their bodies’ day-to-day behaviors?

The Wello case, a hard shell made of polycarbonate plastic, will have sensors clustered around four hotspots on the surface of the phone to take readings from your hands.

“We want it to be very simple so you can see how your body is doing any given day,” said Hamish Patel, founder of Azoi, the maker of Wello. “Press on the sensors, open the app and you see your vitals.”

What they don’t tell you in the press release: The $199 Wello case likely won’t be available for iPhone and Android phones until at least the fall because it is still waiting for FDA approval. (That process alone could take 90 days or more.) The case will be manufactured in Texas but sold globally, so the data consumers will see will depend on health regulations in their country.

How accurate will the readings be? The data from the cellphone case will be on par with devices already approved by the FDA such as pulse oximeters, says Patel.

Wello is the latest entrant to the consumer personal health tracking device market that has seen the rise of wristband and clip-on health trackers such as Fitbit, Jawbone Up and Nike+ FuelBand. To start with, Wello will just integrate with Fitbit so users can see Wello data layered on top of their Fitbit stats.

But unlike with activity trackers, health monitors such as Wello could quickly become boring. Most healthy individuals are unlikely to see a change in their heart rate, blood pressure or temperature from day-to-day. Regular vital signs as displayed by the Wello could soon seem monotonous—that’s good news for one’s health but bad for anyone looking to stay interested.

“We are working to get the stickiness factor,” says Patel.

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When teams of agents are deployed on assignments, from a corporate event to a personal VIP assignment for a foreign dignitary, the most important question to ask is: Does the experience of the agent match the assignment?

The vetting process for each assignment begins with the goals of the project, and understanding a client’s security expectations. On the day the assignment begins, when the agents show up, that level of expertise should also shine through via the agents’ presentation — good grooming and a neat and clean uniform go a long way toward instilling immediate confidence.

Security Stereotypes

In the restaurant industry, a sloppy, dirty look is unacceptable. Patrons would assume that the meal would have the same level of care put into it. You wouldn’t eat there.

The same is true of a security company that doesn’t take pride in the look of the agents; the attention to detail could be reflective of the protection services being provided.

The stereotype of an out-of-shape man sitting in a room watching a monitor while half-sleeping or fully asleep has changed. With shrinking police department budgets and greater security presence needed (because corporations are being targeted and extremists are carrying out attacks on civilians), the need for in-person professional security personnel is very real.

A Growth Industry

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the security-guard industry is expected to grow 12 percent annually through 2022. Part of this growth can be attributed to the need for a manned presence when a security situation arises in a retail setting. It takes an in-person agent to provide property patrols and manage access control systems for buildings and facilities.

These are important jobs that keep the public safer. And, as we’ve seen in recent news, soft targets (such as movie theaters and malls) need an expert security guard on the premises, not a surveillance camera or a minimum-wage employee snoozing at a bank of TV screens.

The security guard field relies heavily on training and experience in personal protection. Security guards are required to interact with people, handle crowds, assess situations and react quickly. Their demeanor and personality are important, as they need to handle a range of situations with control and good judgment.

Conveying Control

A clean-cut appearance and fit physique plays well in visual professionalism but also conveys control over the situation. A crisp uniform and strong physical appearance says, “here’s a person to depend on and look to, should a situation arise.” In an emergency, there’s great comfort in a good presentation, backed by experience, when all details from the ground up are covered.

Furthermore, security guard services have changed; guards today need to be well versed in law enforcement procedures, military maneuverers, marshal arts training, and should ideally possess bilingual skills.

Hiring Strategically

A professional team of security guards should go through a meticulous hiring process that includes background checks and even (depending on the range of assignments) testing applicants’ physical and mental stamina. There could come a time when an assignment may not end for days. In such a case, is this person up to the task, physically and mentally?

Agents must have the ability to use their endurance and survival skills training. They may need to stand guard over a facility during and after a hurricane, for instance. They should be able think on their feet and help others who may not be part of the assignment but are in need of assistance — especially important when on duty after a disaster.

Not all assignments are cut-and-dried within a limited time frame. Sometimes, guard services are called upon when law enforcement is busy handling an emergency. A guard service could — in situations of public unrest after a natural disaster such as a tornado, earthquake, or hurricane, for example — need to remain in place for days, weeks, or months. In New York City during Occupy Wall Street, guard services for corporations were needed around the clock for months to escort employees in and out of the area.

Representing the Brand (and Other Practicalities)

A professional team of security guards can also burnish a security company’s brand. Clients will associate the company’s appearance with professionalism and the ability to handle themselves in any situation.

When purchasing uniforms, keep in mind seasonal concerns and the environment in which the clothing will be worn. Stretch material allows for greater freedom of movement, and a mixture of athletic or performance materials will add comfort.

When it comes to professionalism, relying solely on a clean uniform is a mistake. The look is only the beginning.
Security guards stand for long periods, so footwear is extremely important to reduce fatigue and injury. Placement of logo and size are important and serve as a means of advertising and guard recognition — make sure it is large enough to see.

However, when it comes to professionalism, relying solely on a clean uniform is a mistake. The look is only the beginning. Security is an evolving process — crime and security risks change constantly. This requires that field agents and guards be tested, challenged, and analyzed periodically, to probe for gaps in security and readiness.

Summary

The growth outlook for security professionals is positive, as guards are needed to operate the latest technology that can be used to complement the protection services being offered. In-person guard services are part of the security team and interact with IT professionals in many industries.

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On a hillside in New England, two narcotics investigators armed with a video camcorder and a 500mm lens are watching a farmhouse on the other side of the valley. From their observation point in the tree line, they are able to get license plates and legally identifiable video of all who visit the farmhouse. The video provides raw intelligence as well as insight into how the drugs are moved and stored. While watching the video, raid planners learn critical details about which doors open out and that there are children present in the farmhouse.

A covert entry team in Europe is wiring a location for sound and video. While they work, the security officer is watching all the approaches using four tiny Wi-Fi enabled camcorders. They are capturing more than 4,000 lines of resolution (4k) and sending their signals to a handheld tablet. These camcorders, hidden inside fast food cartons near a trash barrel and in other easy to make “hides,” can pick up the slightest movement and warn the team in time to take evasive action. Once the entry is complete, the camcorders can be retrieved and used again elsewhere.

In North America, Mobile Surveillance Teams (MSTs), sometimes referred to as “Spin Teams,” are shooting video of suspects as they conduct their criminal enterprises and meet other criminals. The teams spend their entire shift in the field. At the end of the day, video of targets is emailed to case officers and intelligence analysts.

A successful tactical mission involves many intertwined elements: target identification, planning, team selection, scheduling, support manpower, transportation, supplies, operator rehearsals and, of course, intelligence. None of these can be overlooked if the mission is to be successful. But time and again planners forget to include video surveillance in their tactical plan. Perhaps that is because they are unaware of the technological advancements of the past two years.

4k mini video cameras and High Definition handheld camcorders are changing the way surveillance is shot. Gone are the grainy videos of the VHS era. (VHS, by the way, was 250 lines of resolution; 4k mini video has 16 times more resolution.) None of the equipment mentioned above is classified. Nor is it expensive. It can be delivered to your agency overnight. In the U.S. and in some Canadian Provinces, the equipment can be borrowed from a Regional Intelligence Sharing System (RISS) Agency at no cost to the LEA.

Why then doesn’t every tactical team use video? I have heard all the excuses: “It is too complicated, the camcorders are too big, the camcorders cost too much, the camcorder has too many buttons, we don’t have anyone who knows how to use the equipment. Our people already have digital SLRs.”

In my view, those excuses don’t hold water. Around the world, law enforcement agencies are adapting video surveillance and it is helping to win cases. In Korea, a police officer is using video to win convictions in an illegal gambling operation. The officer attended a class conducted by the International Tactical Training Association (ITTA) at the Korean National Police Institute. In North America, municipal and regional intelligence units are using inexpensive High Definition camcorders to record criminal activity. In both cases, a key to their success has been training, learning to operate their equipment under real-world conditions.

Another key to a successful video surveillance operation is equipment selection. Hi- Def camcorders range in price from about $400 to more than $5,000 and price generally denotes quality. The more expensive camcorders from Canon, Panasonic and Sony use interchangeable lenses, which make them perfect for long-range surveillance from fixed locations. My personal choice is the Canon C-100 camcorder because it uses widely available EOS-mount lenses.

The longer the lens, the more impor- TACTICAL SOLUTIONS 23 tant the tripod becomes. The price for high quality carbon fiber tripods can be daunting. Instead, select a metal tripod with a fluid head. For extremely long lenses consider adding sandbags to each to minimize vibration and shake.

At lower price points, today’s camcorders have some extraordinary features such as the ability to see infrared light and to stream video to other locations using Wi-Fi. Some have very long optical zooms. Most of today’s camcorders also have digital zooms, which give the operator that ability to video objects up to half a mile away. The compact size of these camcorders makes them perfect for deployment in many situations.

No matter the price, when purchasing a camcorder insist on these four features:

1) A viewfinder in addition to a flip-out view screen,

2) On-the-lens focusing,

3) An auxiliary microphone jack and

4) Removable digital media.

Look for a camcorder that has a viewfinder. Most of the current camcorders have a flip-out view screen. They are difficult to use in bright sunlight. At night, in my opinion, flip-out view screens are downright dangerous because they light up the operator’s face endangering their safety and the surveillance operation. A viewfinder is easier to use and can be adjusted to match the operator’s individual eyesight. Using a viewfinder conserves battery power.

Many of the best-known brands of consumer camcorders use what is called “Touch Screen” focusing on the flip-out view screen. Others use a small joystick on the flip- out view screen. Both of these methods are nearly impossible to use while wearing cold weather gloves. Further, they can only be used when the flipout screen is open. On-the-lens focusing is easier to use under all conditions.

An auxiliary microphone jack allows the operator to use a “Dead Short” knockout plug, which blocks the camcorder’s on-board microphone. Without a microphone, the camcorder records silent video. Why silent video? Let’s say you are shooting surveillance video and your cell phone rings. No matter whether the conversation is professional or personal, you do not need to share that conversation with a jury or the court. Frequently, surveillance teams have sat in the same place for hours and may make comments that should not be shared with anyone. In my opinion, a camcorder that lacks an auxiliary microphone jack may not be suitable for use in law enforcement. Removable digital media refers to either a Compact Flash Card or an SD card, which are used to record the video files. The alternative is an internal hard drive. Removable media have several advantages. Each operator can be assigned their own media and thus are responsible for maintaining chain of custody and duplication. The original media can be kept with the case file and used to prove that duplicates of the video were not altered. Some camcorders have two digital media drives that allow you to continue recording on the “B” drive when the media in the “A” drive has filled to capacity. In selecting digital media, make certain it is suitable for recording video. At the moment, most manufacturers recommend “Class 10” SD cards for their camcorders.

Because camcorder models tend to change each year, it is impossible to recommend any specific unit because it may not be available when you need to make a purchase. A knowledgeable video store is a good source for camcorder recommendations. If, when you mention the four required features, the clerk does not understand what you are looking for, find another store. I am reluctant to recommend shopping online because while the prices may be better, some vendors sell “Gray Market” goods intended for sale in another country. “Gray Market” camcorders may not have a warranty for your country. If all else fails, contact the camcorder manufacturer’s office in your country. Almost all manufacturers will have a tech rep who deals with law enforcement and may be able to make a recommendation.

No matter which kind of mission your team undertakes, video is simply the best way to quickly and safely gather intelligence.

About the Author

Wadi Sawabini has 23 years experience teaching law enforcement professionals how to shoot evidence-grade video. A former Reserve Deputy with the Erie County, New York Sheriff’s Office, Sawabini has taught for the ATF, FBI, the U.S. Border Patrol and dozens of other federal agencies. He has also taught members of the Korean National Police, the Bermuda Police Service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Criminal Intelligence Service of Ontario and the Ontario Regional Police

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Police chiefs in Oak Park and La Grange said their departments have carefully vetted dozens of local concealed-carry permit applications, as the first round of state permits hits mailboxes this week.

Eighty-nine Oak Park residents and 75 La Grange residents applied for concealed carry permits as of Feb. 25, according to Illinois State Police. Statewide, about 50,000 people have applied since January. About 5,000 security guards, firearms trainers and others who paid extra to get permits early are expected to start receiving them this week, Illinois State Police officials said.

Under the new law, the state checks applicants’ backgrounds before approving permits. The law also gives local police departments discretion to file objections to individual applications up to 30 days after they are filed. Neither the Oak Park nor the La Grange departments have objected to any applications so far, police chiefs said.

The state bars anyone with three gang-related arrests or five other arrests in the last 7 years from getting permits. Applicants also must meet certain requirements regarding past drug and alcohol convictions, and must meet the criteria to obtain a Firearm Owners Identification Card. Applicants are fingerprinted and are required to take a 16-hour training course.

The objection process for local departments allows police to screen applicants based on behavior that might have raised concerns but did not rise to the level of criminal charges, Oak Park Police Chief Rick Tanksley said in an email.

“Generally, we are screening for applicants that have demonstrated a pattern of behavior that indicates that they may be a danger to themselves or others,” Tanksley said.

Police investigators in La Grange have been looking for familiar names among the applicant list, including people who have made gun-related threats in the past, La Grange Police Chief Michael Holub said.

So far, no such names have appeared on the list, Holub said. He said he doesn’t expect the new law to increase any gun-related confrontations, adding he is more concerned about people carrying weapons illegally.

“Quite frankly, I don’t anticipate those kinds of issues because the people who have concealed carry are probably not the ones who will be causing us trouble,” he said.

Both the Oak Park and La Grange police departments have been training officers for the new law, and have been advising local businesses, schools and other institutions of its specifics, police officials said. The law allows concealed weapons in some public spaces and in businesses that don’t post signs banning them. Concealed guns are banned in government buildings, schools, public parks, hospitals and some other places outlined in the law.

Procedures for transporting armed people to hospitals will not change much with the new law, La Grange Fire Department Chief Bill Bryzgalski said. The fire department oversees emergency medical services.

“In reality, we’ve been working with this for many years,” Bryzgalski said. “We have to be cautious, but it’s the same as pulling up on any other scene. We have to make sure the scene is secure.”

Ambulances are gun-free zones under the law in the same way most public buildings are, he said. When police are present at the scene of an emergency, they will take custody of weapons, Bryzgalski said. If police are not on the scene, the ambulances have been outfitted with lockboxes to hold the weapons until police can take them, he said.

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A man and a woman from Chicago’s West Side are accused of the sex trafficking of two underage runaway girls in 2012, federal authorities said today.

Arnell Chase Misher, 30, and Braundii Young, also known as “Boochie”, 22, both of the 100 block of North Lockwood Avenue in the Austin neighborhood, were charged in a criminal complaint Friday with conspiring to force a 17-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl, both runaways, to engage in commercial sex acts during the summer of 2012, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.

Misher appeared in court today and Young was in court Monday before judges at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. They both remain in custody and Young is scheduled to appear in court again Wednesday while Misher is slated for March 10, according to the office.

According to the complaint, the 17-year-old was approached by Misher in June 2012, at the corner of Lockwood Avenue and Fulton Street after she ran away from home. Misher told her she could make money by working for him performing sex acts with strangers.

Misher and Young bought clothing for the teen, who they nicknamed “Babyface,” styled her hair and told her the “rules of working for him.” Those rules included only engaging in sex acts with “whites and Mexicans,” and asking for $100 for sex with “dates”, though if the customer would not pay she could go lower, the complaint said.

The two posted online provocative pictures of the girl and her phone number to advertise her for sex services, according to the complaint.

The girl overheard Misher place a telephone call to Young and stated something to the effect of: “I have another girl,” the complaint said.

Misher and Young told the 17-year-old to lie about her age if she was ever arrested, according to the complaint. She worked for them for a period of two weeks, engaging in multiple commercial sex acts and turning over all the money she made to them.

The 13-year-old was also allegedly approached by Misher multiple times near Lockwood Avenue north of Washington Boulevard on the West Side after she ran away in July 2012, and he asked her to work for him performing sex acts and told her to lie about her age, the complaint said.

After the girl repeatedly turned him turn down, he allegedly “grabbed” her, threw her into his car, and gave her pills before dropping her off on near Kilpatrick Avenue and Washington Street on the West Side to start working for him, the complaint said. After “not attracting any customers,” Misher told the girl she was “scaring off” customers, the complaint said.

They told her not to accept any less than $90 for doing any sex act.

The complaint alleges her services also were advertised online and that the girl worked for them for four to six days. A little later in July, Misher confronted the 13-year-old, threatened to beat her and held her in their basement on Lockwood, telling her she “needed to contribute,” according to the complaint.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Child Exploitation Task Force. If convicted, Misher and Young face a maximum penalty of life in prison.

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