Tag police

Originally posted: http://www.pickpocket.com/Pickpocket-Prevention-Tips.asp
Pickpocketing is easy money for those who ply their trade, and ply it well. Knowing how pickpockets work is the first step in protecting yourself from them. It also helps you learn how to spot them easier as well.
Pay attention to your valuables whenever someone stops you to ask the time, bumps into you, drops items on the ground in front of you, or generally attempts to momentarily distract you. Pickpockets often work in pairs. One distracts while the other does the actual picking. If the target discovers something is amiss, they usually confront the bait person who obviously doesn’t have the target’s possessions, and then goes free. The target can suspect the baiter is working with someone, but has no proof.
When in public, usually in an area with plenty of foot traffic, and or crowds, note individuals who seem to be signaling each other. Often they will not appear to be together. Pay attention to behavior, not appearances! One might be dressed as a business man, while another is dressed like a student. Pickpockets often use children, or women in their schemes. Few people would not stop to help a lady in distress, or a child asking a question. You can’t have preconceived notions if you are to catch these criminals at their game.
If you’re on a train, watch for someone leaving a car by one door, only to re-enter another. Look out for two people that enter separate cars, signaling one another, or taking up positions where they can cover the other. Watch someone who sits next to someone sleeping, or who has a bag, brief case, or other carry on, as they might get up at a stop and slip away with the other person’s item unnoticed.
Watch for two people having a conversation, only to split up and then later reconnect. Watch for surreptitious hand offs, of quick passing motions (often mistaken for hand shakes). In this day and age, even watch for people nodding to each other while texting. Generally keep an eye out for people who may be teamed up, even if they’re not side by side.
Sit in a mall, or a train, and watch.. just watch. You’ll begin to note who is watching who. Don’t watch directly, but use sunglasses, or look at reflections in windows. These are also tools the pickpockets use, so note who is using them that way.
Additional Resource
http://www.scribd.com/doc/390255/Techniques-of-the-Professional-Pickpocket
This book, found on Scribd.com, is an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning about pickpockets and their methods. This makes them easier to spot and defend against.

Blog report from Crossfire
Just got home from the police station…Heres the story
I was not in gimmick – I was in bed trying to catch a nap before work tonight. I grabbed a pair of shorts as I ran for the door and responded. I told Silver that I was in my Submariner costume.
Earlier this week my neighbor was attacked by her ex boyfriend and we were afraid he would come back to try again so we’ve been on guard. The ex boyfriend hid in the building that time and attacked them when they came home. Tonight he got into their apartment somehow and waited for them there. He was in their shower with the knife when they arrived home. He sat there for hours with his knife watching for them to come home tonight.
I had just drifted off when I heard a commotion outside my door. I grabbed a pair of shorts and my nightstick and ran out the door. I could hear fighting from the room across the hall. The downstairs neighbor came running up and I told him to call the police. I banged on the door with the nightstick and the young lady opened the door. She had been cut on the hand and was covered in blood. She shouted “Help us!” and pointed to the living room.
I ran in and found her boyfriend struggling with her ex boyfriend who had an eight inch knife. They were half on the couch with the knife between them and the blade was between the boyfriends shirt and his skin. The boyfriendwas holding the blade away from him and had the ex pinned to the couch with his bodyweight.
I stuck the nightstick between the blade and the man’s chest and ordered the ex boyfriend to release the knife. He refused and I told him several more times. I noticed that he had released his grip on the blade a little and asked the girlfriend to grab the knife if she could get it. He tightened his grip and I moved the nightstick and put it to his forehead and told him “let it go NOW!”
He dropped the knife and we wrestled him to the floor and held him there until the police arrived.
When the police arrived the neighbors told them that the superhero stopped him…they said I was going to trade my clown suit in for a cape. (None of them know about Crossfire yet…LOL)
The perp has been arrested and the young lady is safe once again.
I got a good laugh at the station as I heard the perp telling the officers how the fat guy with the bat took his knife away.
That’s the story and now Im dealing with an adrenaline hangover…and I gotta get ready for work.
 

• By Spencer Ackerman
• July 16, 2010  |
• 2:07 pm  |
• Categories: Bizarro

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VHeKCOcx4Q
Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. asked a simple question in their 2008 comic book (and 2010 movie) Kick-Ass: Why don’t fanboys actually suit up and try their hand at being superheroes? As it turns out, a bunch of fanboys are in fact suiting up. Hundreds of them. Face front, true believer.
Cosplay is nothing new. Its variant, Real Life Superheroes, are somewhat next-level. Check out TheRLSH.net, a message board where aspiring supes — costumed adventurers who describe themselves as doing “humanitarian work” or otherwise generically helping those in distress — can discuss tradecraft, assemble into makeshift Avengers and escalate misunderstandings into internet brawls ahead of the inevitable team-up.
Seriously. On this thread, for instance, a crimefighter called the Dark Ghostrallied his fellow champions of the innocent to find a seven-month old baby kidnapped in Tennessee. Amazonia, the Minuteman, Gadgetastic and the Sparrow pledged support. (As it turned out, the vigilante community didn’t need to get involved, as law enforcement found young Drake Boyd’s abductor in Florida.)
Now, obviously these dudes don’t have superpowers. But come on — neither does Batman. So like Batman, what they lack in meta-human ability, they make up for in weaponry.
Take, for instance, a Brooklyn team called the New York Initiative, profiled this week in New York Press. The four members of the Initiative –a reference to Tony Stark’s post-Civil War, pre-Secret Invasion efforts to put a superhero squad in each of the 50 states? — act like bodybuilders with a purpose. And then they pack (non-lethal) heat.
Initiative member Z brandishes “giant ax handles bound with duck tape” and a cane that doubles as a club. He’s also got — in reserve — a legally dubious arsenal that includes ninja throwing stars and what author Tea Krulos describes as “stun knuckles (that make a loud zapping sound), throwing knives and spiky hand guards that look like something Genghis Khan would brawl in.” A battle ax appears to be merely for display.
The team’s gadget whiz, who goes by the unfortunate name Victim, is testing out some polycarbonate squares for durability against knives. Because being a hero means you’re going to get stabbed.
Factoring out the body armor, it appears to be a fairly cost-effective approach to adventuring. Take Z’s stun knuckles. Zapping someone with 950,000 volts in the course of a single punch should run you around $50.
Plus, that is, whatever legal costs you incur after your supervillain sues you. Chances are your local municipality doesn’t look kindly on vigilantism, andless so on vigilantism armed with zappers. What’s more, courts haven’t been so keen on police use of non-lethal weapons like Tasers, and you’re sure not an officer of the law.
Speaking of the cops: According to Krulos’s piece, when the New York Initiative asks the police if they can set up a patrol by downtown Brooklyn’s Fulton Mall, a member of New York’s finest tells them, “Naw, fuhgetabout that. You’ll get shot. The guys in this neighborhood, they’ll shoot you and no one will tell us who did it. There’s a strong ‘no snitching’ rule out here.” We know that in the comics as honor among thieves.
So, be careful out there, champions of right: Come strapped and stay on the right side of the law.
See Also:

• Court to Cops: Stop Tasing People into Compliance
• Taser to Cops: Never Mind the Courts, Keep on Zappin’
• Da Vinci Code Scribe Takes on Tasers, Gets Zapped
• High on the List of People Never to Taser: Grandma

via wired.com

By Captain Black
As a community policing advocate I occupy the No Mans Land ‘tween liberals yearning to pull every Black community combatant to their heaving bosoms while also standing athwart conservatives who reflexively assume EVERY traffic stop or officer-involved use of force involving Black subjects is justified.
I’m not a law enforcement groupie nor a cop hater. Being Black, male and a concerned citizen means falling outside time worn, narrow roles in pubic safety.
Prevention works in my view so long as you aren’t saying those who are Black and shoot/addict and otherwise negatively impact victims mostly resembling them get a pass because of assumed lower African-American social status. Building a viable Black infrastructure has to include deprogramming thug culture-abused youth alongside Black enablers of selective enforcement who act as if Rodney King’s tormenters deserve the NAACP’s Spingarn medal.
Our long discussed infrastructure has to offer a counter culture that makes popular anti-social trends like ” Stop Snitching ” and encouraging fratricide as unpopular as joining the Ku lux Klan. Our music; plays and neighborhood culture have to punish the destructive behavior that stacks causalities up like fire wood.
This reenergized internal hierarchy would also tackle what could be called the Stockholm Syndrome among Black conservatives strangely silent about big government excesses involving Black people and law enforcement. Conservative ire toward law enforcement excess shouldn’t be confined to Waco; Ruby Ridge and the New Black Panther case last presidential election.
It’s almost like a gag order exists where political excommunication is the penalty for falling on the “wrong” side of police brutality allegations for Black coservatives.
A looming Cotton Curtain exists between police and Black America, brothers particularly. These disparate elements usually converse under the worst set of circumstances: traffic stops; field interviews and arrest. Neither side wants to make the first move to initiate non-adversarial communication.
My proposed Brothers & Badges dialogue with Black men and police was greeted by my hometown’s former city manager as heresy. You’d think I was trying to host convicted child molesters at a local elementary school. Talking to Black male tax payers minus authoritarian overtones seems to terrify politicians and police executives. How’s that for a “post-racial” country? lol.
Here’s a hoot from Capt. Black’s Real Life Adventures. The scene was a police precinct. The occasion concerned a fugitive. An announcement of the suspect’s location was greeted by a skeptically asked ” Do you have a beef with him? ” from the White male officer taking the report. Just what a brother needs to stoke the flames of civic duty. What’s sadder still is buddy didn’t even realize how he’d butchered a real community policing moment with someone from the ‘hood actually trying to make his job easier.
I put that episode right up there with a Crime Stoppers program director I know who cheats Black tipsters out of rewards. Arrogance like this enforce every stereotype we have about law enforcement.
Conversely I work with brothers to replace scowls with waves as patrol cars cruise by. A simple enough act that alone won’t usher Detente but lessens mutual suspicion. Relationship building reduces confrontations-at least in theory.
My friends and I promote internal management of situations to reduce law enforcement intervention. Where a serious crime has occurred, our promotion turns toward encouraging those reluctant and/or hostile to nonetheless call 911 on behalf of an inner city that can’t afford to let serious crime go unaddressed.
Self-policing Black America means telling community liberals and conservatives that business as usual should end. Somewhere between enabling what blogger ally Constructive Feedback calls ” street pirates ” and enabling racial profiling stand an alternative where we hold serious Black criminals and law enforcement accountable.
Otherwise the crime spree on both sides of the law continues.
NADRA ENZI AKA CAPT BLACK promotes crime prevention and self-development http://www.capblack.info

How to Describe a Suspect To The Police

To capture a criminal in these highly mobile times, it is of utmost importance for the police to promptly obtain an accurate description. Following are some of the most important identifiers the police need to apprehend criminal suspects. Keep this information in mind so that you can give the police an accurate description of any criminal or criminal incident you may observe.
Location information is critical:
Observe where you are and the exact location of the crime. Try to remember if you have ever seen the suspect in the area before.
Note the time as precisely as possible.
Observe if the suspect is carrying a weapon and, if so, what type-revolver, handgun, shotgun, knife, etc.
If the suspect leaves the scene, note the direction of flight.
If the suspect is in a vehicle, note as much of the following information as possible: vehicle type (auto, truck, van, etc.); color; make and model; condition (dirty, damaged, etc.); and license plate numbers.
Note also if the vehicle has no license plates or a “license applied for” sticker in the rear windshield.
Watch for decoys or accomplices.

a variety of general description information about the suspect should be noted:
Sex
Race or national origin
Age (estimated)
Height-use comparisons with your own height, a door, or some other standard measure
Weight (estimated)
Build-fat, husky, slim, muscular, etc.

Facial information is also important:
Hair-note the color, texture, hairline, style; also possible dyes or wigs
Forehead-note forehead height, and whether the skin is smooth, creased or wrinkled
Eyes-note the color, shape (round, slanted), whether clear or bloodshot, and the heaviness of eyelashes and eyebrows
Nose-overall shape (long, wide, flat, etc.) and nostrils (wide, narrow, flared) are important
Cheeks-is the flesh sunken, filled out, dried or oily? are there wrinkles around nose or mouth? are cheek bones high or low, wide or narrow?
Ears-note size and prominence (protruding or flat against head)
Mouth-are lips thin, medium, full? do corners turn up, turn down, or level?
Chin-what is the shape (round, oval, pointed, square)? double chin, dimpled, cleft?
Neck-note protruding Adam’s apple or hanging jowls
Complexion-note pores, pockmarks, acne, razor rash, bumps
Facial hair-clean shaven? unshaven? beard, mustache, goatee, sideburns?
Tattoos-shape and style; on what part of the body

Clothing information is also very important:
Hat-note color, style, ornaments, how it is worn (bill forward, backward, to one side)
Coat-note color and style (suit coat, jacket, topcoat, overcoat)
Shirt/Blouse/Dress-note color, design, sleeves, collar
Trousers/Slacks/Skirt-note color, style, cuffs
Socks-note color, pattern, length
Shoes-note color, style, brand name for sneakers (if possible), condition
Accessories-sweater, scarf, gloves, necktie
Jewelry-rings, watches, bracelets, necklaces
General appearance-neat or sloppy? clean or dirty?
Oddities-look for clothing too large or too small; odd colors; patchwork

Look for other physical features or peculiarities:
Voice-pitch, tone, rasp, lisp
Speech-articulate, uneducated, accent, use of slang
Gait-slow, fast, limp
You will never be able to remember all of these details about any one suspect you may see. But remembering as many as possible can be particularly helpful to the police and to your community.

One phase of my stealth ” real life superhero ( RLSH ) ” activities before the Movement was keeping tabs on suspects and/or declared fugitives. Information gathered was forwarded to the appropriate agency. As a dutiful bounty hunter earning rewards drove this alongside civic duty. I’m not opposed to catching criminals for pay; law enforcement does it every day. Opponents of bounty hunting should be able to magically make policing pro bono and watch officers surge to resign!
RLSH normally don’t fight crime for profit. Many feel it’s anathema to the Movement’s overall altruism. Others reply any monies accepted should be used to fund homeless outreach or equipment needs. Real life superheroes, overtly or covertly, have access to information police would find interesting. As a RLSH whose background includes bounty hunting and security consulting I’ve made a living from what we usually do for free. Reconciling the two is easy, because I genuinely enjoy contributing to public safety. The bulk of my efforts, stealth and openly RLSH, is freely given.
Deciding whether crime fighting should become a revenue stream is a personal choice. I fight crime for a purpose: to help people help themselves become safer and alternately, persuading criminals to become their higher selves. Self-development is an even more effective crime fighting strategy than patrolling and even RLSH-inspired community coalitions ( RICCs ). The worst crime in my ” Crime ISN’T A Civil Right! ” conversations and presentation is working against being your better self. That’s what drives my activities past, present and future.
Money’s nice, but the above reasons are reward enough for me and real life superheroes generally. We fight crime for a higher purpose not merely for profit!
NADRA ENZI AKA CAPT. BLACK promotes crime prevention and self-development. (912) 272-2898 and
http://reallifesuperheroes.org/archives/3187
 

By Thanatos
If your going to collect evidence remember, most anything you collect is not going to be admissible in any court of law. However it can be used by police to establish what is referred to as ‘probable cause to suspect a criminal activity and investigate’.
If you are going to collect evidence and want it to be useful you have to follow rules and procedure as best you can. you want to be able to prove, to the police if to no one else, that you took the correct procedure on collecting it. this allows them to be able to say that evidence was given to them by a trusted source of information. that’s you.
in another thread is a breakdown of a simple evidence collecting kit. you don’t need everything all at once to get started. read up on proper procedure, found all over the internet and apply it to what you do.

First set up a proper system of keeping track and logging the evidence. you should be able to tell police where you got it, when, how and how was it handled after collecting. being able to show pictures and logs and notes goes a long way to convincing police how professional you are trying to be. trust me, it helps.

Get a separate book to keep track of anything you collect. also keep good notes on all of your activities.

I picked a very loud cover so it wouldn’t get left out. the black envelope is what I use to transfer evidence to my police contact.
Who says we can’t do things in style and still look good?

Forum discussion: http://www.therlsh.net/the-bat-cave-f21/evidence-collection-t3003.htm

Public Safety patrols – Work on getting a group together to patrol through crime ridden areas. This will help deter crime and let the bad element know there are people watching. You will not run into crime on a regular basis, but it will happen if you are out enough.
Neighborhood watch – Set up or get involved with a local neighborhood watch group.
Post wanted fliers – something like posting wanted fliers is helpful in not only find the criminal but making a statement to the community that their are people watching and looking out.
Clean Graffiti – It helps make the community a nicer place and let’s the vandals know they will not get away with defacing personal and private property.
Area Clean ups – This also helps make the community nicer and show that someone cares and gives the message that we all need to be mindful of our community.
Sting operations – This is a bit difficult and is not a good idea for everyone to do.
Do sting operations like leaving a car unlocked in a bad neighborhood or a woman standing alone. Waiting for a perp to try and do something and bust them on the spot. Do only with a well trained group of individuals. Use cameras to have clear evidence.
Rallies – After you build a rep in a community it would be great to be able to hold a rally about helping the community. It raises awareness, gets people involved, spreads your message, and let’s the bad element know the community is united against them.
All these can help turn a neighborhood around.

CHULA VISTA, Calif. — Two men are putting on their superhero costumes Thursday in response to a string of sexual assaults in the South Bay.
The men aren’t faster than any speeding bullet, but they are making their presence felt.
They said their sworn enemy is the man connected to at least three attacks on teenage girls in the Eastlake area of Chula Vista.
Members of the so-called Xtreme Justice League took to the streets of Eastlake Thursday evening.
The men are members of a volunteer crime-fighting group that dress up like superheroes to do good.
On Thursday and Friday, the men will be passing out fliers and offering a $1,000 reward for information on the sexual assault suspect, who took off on a skateboard in three of the attacks.
A fourth attack has not been tied to the same person, police said.
The men said they hope to be a visual deterrent for crime and an inspiration.
“I think superheroes represent all that is good, and we want to act as a symbol and also empower people,” said Mr. Extreme of the Xtreme Justice League. “With our patrols, we hope to make it a safer area.”
The group’s fliers include a telephone number for tips, which the group will forward to Chula Vista police.
Police said they are not familiar with the group and don’t advocate vigilante justice.
However, they did say the more eyes and ears out there, the better.
Copyright 2008 by 10News.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.10news.com/news/15590312/detail.html#

I decided to head home and call it a quiet night when I saw two officers parked behind a little red truck, working there asses off on the left rear tire. I pull in behind their cars and park, My place is two minutes away and I offer the one cop (Older guy, don’t know him) the use of my floor jack, fix-a-flat, etc. he says “no we have it under control”. so I say good night and turn to leave when I hear “HOLD IT!”
I stop and the cop says “What the Hell is That?” he’s spotted my Airsoft Mac-11 and is walking towards me, it’s dark but I think I see his hand on his weapon.
I try to tell him it’s a Airsoft, and stupidly reach for it this is when he yells for his partner. Things are deteriorating fast. The guy has no clue what a Airsoft anything is, or who superhero is either. Thank God his partner did. The partner says “oh yeah” it’s Airsoft with a big smile and take the gun, admiring it I think, and trying not to laugh at his partners dismay.
the first guy calls in my tag, suddenly it’s smiles and handshakes and we apologize to each other and I race for home.
The moral of the story: STOP CARRYING AIRSOFT GUNS! I’m not sure who else does other than The Eye but guys it’s just too big of a risk.
If I twitched the wrong way, BANG! right on the spot! I think what is really bothering me about this whole thing is that we have all accepted we might get killed doing this. It’s a possibility (Hell maybe a inevitability) but I NEVER thought I would get shot by a cop! Never! John Q. Public views us as odd anyway, odd with guns is a receipt for disaster.
I’ve been discussing Green Laser Technology with Prime & Chameleon and I think this is the way we need to go. It’s a lot less offensive looking and just as good of a weapon.
Usually I’m the one who says “be safe” but tonight I’d just be being a hypocrite. I can’t believe I did something so stupid, so I’ll just say…
…Don’t repeat my mistake
SH
There’s more but just wanted to put the most interesting ones, don’t wanna be a forum hog.