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Archive for January, 2012
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
In a search of several Mexican lawmakers’ offices, recording equipment was discovered. This has led legislators to believe they have been spied on for years, a congressman said Wednesday.
Security personnel found microphones and other devices that seemed to have been installed years ago, according to Congressman Armando Rios.
Rios, a member of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), said, “Some of the equipment has newer technology, but other devices are from a long time ago, which leads us to believe they were installed years ago.”
It was discovered that offices of key committees and several lawmakers from different political parties were bugged.
Congress president Guadalupe Acosta, also of the PRD, has filed a complaint with federal prosecutors, who have opened an investigation.
Rios has accused the government of President Felipe Calderon, who belongs to the conservative National Action Party (PAN). Interior Secretary Alejandro Poire denied Rios’ accusations. He said the government has done nothing illegal.
Acosta declined to identify the lawmakers who were being spied on or who he thinks was behind the espionage. (more…)
Tags: eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, espionage, investigation, spying, U-Spy Store
Posted in "Hmm.", busted, eavesdropping, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, hard to find security equipment, U-Spy Store, U-Spy Surveillance Equipment | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
Sometimes a robber chooses the wrong victim and everything backfires. This was the case with a robbery in downtown Chicago last Friday.
A 50-year-old woman chased her robber for almost a mile, cornered him in an alley and then gave him a lecture. She must be in awesome shape.
The woman was riding a Chicago Transit Authority bus in the Loop just after midnight when police said Jenar Sanders, 18, swiped her wallet from her purse. He then jumped off the bus at Huron and State streets and took off, but he wouldn’t get very far.
Trailing Sanders, the woman alerted others as she ran down the street, according to the Chicago Tribune. The CTA bus driver and a hotel staff member at the Omni Hotel called the police.
The race came to a quick halt when police said Sanders ended up cornered in an alley off Superior Street between Wabash Avenue and Rush Street, surrounded by the victim and others who had joined the chase.
“She kept telling him God didn’t want him to steal her wallet,” a police source told the Tribune. (more…)
Tags: catch a thief, chicago crime, Robbery
Posted in Caught!, Crime News, Home, Personal & Travel Security, How to Catch a Thief, Local News, safety, U-Spy Product Reviews, U-Spy Store | No Comments »
Monday, January 30th, 2012
Who sent me The Rahmfather? I want to know. Please.
If you know the answer, let him or us know.
One morning, John showed up for work and found a mysterious portrait in his office. It was a large framed movie-style poster of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel as some Jewish Al Pacino – and the words, “JOHN FRANCIS KASS’S The Rahmfather.” (sic). Then follows the phrase “All the power on Earth can’t change Chicago.”
The portrait displays a strikingly handsome Rahmfather, thoughtful, pensive, his chin propped on his left hand, a hawk at rest. He is in a dark suit, conservative tie, wearing his Chicago flag lapel pin, and his steel-gray hair slightly spiky, just like Pacino’s in “The Godfather: Part III.”
Oh yeah, and the eyes. The eyes follow you wherever you go.
In Kass’ Tribune Article, he wrote that over the years his readers have sent him some amazing treasures but nothing is as cool as The Rahmfather.
When John sent a photo of the portrait to an aide of Rahm, the aide replied, “Oh, my God, He’s really going to want this.”
Kass replied, “Yeah, I know he’s going to want it. He’s going to want it bad. But tell him he can’t have it. He can send his buddy Jimmy DeLeo over with a box of cannoli and I’d say no. Rahm could put my head in a vise and still I wouldn’t give it to him.”
John asked the Tribune’s editorial cartoonist, Scott Stantis, to evaluate the painting. “This is really good work. This was done by a pro,” said Stantis.
But who painted it? Who sent it? John only knew that a few weeks ago, it was dropped off by a nondescript person at the Tribune Tower.
The story gets even more weird - the painting was addressed to: “JKFC John Kass Fan Club, 211 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 4250.”
There is no fan club at this address. Suite 4250 also does not exist. There are only 41 floors in the building.
Someone asked, “Maybe it was a joke?” An editor reminded John of what a wise columnist often says: In Chicago, when it comes to City Hall or the Outfit, there are no such things as coincidences.
John asked the editor, “Should I sweep it for bugs? Could this be a Trojan Rahm? The editor replied, “It’s up to you, but I would.”
That’s all Kass had to hear. Having the Rahmfather hanging on the wall behind him, peering over his shoulder as he is talking on the phone, he couldn’t take the chance.
So he drove the painting over to the U-Spy Store, 2406 W. Fullerton, to have it examined by counterintelligence experts. (more…)
Tags: chicago, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, U-Spy Store
Posted in "Hmm.", celebrity, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, hard to find security equipment, Local News, U-Spy Store | No Comments »
Friday, January 27th, 2012
Americans have been openly expressing their fears of losing their privacy. Though we live in a democracy, many are fearful that we are progressing into a police-state. With the advancements of technology and the vague rules on how our information can be used, many feel their ability to maintain their privacy is being stripped away.
The Supreme Court has been considering our concerns. On January 23, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that law enforcement authorities do not generally have a right to attach a GPS tracking device to a suspect’s car without first obtaining a valid warrant. This case, United States v. Jones, is one of the most important Fourth Amendment tests in a decade. Unfortunately, the courts are behind in addressing the protection of privacy rights for our citizens in a rapid evolution of technological advancements.
Justice Samuel Alito recognized a point, in a concurrence joined by three other justices, that there are many more ways to perform surveillance without physically trespassing on private property. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in another concurring opinion, “the Fourth Amendment is not concerned only with trespassory intrusions on property.”
Justice Alito said the court should address how expectations of privacy affect whether warrants are required for remote surveillance using electronic methods that do not require the police to install equipment, such as GPS tracking of mobile telephones.
Justice Antonin Scalia wrote: “It is important to be clear about what occurred in this case: The Government physically occupied private property for the purpose of obtaining information. We have no doubt that such a physical intrusion would have been considered a ‘search’ within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment when it was adopted.”
OK, so we are clear on the laws regarding physical intrusion on one’s private property, but what about the other ways in which one’s privacy rights can be abused? (more…)
Tags: Cellular Surveillance, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, GPS Tracking, invasion of privacy, spying, video surveillance, warrentless tracking
Posted in "Hmm.", Abuse, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, GPS Technology, privacy, Technology, U-Spy Store, U-Spy Surveillance Equipment | No Comments »
Thursday, January 26th, 2012
Chicago is installing new street light called, ”Intellistreets.” They are a bit different from your average street lights. These lights also double as surveillance monitors. They can take pictures, monitor conversations, play music, direct traffic, and send emergency signals. Homeland Security applications are included in these lights and they are being installed in a few cities, including Chicago, Pittsburgh and Detroit – all funded by the government. The first installation of the system was launched in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
Maybe we should call these lights ”Spying Street Lights.”
The system detects movement and if too much movement is detected, the police are notified.
Many citizens view this as an invasion of privacy, “creepy” and the feeling that Big Brother is watching. Others see the system as a way to keep their neighborhoods safer.
The system’s founder is Ron Harwood. He said he came up with the idea after 911 and Hurricane Katrina. Harwood is president of the company that manufactures these lights – Illuminating Concepts. In an interview with Fox News, Harwood said that if speakers are installed in the poles, authorities could speak to people to tell them what to do if there is an emergency. He also said that access to pictures/images would not be available to just anyone. He said that a police officer, city official or city employee would have to “ask” to retrieve an image from a pole and that image would be in the form of a “picture.” After Harwood’s development, he began discussions with Homeland Security.
I think we all know that law enforcement or investigators need more than a picture if they are analyzing a crime. It would seem you would need active surveillance to determine what took place during a crime. When people don’t feel they are being told everything, they aren’t going to trust the system. If the system is capable of surveillance and monitoring conversations, why would one believe that only a picture would be released to authorities? (more…)
Tags: cameras, invasion of privacy, spying, Spying Street Lights, video surveillance
Posted in "Hmm.", Abuse, eavesdropping, hidden camera, Local News, National News, privacy, safety, Security, Technology, U-Spy Store | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
Attorneys for the plaintiff, Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez, say they believe the award made Tuesday is the largest ever by a U.S. jury in a wrongful conviction case.
“Sometimes the criminal justice system makes a mistake,” said Jon Loevy, one of Jimenez’s attorneys. “In this case, we proved that’s exactly what happened.”
Indeed the criminal justice system does make mistakes. Many people are behind bars for crimes they did not commit. I just watched a program where an imprisoned man could not get help through the regular channels. He hired a private investigator who eventually dug up the truth, which turned out to be a cover-up. The man was given another trial and he was found not guilty. He had spent about 20 years in prison.
Most wrongfully convicted people are not fortunate enough to be exonerated, let alone receive the type of reward Mr. Jimenez received. Of course, you can’t put a price tag on someone’s life. You can never give back what that person lost.
The jury, after sitting through a two-week trial at the Dirksen Federal Building, deliberated for about a day. Given how quickly the jury deliberated, the evidence must have been overwhelmingly in Jimenez’s favor. (more…)
Tags: chicago crime, investigation, murder, police, wrongful conviction
Posted in Crime News, Local News, National News, U-Spy Store | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
You wouldn’t. That’s, of course, the idea. Feds and police agencies investigating bad guys don’t want them to know they’re being tracked. But what if you’re not a bad guy? Could it still happen to you? Why would you even think to look when you are not a bad guy and just going about your daily life?
The U.S. Supreme Court just ruled that police must get a search warrant before placing GPS trackers on vehicles to track criminal suspects. Although this may prevent feds and police from being able to use GPS data as evidence in court, it won’t necessarily stop them from using this technology to gain leads in gathering other evidence – evidence they will not admit to obtaining via tracking people using GPS trackers placed on vehicles.
It still remains to be seen how the Supreme Court will rule on the use of GPS technology obtained via cell phone tracking. This is an outstanding issue at this time.
In their arguments for using GPS trackers on suspect’s cars, Justice Department attorney Michael Dreeben told the court that GPS devices are very helpful especially in the initial stages of an investigation, when GPS can do the monitoring work that might be otherwise be required of a team of officers. He also argued, that GPS is (now was) only one of many police tools that don’t (now do) require a warrant; others include going through a person’s trash or following a suspect 24/7.
Cases of surprised citizens finding government GPS units on their cars aren’t everyday occurrences, but they are happening.
An Egyptian-American college student filed suit against the FBI in March for secretly putting a GPS tracking device on his car. Yasir Afifi, a California native who said he had and has nothing to hide, said a mechanic doing an oil change on his car found the device between his car’s right rear wheel and exhaust. (more…)
Tags: Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, GPS Trackers, invasion of privacy, police, spying, surveillance
Posted in "Hmm.", busted, Caught!, Electronic Countermeasures - Debugging, GPS Technology, privacy, Technology, U-Spy Store, U-Spy Surveillance Equipment | No Comments »
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
On 11/23/11, I posted a story about a case being heard by the Supreme Court. The court was hearing a case about a man, Antoine Jones, who was convicted of drug charges after the police placed a GPS tracking device on his car. The GPS tracking information was used as evidence in securing the conviction.
The GPS device installed by police on Washington nightclub owner Antoine Jones’ Jeep helped them connect him to a suburban house used to stash money and drugs. He was sentenced to life in prison before the appeals court overturned the conviction.
A federal appeals court in Washington had overturned Jones’ drug conspiracy conviction because police did not have a warrant when they installed a GPS device on his vehicle and then tracked his movements for a month.
The Supreme Court has just agreed with the appeals court.
The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that police must get a search warrant before using GPS technology to track criminal suspects.
The ruling will cause serious complications for law enforcement across the country. Law enforcement has increasingly relied on high tech surveillance of suspects, including the use of various types of satellite technology. (more…)
Tags: GPS Tracking, invasion of privacy, police, remote access, surveillance
Posted in GPS Technology, National News, privacy, Technology, U-Spy Store, U-Spy Surveillance Equipment | No Comments »
Monday, January 23rd, 2012
A Wisconsin man charged with domestic abuse told cops that a “ghost” was responsible for injuries suffered by his wife, according to police.
Michael West’s ridiculous story did not prevent police from arresting him for strangulation, battery, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest.
Police responded to a report of a domestic dispute on Jan. 15, at the West residence in Fond du Lac, Wis. Police found West’s wife crying and bleeding from the nose. Drops of blood stained areas of the kitchen and her Packers’ jersey.
According to a criminal complaint, West and his spouse got into an argument on January 15th that turned violent. The victim told cops that West twice strangled her, and that he punched her in the face when she tried to dial 911. The woman told police her husband repeatedly punched her in the face and attempted to strangle her “to the point that [her] vision went black and [she] felt like she was going to pass out.”
Police said West appeared intoxicated and was yelling and swearing at the two officers who were questioning him. The man claimed his wife had fallen several times, injuring her face and neck.
When asked specifically about the marks on the woman’s neck, West said, in slurred speech, “A ghost did it.”
West resisted arrest, but was eventually handcuffed and taken into custody. His wife told police the fight began over the impending foreclosure on their home.
Sources: MSNBC and The Smoking Gun
Tags: domestic abuse, investigation, security, Violence
Posted in "Hmm.", Abuse, crime, hard to find security equipment, Home, Personal & Travel Security, safety, Security, U-Spy Store, U-Spy Surveillance Equipment | No Comments »
Friday, January 20th, 2012
This story definitely qualifies as a “News of the Weird” story. It sounds like a comedy act rather than something that someone would actually do.
A man apparently thought the threat of an infectious disease would be enough to get a cashier to cough up cash Monday night at a Sharon Internet sweepstakes cafe. “Give me the money or I’ll touch you” was essentially the threat.
Fred L. Parker, 41, was charged with robbery and making terrorist threats for walking into Lucky’s Internet Cafe and starting to touch the walls and machines, claiming he had a staph infection.
Police Chief Mike Menster said Parker then approached the cashier and demanded money. Parker told the clerk if he didn’t cooperate, he’d touch him and infect him with the antibiotic-resistant MRSA staph infection.
“It’s our first case of robbery by threat of an infectious disease,” Menster said. I am sure it is. I don’t even think some of the bigger cities with high crime rates have ever heard this one.
Parker also gave the cashier a note identifying himself as an “officer with the U.S. gambling commission,” Menster said.
Parker told the cashier he had a deadly and highly contagious disease and offered to walk away if the cashier gave him money, police said. The cashier refused to cough up the money and Parker uneventfully left the cafe.
Customers and the cashier gave police a detailed description of Parker and he was arrested without incident a short time later at Rite Aid. Maybe he was getting medicine for his symptoms. I doubt this guy has an infection, but if he doesn’t, he may be wishing he did. He might have a better chance of beating an infection than the charges he now faces.
Parker is being held in Mercer County Jail after failing to post bond. He is awaiting a preliminary hearing set for Feb. 1.
Read story@ sharonherald
Tags: attempted robbbery, crime, investigation, Terrorism
Posted in "Hmm.", Caught!, Crime News, Criminal Foolishness, Idiot, U-Spy Store | No Comments »
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