For Writers

KN, p. 235 “Crimes Against the Earth”

If there are no paragraph separations in this article, please double-click on the title to create a more readable version.

Earth Day is observed in the third week of April every year.

Remember the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) commonly known as the Superfund Act of 1980? It was passed after several disasters in the 1970s involving waste storage facilities – complete with explosions, deaths, and toxic air pollution. The Superfund was designed to supply funds to clean up hazardous waste sites identified by the Environmental Protection Agency as problematic to human health. Money for the $1.6 billion fund was raised by taxing chemical and petroleum products.

 

Six years later, after a lot of delays and out right scoffing by companies at the law, a newer, tougher version was passed. It contained more enforcement authority, a wider ability to work with State agencies and other interested parties, and was funded with $8.5 billion.

 

https://www.epa.gov/superfund/contaminants-superfund-sites

https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-cercla-overview

I lived in a town that contained a dump site situated across the street from a well-known manufacturing plant that made auto parts. After years of struggling financially, finally going out of business and sitting empty, the plant was officially closed and emptied of its machinery in 1989. To local residents, it seemed to take many years to recognize that there was a ground pollution problem at the empty plant, and then for someone to remove the leaching barrels from the property across the street. The dirt left behind was dug up, removed and then new dirt brought in. Then carrots were planted in the field to draw out the remaining toxic elements.

 

12 years later, a golf course was built in that spot, the only business that will ever be allowed to be there. It was determined that the ground and perhaps the water as well, are too toxic for homes ever to be built on the site. Contamination resulted from past manufacturing operations, including leaks from above ground and underground chemical storage tanks. The toxicity reaches into the bedrock below the ground.

 

This is one small site, less than 20 acres in size, and it took years to handle the issues involved. It cost upwards of $200 million to get it to the point where a golf course could be built there. People can be there for recreation, but can’t ever live there.

 

That scenario is duplicated all over the world in towns that have manufacturing plants. Chemical spills and pollutants have made the drinking water undrinkable in a town in Michigan, causing illness, ruining property values, creating a nightmare for the residents. The Love Canal (near Niagara Falls) was a major chemical waste site and was the source of many serious illnesses. It was also a major impetus for the 1980 Superfund Act to be passed.

 

We can chalk up a lot of the questionable handling of chemical waste to ignorance when problems first occurred decades ago. Now? Not so much. There are oversite agencies, regulations to be followed, guidelines in place. The level of enforcement varies from State to State and from one community to the next. And, yet we still have spills, still have companies making poor judgments about safe construction techniques. The Deep Water Horizon accident happened twelve years ago this month, cost BP $65 billion in overall cleanup expenses and fees, and its impact is still being felt in the Gulf area.

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/04/deepwater-horizon-bp-oil-spill/

The issues are complex. We need clothes, cars, furniture, fuel to run all of the pieces/parts of a modern society. We have limited resources on the planet. We have a growing population. Many towns around the USA recycle ‘gray’ water into public water systems (my present town included) because there is not sufficient fresh water to support a not densely populated county.

How do we balance our need for even the basic staples with our need to protect the planet from more harm, and ensure that generations to follow will have a healthy place to live?

 

Photo credit: NASA

 

KN, p. 235 “Crimes Against the Earth” Read More »

KN, p. 232 “Scotland Yard is not in Scotland.”

 

Formed in 1829 by Robert Peel, Scotland Yard is known the world over as a British police department, but it is not located in Scotland. The entrance to the first headquarters happened to be on a street called Scotland Yard, and eventually, the street and the building became known as one and the same. The New Scotland Yard is no longer in that spot, but the name has remained.

Scotland Yard is officially called the Metropolitan Police Service and is the largest police force in England. It has law enforcement jurisdiction in London, but not the City of London, the subway system, the above ground trains, or anywhere outside London.

England has no national police force. Rather, each area force is overseen by police/crime commissioners (PCC). PCCs are in charge of their own chief constable and police force, but also must be sensitive to the needs of the community that elected them. In the case of the Metropolitan Police Service, the Commissioner serves at the pleasure of the Queen, but is recommended to her by the British Home Secretary.

The Metropolitan Police duties include:

  • Detection and prevention of crime
  • Preservation of public order
  • Supervision of road traffic
  • Licensing of public vehicles

 

We (the international audience) hear more about Scotland Yard because it is the Criminal Investigation Department of the Metropolitan Police. The CID houses:

  • criminal records (of all known criminals in the UK)
  • fingerprint and photography areas
  • company fraud department
  • a mobile police unit
  • the metropolitan police lab
  • the detective-training school

It shares its investigative findings and resources with other police forces and even though it doesn’t have primary responsibility elsewhere in the UK, it sometimes gets called in on homicide and other criminal cases. It is the British liaison with Interpol (the international police organization) and all UK terrorism cases are coordinated through the Yard. One of the tools Scotland Yard relies on is a national computer system called Home Office Large Major Enquiry System – catch that? (HOLMES, as a nod to the fictional English detective).  🙂

If you are interested in becoming a detective for this renowned organization, the process is easier now than in the past. About three years ago, a shortage of Met detectives compelled the powers that be to widen their recruiting strategy. In May 2017, it was publicized that interested candidates no longer had to work as a beat officer first; they could apply directly to become a detective constable.

 

The major details:

  • Assessments and interviews required before training begins
  • Starting salary £30,000
  • Must have lived in London for three of the previous six years
  • Degree required
  • Training program will take two years
  • Benefits: free transit on the London rail, bus, and subway

You can apply from age 18 through 57 to be a new Police Constable. If you happen to want the job and you are already 57, be aware that retirement is compulsory at 60, meaning that you will have one year after the two year training period to serve as an active duty detective.


If you have a criminal background, your application won’t be considered, with few exceptions. Of interest is that sometimes your family is vetted as well, so if you have a crime boss in your background, this career is most likely a ‘no’ for you.


You must be mentally and physically fit, which includes passing the Beep (or Bleep) test. This test is mostly about running back and forth between stanchions at increasingly greater speeds in shorter periods of time during 21 levels. It’s a real cardio workout and looks much easier than it really is.


During the assessment process you will need to demonstrate characteristics required for the role of police constable. In addition to the physical and mental tests you must show:

  • Effective communication skills
  • Personal effectiveness
  • Team working capabilities
  • Respect for diversity
  • Personal awareness
  • Problem solving skills

Training takes place at Police Scotland Training and Recruitment Centers, the Scottish Police College, and at your home Division. There are periodic testing days spread throughout the two years, in both physical and academic areas.

The two year course is divided into six units relating to:

  • Police and the Community
  • Evidence
  • Crime
  • General Police Duties
  • Road Policing
  • Writing Skills

Look like something you’d like to do and are qualified for?

For more information about the requirements of the jobs and training aspects, please visit:

https://www.scotland.police.uk

http://www.metpolicecareers.co.uk/newconstable/eligibility.php

 

 

 

KN, p. 232 “Scotland Yard is not in Scotland.” Read More »

KN, p. 288 “Crime via the Post Office”

Read “Postal Inspectors: Law Enforcement Agents” here.


The United States Post Office has been around since the days of Benjamin Franklin, quietly doing a great job of delivering more mail to millions of U.S. residents than any other company, six days a week and sometimes Sundays. No other delivery company handles the volume of mail on a daily basis as the United States Postal Service. Sadly, we only hear about the USPS when something awful happens, and when nasty people take advantage of the efficient system already in place to carry out their nefarious plans.

 

Interestingly enough, the USPS can help work on postal treaties with other countries, so the rising cost of postage we have to put on packages to Canada or Europe etc., has been negotiated as part of certain economic trade packages.

 

But there is a branch of the USPS that works as a law enforcement arm: the United States Postal Inspection Service. They have special agents who are licensed to carry firearms, make arrests, and investigate suspected crime, as well as auditors who uncover fraud that targets Post Office services.

 

Benjamin Franklin was concerned about the rise in theft by the mail riders themselves, or others entrusted with safekeeping of the mail and its delivery, and in 1792, stealing the mail was considered so serious that the death penalty was imposed by Congress.

 

By the 1850s, more people headed west as the country rapidly expanded, and trains and stagecoaches were commonly used as a means to improve mail delivery throughout even the most remote territories. That move away from the one-rider-one-horse model to the speed that the train and the stagecoach provided, also created an explosion of train and stagecoach robberies. The Wild West had become a profitable place for bands of outlaws led by men like Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid. In response, the USPIS (the United States Postal Inspection Service) grew in size and experience in order to investigate, arrest, and convict the culprits responsible for the theft of thousands of dollars in mail bags and gold.

 

As the railroad companies improved security and postal inspectors were issued Thompson submachine guns in the 1920s, train robberies dropped, but criminals like the “Black Hand” and Charles Ponzi found other ways to take advantage of and sabotage the mails.

 

The “Black Hand” threatened people with bodily harm via letters if they didn’t come up with cash. Charles Ponzi, the creator of the pyramid scheme, swindled would-be postal coupon investors by promising to double their money in three months time. Even some Boston investigators sent to check out the wild interest in Ponzi’s company fell for his savvy pitch and invested their hard-earned money. In reality, all he did was collect big bucks from people, then get new ‘investors’ to hand over their cash, which Ponzi gave to the old investors as return on their investments – which meant that he was always upside down financially. By the time he was convicted, he had $110 million on hand, but owed $200 million to the investors. The people that cashed out early were fortunate. The people last in line lost everything.

The USPIS has broken up art fraud rings, helped capture Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber), and partnered with the FBI to investigate the mailing of the four deadly Anthrax letters sent in 2001.

 

Be reassured that after the spate of bomb deliveries to unsuspecting customers, dogs have been employed, along with other explosive detection devices, to sniff out the deadly packages before they ever leave the postal delivery hubs.

 

The USPIS website mentioned examples of fraud they have uncovered, including a trucking contractor defrauding the Postal Service of $1.5 million in fuel rebates; a highway route contractor defrauding the Postal Service of $120,468 for services not rendered; and a construction contractor charging the Postal Service $175,630 for work never done. Shaking my head at the stupidity of people thinking they could get way with not paying the taxes and fees.

 

The USPIS investigates and prosecutes cases of:

  • Consumer fraud (including sports memorabilia – game jerseys not worn by the star)
  • Counterfeit money orders and stamps
  • Misrepresentation of items sold through the mail
  • Money laundering
  • Cybercrimes (committed online, generally using computers or handheld devices, almost always involving the postal system. The criminal commits identity theft, gathers financial and other information, then uses that information to contact unsuspecting targets through emails to pitch large $$ scams.)


Drugs thru the mail:
Pharmacies have delivered prescriptions to law-abiding citizens for decades, but they are not the only ones using the system. Drug cartels have discovered how well the USPS operates, so the USPIS works with US Customs and Border Protection, and other federal agencies to stop the almost epidemic cases of opioid mail delivery.

The Postal Inspectors have employed time honored methods to catch the bad guys:

  • Collect the evidence
  • Identify the suspects
  • Work with the National Forensic Lab to develop a fact pattern that they can take to a U.S. Attorney

  

There are hundreds of cases that have been investigated and solved with the involvement of the United States Postal Inspection Service. Please check out www.uspis.gov for some great information about how the Post Office helps you every day. If you’re interested in the training the Postal Inspectors undergo, or how to become one, check them out.

 

*Photos and logo courtesy of the USPIS.

 

 

 

KN, p. 288 “Crime via the Post Office” Read More »

Scroll to Top