crime

KN, p. 143 “On the Road – Hotel Safety”

 

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Dead tired at the end of a long day on the road?

Can’t wait to fall into bed after a completely exhausting day in the sun or at the ball park or the festival?

Before your head hits the pillow in that hotel, remember to check a few things:

Room Security  Before going to sleep or leaving the room, make sure:

  • The hallway door is locked, bolted, and chained when staying in.
  • The door actually latches and the locks click into place every time you close the door.
  • The privacy card has been placed outside the door on the handle or inserted into the key card slot whether staying in or leaving to go to breakfast, etc.

Before opening the hallway door to anyone:

  • Check the peep hole in the door to see who is there – the staff is trained to stand back from the door so that you can see them.
  • Check ID of the person at the door while the door is still closed.
  • If unsure or suspicious of the person’s ID, call the front desk.
  • Don’t let the children answer the door. Chances are, they aren’t tall enough to see out the peep hole.

Keep your room key in your pocket/pocketbook while out of the room.

  • Don’t flash the key around or leave it on the restaurant table.
  • Thieves look for careless tourists at the resorts that still use actual keys.
  • Don’t tell strangers your room number or the name of your hotel.

FYI:

If you are concerned about leaving personal property/electronics/cameras in the room while you are out having fun, remember…

You don’t have to let the housekeeping staff do your room every day. You can place full trash cans in the hallway next to the door, get more towels from the housekeeping staff, and leave the privacy tag on the corridor door. If you don’t need more towels or coffee kits or need the sheets to be changed, then housekeeping will stay out of your room, and lessen the likelihood of strangers having access to your things. Am I paranoid? No, just the victim of theft by the housekeeping staff at two different major resorts. Using the room safe would not have been possible – not big enough.

 

Fire exits and safety tips

Major hotels display small floor maps on the back of the entrance door to your room. Check out the emergency exit route before you need it.

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These days, all hotels (even the local Bed & Breakfasts) should have fire sprinkler systems in place throughout the building in order to receive their permits to operate. Most also have smoke detectors in every room.

But, what do you do if you suspect a fire and no alarm has sounded?

  • Touch the hallway door to see if it is hot.
  • If it is cool, open the door carefully and look in the corridor.
  • If it’s clear, take your room key with you, close the door and get down on the hallway floor, making your way to the exit stairs, not the elevator.
  • If it gets smoky in the staircase, turn around and head up to another floor, then cross to a different staircase to head down and out.

What if you think the fire is right outside your door – raging between you and the exit route?

  • Touch the hallway door and if it is hot, stay put and call the operator.
  • If the hotel phone is not working, use your cell phone and call 911 and give the name of your hotel, and your room number.
  • Then fill the bathtub with water, wet the sheets and stuff them into the hallway door gaps and all the vents in the room that are sending out smoke.
  • Cover your mouth with a wet hand towel.
  • Try to stay calm and wait for help to come to you.

Be smart about your own security and you’ll have more fun on vacation!

 

*Photos by Patti Phillips

 

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KN, p. 234 “Do you want to be an FBI Agent? Part 2”

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

“Do you want to be an FBI Agent? Part 1” highlighted the backgrounds of two former FBI Special Agents, their differing career paths, salary, and job aspects. Bucky and Chris Cox continued to chat, revealing more agency specifics and notes about a wide range of cases that the FBI oversees, in Part 2. Take a look:

 

FIELD OFFICE PERFORMANCE

Every field office undergoes performance reviews. The FBI is a statistic driven agency. Among other things, internal inspectors count the number of arrests and convictions at each office, looking for reasonable numbers of completed cases, and how efficiently they were concluded. But, the type of crimes is taken into consideration. While a specialist in bank robberies might clear 10-15 cases a year, white collar cases such as bank fraud, health care, or telemarketing can take longer to investigate and prosecute because of their complexity and the fact that they may be occurring in more than one State. Agents also have to prove that the suspect knowingly and willfully committed the crimes.

 

There are mandatory reports to be written after a case is completed. The standard rule applies: “If there is no paperwork, it didn’t happen.” Forms MUST be filled out so that people can be prosecuted and a decision can be made on what parts of the evidentiary findings can be more solidly prosecuted and whether the case will be tried in a federal or state court.

 

If you think this is a 9 to 5 profession, it’s not. There are many wakeup calls in the middle of the night because an agent is on duty 24/7. FBI agents may be called to other States or even to other countries beyond the home base if the case takes them there. If you are counting on a permanent posting in one city, look elsewhere for a career.

 

When applying to attend the Academy, you won’t be able to hide anything in your background and will have absolutely no secrets from your employers. Because of Robert Hansen, an FBI agent who was a spy for the Russians on and off from 1979 until 2001, there are now polygraphs administered at the beginning of the application process as well as several times during a career in order to avoid further infiltrations by a foreign agent. Your personnel file is available to the Defense Attorney that represents the suspects (defendants) in the cases you work on, so if you have Lack of Candor (you lied or covered up a mistake during your career) in your file, you can be discredited on the stand in court. Agent credibility is essential for successful prosecution of the case.

 

The FBI’s Wide Variety of Cases 

KIDNAPPINGS

After 24 hours, kidnappings that cross state lines come under FBI jurisdiction – use of the telephone or email can make it an interstate crime. The FBI is called in (usually by the police) because of their expertise, resources, ability to negotiate, and quick access to required warrants. The FBI can’t tell families whether to pay any ransom or not, but there is surveillance on the payout if that choice is made.

 

FYI – In general, international kidnappings are handled by negotiators working for the big companies whose employees have been snatched.

 

BOMBINGS

If the FBI is the lead agency, the teams will arrive after First Responders have secured the scene. If the mail is involved, then Postal Inspectors will work the case as well, but if not, then the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) unit and an Evidence Response Team (ERT) will be involved. There is some negotiation between the different agency teams so that no duplication of effort occurs.

DEATH ON THE JOB

People see agents depicted as tough and resilient, but let’s face it, field work can be dangerous. Chasing and apprehending fugitives sometimes includes guns and shooting. Bank robberies and other crimes can involve hostages and lethal force.

 

DUPLICATE DRUG INVESTIGATIONS

It doesn’t often happen, but various other government agency investigations might target the same or overlapping drug cartels. Blue on blue conflict can be very risky, so big cities have de-confliction rooms. Before a big bust, someone checks a database for scheduled buys, so that law enforcement agencies aren’t tripping over each other at the scene.

 

COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION

For people doing the day-to-day work, it’s not about the politics, but agents are cast in the same light as Senior Management. That can happen even if the agents personally might have nothing to do with what’s unfolding in Washington, DC or elsewhere in the world. The FBI played no part in the Rodney King events, but after the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, a big bank case came up. A juror on that case said, “If the LAPD can lie, so can the FBI” and that works both ways.

 

WHITE COLLAR CRIME

White-collar crime refers to fraud perpetrated because of a desire for financial gain. Some scams have cost companies/investors billions of dollars and wiped out entire life savings. Among others, the FBI has investigated cases involving money laundering, securities and commodities fraud, bank fraud and embezzlement, election law violations, telemarketing fraud, and health care fraud. They have worked with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the IRS, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Treasury Department to catch the worst offenders.

Corporate Fraud is a serious threat to the economy and the FBI concentrates on cases that involve accounting schemes designed to deceive everyone about the true financial condition of a company. Agents specializing in white collar crime look for bogus accounting entries, and fake/illegal trades rigged to protect the trader or avoid regulation. They keep an eye out for insider trading, misuse of corporate property, and tax fraud.

 

LOVE IN THE BUREAU

Relationships have been known to begin within the agency, because not many people outside law enforcement understand/accept the demands of the job. For FBI couples that marry, if both spouses are street agents, the relationship is not an issue. But, if one or the other reaches management level, one can’t supervise the other. If a slot opens up where a spouse is posted, the other can apply, but there is no guarantee that the married applicant will get it.

 

WRITE ALL ABOUT IT?

Everyone must sign a non-disclosure agreement because they can never talk about classified cases. There is a special unit that handles whether or not an agent can write about something – all manuscripts must go through pre-publication review. The only cases that can be written about are those closed cases which are part of the public record. Also, former agents are not allowed to write about investigative techniques or their sources.

 

Besides being a top investigator, AN AGENT IS:

  • a sales person (must be able to sell yourself and your case to the Assistant US Attorney, Judge, and Jury)
  • a communicator (talk, write a convincing document, listen well)
  • a business owner (how much will it take to run the case)

 

Ready to sign up?

Many thanks to Bucky and Chris Cox for generously sharing their time and knowledge about the details of the job of Special Agent in the FBI.  🙂

 

*Photo credits: official photos from the FBI     

 

 

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KN, p. 167 “What does a U.S. Marshal do?”

 

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The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) has been around for over 230 years, created by the first Congress to protect/serve the federal courts and make sure the orders of the President, Congress, and Judges were carried out across the United States. It is the country’s oldest federal law enforcement agency.

I never thought of US Marshals as census takers, but up until 1870 they did that in addition to arresting fugitives and serving subpoenas. Over the years they have also been asked by Congress and the President to capture fugitive slaves, swap spies with the Soviet Union, chase the bad guys, control riots – the basic idea being to help the government run more smoothly when nobody else has been quite qualified to do the job across State lines.

An interesting aspect of their history is that at first, US Marshals answered to the Secretary of State. In 1861, they fell under the Attorney General’s office and then in 1961, became an entity of their own with a Chief Marshal in charge. It has always been the enforcement arm of the federal courts and operates within the Department of Justice. 

The 94 US Marshals are appointed by the President and handle the enforcement duties for the 94 federal court districts and the 12 circuits of the US Court of Appeals. They employ over 5,200 deputy Marshals, criminal investigators, administrative employees, and detention enforcement officers. They are in charge of:

  • Judicial Security
  • Fugitive Operations
  • Asset Forfeiture
  • Prisoner Transportation
  • Witness Security

 

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Judicial Security

Since the federal courts preside over cases that involve terrorists groups, organized crime, and other presumed seriously dangerous defendants as well as high profile extortion/fraud cases, the judges, lawyers, and even litigants involved are sometimes the target of violence.

It’s the job of the US Marshal Service to prevent the violence and also to protect the public, witnesses, jurors, prisoners, and innocent bystanders.

In addition, the USMS: 

  • Coordinates security for judicial conferences.
  • Protects Supreme Court justices and the deputy Attorney General outside of Washington.
  • Provides support to the Department of State Diplomatic Security Service with protective details for foreign officials while the U.N. is in session.
  • Manages the security services that provide court security officers who screen visitors at building entrances.
  • Provides information to federal, state, local, and international law enforcement partners about judicial security, including threat assessment and training.

Fugitive Operations

In 2015, the USMS arrested over 99,000 fugitives.

They cleared over 119,000 warrants.

Asset Forfeiture

The Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture Program seeks to disrupt criminal actions by taking away the means of doing business, while returning property to its rightful owners.

The U.S. Marshals Service helps identify and evaluate the proceeds of crime. They manage and sometimes auction off items as varied as real estate, businesses, cars, jewelry, art, antiques, boats, and planes.

Proceeds from the sales go to operate the program, reimburse victims, and fund various law enforcement operations.

Some of the other agencies that participate in the Asset Forfeiture Program are: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; FBI; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Food and Drug Administration; Department of Agriculture Office of the Inspector General.

Prisoner Transportation

In 2015, over 261,000 prisoners were transported by air and on land by the USMS.

The U.S. Marshals’ Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System handles over 700 cases a day between judicial districts and correctional institutions in the U.S., for the purpose of getting witnesses to trial or prisoners to jail.

JPATS has its own fleet of aircraft to move prisoners over long distances and is the only government-operated, regularly-scheduled passenger airline in the USA. Both military and civilian law enforcement agencies can use the planes for their prisoner transport – if space is available and only if the USMS is reimbursed.

Witness Security

The U.S. Marshals Service operates the federal Witness Security Program, sometimes called the Witness Protection Program, or WitSec.

Its primary role is to protect government witnesses and their immediate family members (sometimes innocent bystanders and sometimes criminals themselves) whose lives are in danger because of their cooperation in investigations and trials.

For more information about the US Marshal Service, visit www.usmarshals.gov

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Future posts will discuss:

  • Qualifications and training needed to become a US Marshal
  • WitSec

 

 

*Photo credit: Wikipedia

 

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