law enforcement

KN, p. 308 “Tax Fraud”

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In 1789, Benjamin Franklin said, “Nothing is certain except death and taxes.”

237 years later? It’s still true.

April 15th is tax day in the USA. By midnight that day, the bill must have been paid, either via mail date-stamped by the Post Office, or online. After that, if you owe money and don’t send it in, penalties began to add up.

Government at every level imposes taxes in order to pay its bills. Roads, schools, civil defense, water control, government employees, and more…all get a piece of the revenue pie.

So what happens if you don’t file taxes? It is a crime not to pay and a definite no-no not to file. Since this is about money and the government needs more of it to run the programs, there are fines if you forget (or don’t want to pay), even jail time in certain cases.

Penalties

  • Not filing taxes: 5% of the tax owed for each month the return is past due.
  • More than 60 days late filing: A minimum fine of $435. Maximum fine is 25% of the total owed. (Plus the amount you owe)
  • Not paying at all: 0.5% of the unpaid taxes for each month the outstanding taxes aren’t paid, plus interest. Ouch.

The government can choose to play nice with people “who have never done this before” and there are extensions available. BUT, not everyone gets a pass and only in rare instances.

Your house burns down? Better call the tax people and get an extension in writing. Those taxes are still due and penalties still accrue, but there might be a bargain to be struck if the agent is having a good day. You might be able to negotiate a six-month extension, but you still owe the money.

 

True story: a former colleague hired a tax firm to do her taxes – fill out forms and assess the amount owed. The firm underestimated the debt and overestimated the deductions. The IRS conducts random audits and contacted her one year – after she had left the paperwork to the firm for about five years in a row. Short version: the firm had done a lousy job. She wound up paying back taxes and fines of over $20,000. Yup. Four zeros. She appealed. She was allowed to pay it back over time, but she still owed all the back money. The firm did little to help her, citing that they based their figures on the information she gave them. Hmmm.

 

How long can you avoid filing taxes?
The powers-that-be have “six years to charge you with criminal tax evasion.” It can take as long as it likes to collect the money owed. Don’t forget, there’s interest charged on top of the penalties and money owed. Jail time is possible if they get you for criminal tax evasion. It’s a felony, folks. PLUS, you’ll probably get audited for years afterward.

 

What’s the difference between evasion and avoidance?

  • Tax evasion is fraud and means that you have used illegal ways to conceal income, with fines, penalties, and possible jail time (maybe five years) if found guilty. You lied on the forms. They can even charge you for the cost of prosecution.
  • Tax avoidance uses legal ways to reduce income with tax credits and allowable deductions.

WAIT!  What counts as under-reporting?
Not reporting cash ‘under the table’ for legal or illegal activities. Whether child-care or gun-running, income is income, according to the IRS.

Cryptocurrency transactions are taxable, so if you thought there were no rules, think again.

Whistleblowers:
There is a special IRS office that pays for information leading to the arrest (and conviction) of major tax fraud perpetrators. Big bucks are at stake if money is hidden in illegal overseas accounts. If it involves a criminal organization, witness protection might be part of what happens next.

 

My advice? Pay what you owe. There are legitimate tax planners out there who can possibly help reduce your tax bill, but to evade altogether? Seriously bad idea if you’re allergic to jail and big fines.

*information source: the IRS.

 

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KN, p. 335 “What Does It Take to Work for the Secret Service?”

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The Secret Service in the USA is responsible for the protection of certain government officials and their families, as well as the safety of our financial infrastructure. Those two very different areas require a wide range of employees and abilities.

Right now, the Secret Service is looking at community college students and recent graduates for the Uniformed Police section. Signing bonuses may be involved. The Uniformed Police are in charge of guarding Federal Buildings where the protected government officials work and may live. They also have special units including sniper teams, emergency response teams, and K-9 units. Interested? You need:

  • High School Diploma
  • U.S. driver’s license
  • 20 – 37 years old
  • Be a U.S. citizen.
  • Pass a written and physical abilities test
  • Pass a background check (plus drug screening, no criminal record)
  • NO body art. In fact, if you’re interested and have a tattoo somewhere visible, it must be removed before getting accepted.
  • Attend and complete training programs
  • Be proficient and be able to use firearms

If you are more interested in becoming a Special Agent, the additional (or slightly different) qualifiers are needed:

  • 21- 37 years old, unless a Veteran, then the upper limit is 40 years old
  • Pass special vision and hearing tests
  • Qualify for Top Secret clearance
  • Agree in writing to accept assignments anywhere in the world.
  • Top grades obtained in a completed bachelor’s degree

In order to advance in your career as a Special Agent (and receive pay raises) you will have to go back to school. Before those raises or promotions come along, you will be required to have:

  • A year of graduate school
  • At least a year of well-executed investigation, protection, and law enforcement techniques. Initiative is important, as well as being able to accurately analyze evidence and come up with solid leads.
  • The ability to work well with others and take charge in some investigations.

Interested in becoming the head of a department or station? More school, more experience, dedication to the Agency, and improvement in all areas just might get you there.

In order to identify the skills that candidates hold in five different areas, they must take the timed Entrance Exam for Special Agents:

Section 1: Logic-Based Reasoning – read scenarios and the possible conclusions, then decide if those conclusions are valid.

Section 2: Experience Inventory – read descriptions of a few situations and acknowledge  whether or not they have experienced them.

Section 3: Language Usage – check documents for errors in grammar or fact.

Section 4: Experience Inventory – Given several situations and responses, the candidate must choose the responses their former bosses/teachers attributed to them as likely.

Section 5: Detail Observation – presented with several photographs to study, the candidates later respond to detail questions about the photos and other matters, without having the photos to check.

The APAT is a pre-employment physical fitness test measuring strength and endurance, among other things. It is scored on a point-based system, on a scale from 0 to 8. A minimum total score of 20 points with no zeros is needed to pass and the test is not adjusted for age or gender. These are the numbers! (from the Secret Service site)

Point Value Push-Ups Sit-Ups Illinois Agility

Run

 1.5 Mile Run
0 14 or less 22 or less 23.89 or higher 19:41 or higher
1 15-16 23-28 23.88-22.18 19:40-16:53
2 17-19 29-30 22.17-21.66 16:52-16:09
3 20-22 31-33 21.65-21.13 16:08-15:26
4 23-26 34-36 21.12-20.60 15:25-14:43
5 27-29 37-41 20.59-20.23 14:42-14:12
6 30-37 42-45 20.22-19.44 14:11-13:07
7 38-43 46-49 19.43-18.65 13:06-12:02
8 44 or more 50 or more 18.64 or lower 12:01 or lower

Special Operations Division: The Counter Assault Team  (CAT) operates within the U.S. Secret Service to provide tactical support to the President, certain government officials, certain buildings, and certain National Security Events. This group is a bit like SWAT teams and if that kind of action is what you’re looking for, be prepared to:

  • Undertake 33 weeks of Special Agent Training
  • Be assigned to the Washington Field Office (WFO)
  • Undergo an additional 9 weeks of CAT Selection and Basic Training
  • Accept that it takes anywhere from 12 to 24 months from start to finish to prep for this potentially dangerous job.
  • Have already served in a military or law enforcement position or have been a professional athlete

Candidates for an Administrative, Professional or Technical (APT) position must meet the same requirements as Secret Service agents and uniformed police in the areas of citizenship, body art, age, hearing and vision, background checks, and top secret clearances.

Likewise for The Technical Law Enforcement (TLE) jobs that include:

  • Investigative Protection Officers (IPO):
  • Protective Armored Specialists (PAS):
  • Technical Security Investigators (TSI):

Under that umbrella can be found work in Chemical Biological Countermeasures; Electronics; Explosive Ordnance Disposal; or Technical Surveillance Countermeasures.

If your interest is piqued after taking a look at these brief descriptions of the work and requirements possible within the Secret Service Agency, be aware of yet another possible detractor. Travel away from home for periods of 30 days or longer is not unusual and may in fact, if on protective duty, be hazardous to your health.

Whether in the lab, office, or out in the field, the men and women who are chosen to work for the Secret Service are highly qualified and come from all walks of life.

*Some information (and the Logo) from the Secret Service site.

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KN, p. 334 “What Does the Secret Service Do?

The United States has a federal agency called the Secret Service, tasked with the job of protecting the sitting President and Vice-President (and their families) along with other government leaders, past Presidents, and major Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates. If there are visiting Heads-of-State, it falls to the Secret Service to provide security for them while in the USA.

Vice-Presidents, their spouses and children, are protected for an additional six months after leaving office, unless the sitting President feels they need additional protection by the Secret Service. Children of former Presidents have a Secret Service detail until they reach the age of 16.

One aspect of the protection part of the job is to provide security for various federal buildings in our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., as well as the officials in them. The vice-president’s residence as well as embassies fall into that category.

Now under the umbrella of Homeland Security, the Secret Service was created in 1865 within the Treasury Department to investigate counterfeiting and other financial crimes. Today, the investigations might include work to combat credit card and bank fraud, stop identity theft, and defeat computer fraud.

Cybercrime is a major focus for several federal agencies and with the Secret Service mission mandate of “protecting the integrity of our U.S. currency” and “safeguard America’s financial infrastructure,” agents can specialize in several areas. Some might do deep dives into computer investigations, find and create code in order to further those investigations, while others use that information to interview witnesses in person and gather physical evidence.

Among other activities, Secret Service agents carry firearms, have arrest powers, and can pay rewards for information germane to an investigation. It’s important to note that interfering with a Secret Service investigation can lead to hefty fines and time in jail.

It’s up to Homeland Security to organize protection for national events where government leaders will be present, and generally the Secret Service will be the agency in charge of the planning and execution of those procedures.

Training to become a Secret Service agent starts with eleven weeks at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, where other Law Enforcement Officers also train. They study basic police skills, the law, undergo firearms and defensive training, and learn how to craft clear and concise reports.

When that training is complete, the agents move on to a Secret-Service-only training facility, where they spend four months honing their skills. This is where they will study counterfeit money detection, and investigate the methods used in credit card fraud by ‘bad actors’ in the world. There will be classes in self-preservation and special driving techniques to be used in possible high speed chases or Presidential protection details.

Training never stops. Periodically, experts in any given field applicable to the Secret Service work will conduct intensive instruction, either to update or reinforce what was taught in the past.

Recognized as a source of state-of-the-art forensic assistance for their own cases as well as those of other law enforcement agencies, the Secret Service Forensic Sciences Lab helps with document and fingerprint analysis, targeting cybercrime and financial incidents. Polygraphs, securities fraud, DNA analysis, forensic photography, forensic accounting – all might be areas of interest for the Lab. And it’s not just big business, or the country’s leaders that capture the Secret Service time and energy. They also delve into crimes against missing or exploited children, lending forensic assistance and actual investigative support when needed.

“The Secret Service employs approximately 3,600 special agents, 1,600 Uniformed Division officers, and more than 2,000 other specialized administrative, professional and technical support staff.” *

Special agents protect top U.S. and visiting foreign officials, and investigate financial crimes.

The Uniformed Division officers guard facilities in which the Secret Service protected persons reside or work.

The Technical Law Enforcement group lends support to the special agents as well as the Uniformed Division officers. 

The Civil Service Professionals support the overall protective and investigative missions.

Is there an area that interests you? *

 

*Data and categories from secretservice.gov

Up next: Qualifications needed to become part of the Secret Service.

Stay tuned.

 

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