Another Post About Phones.... You SHOULD read this.

Anything. I repeat anything you put on your phone can be seen again. This I promise you. Even things you think you deleted.

Today, we dumped an I-Phone of this shitty kid (excuse my language). Not only did he have over 1200 photos on his I-Phone, he also did not realize that he hadn't deleted incriminating evidence that the police can now use against him. There were pictures of him with brass knuckles and a couple other seriously incriminating pictures.


BRASS KNUCKLES ARE ILLEGAL WEAPONS.

So, not only did it take a while to sort through all his junky pictures.... (How many pictures of your girlfriend's nail polish and stupid text message conversations do you even need?!) but we were only looking for very specific things. To see if he was distributing marijuana, to see if we could put the brass knuckles in his hands, to see if he took any pictures at the scene of the crime.

Wanna know the best part? When you take pictures with phones, especially I-Phones for some reason, they take the latitude and longitude of the location where you took those pictures. That information is RAW data, and you can't change or remove RAW data. So this kid is basically screwed. Now, not only that, but you can get date, time, and any of those basic things you would want to know just from the picture itself. This also goes for facebook messages, videos, etc. He has provided the police with enough evidence to charge him... and they have evidence to back it up as well.

Basically, you should NEVER put anything online, or on your phone that you wouldn't want anyone to see. Especially the police. 

I am Wheel. Hear me Squeak.

So I am a part of the LEEP program. The LEEP program basically gives you money to do an internship over the summer, which is great. The internship that I have requires me to commute pretty far, and guess what. It's not cheap. So, I require the money from the LEEP program in order to get to my job two times a week. Sucks, right?

So I had to fill out allllllllll this paperwork. And I did. It was filled out and submitted before July even started. And then, on July 3, i get an email saying "I didn't get these last two pieces of paperwork from you", from my LEEP sponsorer person. Now, i had sent them in, and told her so. And forwarded the original messages back to her. This time she got them. However, she decided not to submit them to the financial office until July 8. Now, this seems like it wouldn't be a big deal.... but i needed the money to commute to work, pay for food, and for my utility bills. And because they weren't sending the money, i had to choose. Food, bills, or commute. I chose not to commute. (30$ per day) I missed an internship i love because the program that set me up with the internship wouldn't pay me on time.

So I started calling the LEEP office. Once a day, twice a day... but the head of LEEP was seemingly never there. Not at 9am, not at 11am, not at 230pm. It was seriously frustrating. I left several angry voicemails... and it took two weeks, but I finally got a response that said.... "We sent you the check, but your address doesn't exist." Let me tell you something Clark financial services... MY HOUSE EXISTS. I LIVE IN IT. IT HAS A NUMBER, AND I HAVE HAD PACKAGES DELIVERED TO ME. But no one had informed me that the check had come back to them. *I* had to call to find out that they had made the mistake, because they didn't think they had made one.

Moral of the story: Sometimes you have to be the squeaky wheel in order to get anything done.

Gun Permits

Gun permits are a really big part of working in a police station. Lots of people want gun licenses, FICs, etc. But is everyone qualified to even carry a gun? No. No they are not. Part of what I did today was input information into Pro4, the police department's archaic information system. Like... this thing is old school man. So basically, i was handed a large stack of forms and told, "Make sure all the information is right". So I did. When someone moves, gets a new phone number, a new license number, a new anything... you have to update Pro4 so that everything is accurate. Massachusetts is especially strict about gun licenses.

There are several things that you need.
-Your form, filled out with correct personal information.
           This is used to do a background check. if you fail the background check, you don't get a gun.
-A firearms safety class.
           To even receive the background check, one must first do a day long class on gun safety.
-Recommendations from responsible people.
          This is to make sure that you're not some crazy person with no criminal history who wants a gun.
-Luck.
           Once that is all done, the Chief of Police decides to grant, or not grant your request. Afterwards, you
           can get a gun, from the class that you were granted.

Talking talking talking 'bout...

Police officers love to talk and that's a fact. Walking into the station this morning, I was greeted by the Lieutenant, and two other officers in a conversation about what they do with mice after they catch them... because their kids are against them killing pests. Later, the conversation turned to hockey, and stories about the force's hockey team, and who played hockey, and who was insane and who was crazy... and then got into funny stories about retired officers.

You can learn a lot about people who like to talk and talk and talk. You learn about their personality, their family life, what kind of person they are. It's all private and yet none of it is, because all these guys are friends. When you work at a dangerous job, you learn to be friends with your co-workers real fast. You not only want them to have your backs, but you're gonna want company during those slow days where nothing is happening... and as a college student with friends, I can tell you that you talk to your friends. All the time. About pretty much everything.

And another thing. Police officers swear a lot. Not all of them, but the Lieutenant does. Everything is always "fucking shit" and "goddamn" and it's all woven into his sentences, because hey, his job is to protect, he deserves leeway on his bad language. But he NEVER EVER talks like that around his kids. Only when he's on the job.

AND THE STEREOTYPE IS TRUE! Well... less about the donuts, and more about the coffee. The officers and Lieutenant I work with have so much coffee, it's kind of unreal. But then again, they work very hard all the time, and are very tired. The coffee is to keep them awake. Makes sense now, doesn't it. (I find the officers eating pizza more than any other thing to tell you the truth).

Police Work Can Be Unfruitful At The Worst of Times

So, a couple weeks ago, I was part of a suicide case that was happening here. Now, it was pretty open and shut... except, now, the dead guy's car has gone missing! Now, the usual suspects have been found. The owner of the guy's apartment, and the Realtor who sells the apartments for the owner.

So far today, one of the officers and I went out on a ride to take a look at all the Wholesale car sellers in the area. We were on the lookout for this car, which needs to be found so that we can determine who sold it, why they sold it, and what's so important about the damn car.

It is ILLEGAL to sell someone else's car without their permission, or the permission of their immediate family... if that person happens to be dead. You don't get to just take it and sell it... even if the guy owed you money and committed suicide in the apartment you own. That's not how the law works.

These guys are pretty legit scumbags.

Don't be stupid. Follow the law or you'll get busted.

Stakeout 101

We've all seen the crime shows where you see the detectives looking all comfortable in their car while drinking coffee and they seem to be perfectly fine in whatever they're wearing, they're not complaining or having any real issues. Time seems so short and like it flies by like nothing is a problem. This is not what a stakeout is really like. Nothing like it. Using my own experience, I have created for you this list, so that when you go on your own stakeout, you'll know what TO do and what NOT to do.

Attire

Welcome to this special episode of "What Not to Wear.... on a Stakeout". You would think that this would be pretty straight forward, but it's really not to some people.

What not to wear...
-Uncomfortable clothing. You WILL be sitting in one spot for more than 3 hours.
-Bulky or heavy clothing. Again, you WILL be sitting in one spot for more then three hours. Try to be comfortable.
-Police clothing. You are on a STAKEOUT. The last thing you want to do is attract any unwanted attention, or the attention of the people you are staking out.
-Anything out of the ordinary. You'll wan to be able to blend in with a crowd. Even if you're just hanging out in your car.

What to wear....
-Comfortable clothing. Sitting in a car for three hours is already uncomfortable. Make it better on yourself.
-Dress for the weather. If it's hot, don't wear anything that you wouldn't want to be wearing outside that day. Not all cars have air conditioning.
-Dress casual. No one cares if you're wearing a nice business casual outfit. You're just shooting yourself in the foot by not dressing casually.
-Comfortable shoes. No needs for stif shoes when you can just wear sneakers and flip flops. This a stakeout. Odds you're gonna be chasing someone, little to none.

Equipment

What not to bring...
-Anything unnecessary. Seriously. This is pretty self explanatory category and covers a wide range of things. For example, you do not need to bring a cat, a baseball or a cast iron skillet with you.

What to bring...
-You WILL want to bring a pad (or several) of paper. You will want to take notes on some things.
-Lots of pens. You will drop them, you will somehow lose them in the car. No idea how or why, it just happens.
-Water or some sort of drink. You are going to want to stay hydrated. But don't drink enough that you'll constantly need to use the bathroom... especially if you're on stakeout alone.
-A snack or some food. Same kind of thing. You need energy to stay alert.
-Binoculars. You may need to see things that are far away. Surprisingly, if you're in a car, you're not necessarily visible to other people. Windshields have glares. That being said, don't bring the biggest pair of binoculars to the party. Smaller more easily concealed ones are better, especially if they have an image stabilizer.
-Your cellular device. You'll need o look normal if anyone spots you... also, it's good to keep in touch with your superiors and the rest of your team.
-Any kind of charger. Keep your electronics charged.
-Anything that could come in handy.

Attitude

 What not to think...
-"This will be a walk in the park." Sorry, but no. It will be hard to see things that you need to see, and that you need to write down... such as license plates numbers. They're hard to see on moving cars, and hard to write them down while you have to be looking at and seeing the next license plate number.... It's not easy.
-"This is going to be so exciting!" It's not going to be. You're there to watch and listen, not to make an arrest. You're going to be in that place, or car for over 3 hours, doing nothing but watching your target or taking notes, or license plate numbers. Do not expect to have any fun.
-"I'm going to see a crime take place!" Probably not. Sorry.

What to think....
"This could take a while." It can and it will. Police and Detectives will put in hundreds of stakeout hours into a single case in order to find people, get evidence and make a case. Be prepared to spend a lot of time on stakeouts.
-"I'm really helping with this case." You are helping out. Anything you see could be important. Not everything... but anything could be. You could find the car, see the act or the piece of evidence that helps crack the case.



Stakeouts are all about surveillance. Not about making the arrest. You are observing and collecting notes on the comings and goings. You are doing the boring part of police work, but although it may be boring, it is a necessary part of working certain types of cases... such as drugs and prostitution.

HOWEVER, THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF BEING ON A STAKEOUT IS ACTING NATURAL. YOU DON'T WANT ANYONE TO SEE YOU, OR MAKE YOU AS A COP. ACT. NATURAL. ACT LIKE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE THERE.

 

Don't Let Your Emotions Get the Best of You

Working on difficult cases where the victim is young, or dead, or seriously injured, or portrayed in a horrible way can be a big issue for a lot of people who are going into this kind of profession. Victims are very easy to empathize with, and you begin to feel all of these emotions that really detract from you being able to deal with the case and find evidence in a way that doesn't make you so angry that you start making mistakes.  Keeping your emotions in check is a big part of working the police, or the FBI or any kind of law enforcement agency. And keeping your emotions in check doesn't mean you don't care or empathize with the victim, what it means is that you're doing your job to the best of your ability and not letting emotions take you somewhere bad where you cannot do your job to the best of your ability.

I have been mentally preparing myself since Thursday night. This coming week, I have the opportunity to work on a large child pornography case that is relatively new, and a huge deal, thanks to the amount of child porn they actually found on this guy's hard drive. I am going to have to look at this stuff. I'm going to have to go through it in order to help nail this guy to the wall, and make sure he never gets out of jail and hurts another child, or facilitates the hurting of a child.

Right now, I am angry at this man. I'm completely pissed that he could do something like this, and I despise the fact that he has hurt these children. But at the same time, I'm working towards stepping back and getting a grip on my emotions. I need to be able to help this case. Not hinder it. And you know, it really does suck. Thinking about what this man has done just makes me flinch with disgust and it makes me feel gross on the inside and makes my skin feel so oily and gross... but I have to put that aside and just take it one moment at a time and really help make a difference in this case. More to come.