Teacher charged with rape of student www.privateofficer.com

Halls TN. April 18 2008 – Police say that a Halls High School teacher has been arrested on charges of sexual battery and statutory rape of a female student.
Deputies and investigators arrested Corey Dehart, 43, Wednesday after investigating a complaint that they received from a student about sexual activity with a teacher at the school.
The student told authorities Dehart sexually assaulted her in 2007.
A Knox County grand jury indicted Dehart on the charges Tuesday.
Dehart was released from the Knox County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
As with all sexual abuse cases the name of the student is not being released.

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Halls TN. April 18 2008 – Police  say that a Halls High School teacher has been  arrested on charges of sexual battery and statutory rape of a female student.

Deputies and investigators arrested Corey Dehart, 43, Wednesday after investigating a complaint that they received from a student about sexual activity with a teacher at the school.

The student told authorities Dehart sexually assaulted her in 2007. 

A Knox County grand jury indicted Dehart on the charges Tuesday. 

Dehart was released from the Knox County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

As with all sexual abuse cases the name of the student is not being released.

Correction officer busted in drug sting www.privateofficer.com

Correction officer charged in drug sting www.privateofficer.com

Indianapolis IND. April 18 2008

By: Rick McCann

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com
A Pendleton corrections officer is still in jail after being arrested last night by Indiana State Police.
Investigators, working a drug investigation say that they arrested Tracy McGrady at the Fortville CVS.
Police found a total 3.2 pounds of Marijuana in McGrady’s car and house. Police estimate the prison value of the drugs is around $20,000. Police say McGrady hid the drugs in containers of frozen food in order to smuggle them into the prison.
Police got a tip from another employee inside the prison and officers soon began to investigate the allegation which soon led to a meeting between McGrady and undercover agents.
“It maybe stopped a guard from getting stabbed or assaulted because now they won’t fight or dispute over somebody not giving them dope or money because we got their dope and money,” Indiana State Police Detective Bob May said.
McGrady faces charges of bribery, trafficking with an inmate, official misconduct and possession of marijuana over 30 grams. She was also issued an automatic $5,000 fine.
Police did not say if other arrests would be made in this case or if anyone else at the prison is suspected of being involved or if any of the inmates face any type of actions by prison officials or police.
McGrady has been an employee at the Pendleton Correctional Facility since 2003.

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Sheriff Joe fights crime and politics www.privateofficer.com

Sheriff Joe battles crime and politics www.privateofficer.com

Sheriff Joe battles crime and the local mayor
Phoenix AZ. April 18 2008
The war of words between Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio continued Wednesday as Gordon blasted the sheriff for not tracking down thousands of criminals running free in the Valley.
During his annual State of the City address, the mayor criticized Arpaio for cracking down on suspected illegal immigrants instead of pursuing the “40,000 felony warrants sitting on his desk.”
“Rounding up those people should be a priority,” he said during the address. “Instead, he has created a sanctuary county for felons with his reckless priorities – that target brown skin and cracked taillights – instead of killers and drug dealers.”
Not to be outdone, the sheriff’s office sent a letter to Gordon stating that he could take over law enforcement responsibilities for the town of Guadalupe, which has asked for the Phoenix police to come in following a recent raid targeting illegal immigrants there.
“I’m not sure why the City of Phoenix would want to subsidize Guadalupe during a time of budget constraints and personnel shortages, but that’s not my call,” Capt. Tim Campbell stated in the letter. “If you choose to do so, we will gladly give you the keys to the substation and redeploy our deputies.”
Currently, the small town of mostly Hispanic and Yaqui Indian residents pays the sheriff’s office about $1.2 million each year to patrol its streets.
The two high-profile officials have been sparring publicly since Arpaio started sending his deputies into predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods last month to conduct “crime suppression” operations.
During the raids, deputies pull over drivers for minor traffic violations and arrest any suspected illegal immigrants.
Gordon has characterized them as “made-for-TV stunts” during an election year and sent the U.S. Attorney’s Office a letter calling for an investigation into potential civil rights violations by the sheriff’s office.
Arpaio has rejected that notion and defends his actions by saying he is stepping in to enforce federal immigration laws where local police agencies have failed.
In related events, a Scottsdale resident who is a member of the sheriff’s posse filed a complaint with the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Tuesday accusing Gordon of deliberately trying to stop Arpaio from enforcing federal immigration law.
Bill Crawford, who owns Basic Fitness Gym in Scottsdale, said he is acting as a private citizen, and not on Arpaio’s behalf.
Rep. Ben Miranda, D-Phoenix, is planning a news conference today to show his support for Gordon. Miranda said he and other state lawmakers intend to send the U.S. Attorney’s Office letters asking for an investigation of the sheriff’s actions.

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74 year old woman arrested in airport disturbance www.privateofficer.com

74 Year old woman arrested during airport disturbance www.privateofficer.com

Palm Beach Fla. April 18 2008

By:Rick McCann

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com
A 74-year-old widow in a rush to catch a flight is now accused of refusing to be checked by security officers at Palm Beach County International Airport and shoving one of them.
Police say that Elena Reichman of west of Boca Raton, was uncooperative when TSA agents tried to question her and do a secondary search after she set an alarm off.
Reichman was in the airport to catch a flight to New York for Passover when she set off the metal detector at about 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Paul Miller said.Transportation Security Administration workers told her they would have to do a secondary screening, and Reichman refused, according to her arrest report.
She started screaming and being abusive,” Miller said. TSA agents tried to explain that she had set off the alarm and for security reasons they needed to find out why.Reichman told security officers a pin with money she had on inside her clothing set off the detector, Miller said.

She was taken to a private room where Deputy Margaret Picerno was called in to help the TSA calm her down, Miller said.”

She started screaming and grabbed the arms of the deputy and shoved her,” Miller said.Reichman was then arrested.”

Everybody wanted her to get on the plane and go on her way,” Miller said. “She did this and brought this all on herself.”

Reichman who faces a felony charge of battery on a law enforcement officer, posted a $3,000 bond at 5 a.m.

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Understaffed campus police force questions future www.privateofficer.com

The Chronicle
By: Rob Copeland

Durham NC. April 18 2008

As the Duke University Police Department grapples with a slew of recent departures, some officers question the safety of students, faculty and staff.

In the event of a catastrophe such as an on-campus shooting, some officers speculate that the results would be tragic.”There would be a much larger loss of life than necessary,” one officer said. Officers interviewed for this story spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of professional consequences.Nearly one-third of the DUPD force has left in the past two years. That loss would have been difficult at any time, but the crime uptick since last Fall has only heightened the importance of the problem.Some of the activity has occurred close or adjacent to campus, in areas where DUPD maintains an extended jurisdiction agreement with the Durham Police Department. Administrators said the surge in off-campus crime is drawing officers away from the Gothic Wonderland and more frequently into the streets of the Bull City.

Frustrations at new policiesThe past two days, The Chronicle has examined the escalating rate of attrition among DUPD officers.

For some officers, the answer to these problems is simple: a leadership change, and the sooner the better.Aaron Graves, associate vice president for campus safety and security, arrived at Duke in January 2006 from the University of Southern California, where he was chief of public safety. Some officers say his tenure here should be a short one.

For others, it is less clear-cut.”In my experience, there are many reasons why people choose to leave a police department, including retirement, opportunities for higher compensation or different working conditions at a municipal police force,” retiring DUPD Director Robert Dean-a four-decade department veteran-wrote in an e-mail. “I know that some of those who have left had decided to do so before new management came to Duke.”Graves declined repeated requests to be interviewed for this article. In a brief telephone conversation, he said he was examining the issues within the department.Leadership, however, is not the only concern for some officers. They said they are worried about the frequency and area of off-campus patrols, the use of contract security to cover for commissioned officers and a new policy change that some officers say takes power out of their hands and puts it in the central office.

That policy-explained in an internal memo from Dean dated Sept. 12-orders officers to seek permission from a senior staff member on duty before taking suspects into custody.”I am concerned that inadequate supervision has created a lack of credibility in the eyes of many in our community,” Dean wrote in the memo. “This has been further exacerbated by the perception that we and the Durham Police Department are ‘Out to get Duke Students.’…. It is a baseless accusation. Nevertheless it is a very real perception.”The policy leads to a conflict of interest, one officer said, as public relations concerns or other motives may be prioritized over student safety.The University’s interests often aren’t morally or ethically right, the officer added. He offered as an example Duke’s tendency to reduce off-campus patrols to avoid a public perception of the University acting unilaterally against the Durham community.

In that case, the potential for harm to Duke’s reputation triumphed over patrols that could have protected students and staff in the surrounding area, he said. Following the death of graduate student Abhijit Mahato Jan. 18, however, patrols have been restored in full, officers said.’I don’t think we are in a crisis’Top administrators aren’t tipping their hands about possible leadership changes. Executive Vice President Tallman Trask will only say that he is leaving all options on the table.”Would Duke officers on patrol have prevented what happened to Mahato? I don’t think so,” he said. “I don’t want to be alarmist, and I don’t think we are in a crisis.”Trask said he recognizes the urgency of the issue, but said students, faculty and staff are safe.Kemel Dawkins, vice president for campus services, said he expects to complete a full assessment of the issues in DUPD by summer, as Sibson Consulting-hired by the University in February-completes its analysis.

Meanwhile, the University is relying on more contract security workers, under the belief that some tasks may be adequately performed without fully commissioned officers, Trask said.Approximately three years ago, Duke began using 10 to 20 AlliedBarton contract security workers to supplement DUPD officers. The recent increase in highly visible off-campus crimes has led to increased use of the strategy.”

In the wake of several of these incidences of assaults off campus, additional patrolling was done by Duke police officers off campus, which meant that some of the roles they were filling on campus were being backstopped by security officers,” Dawkins said. “So what we’ve done is attempted to rotate our forces to where we perceive there to be significant problems.”He added that student safety is “absolutely not” at risk with fewer DUPD officers on campus. Some DUPD officers, however, disagree with the University’s use of AlliedBarton security. One officer referred to the contract security workers as “paper tigers” and suggested that the lower cost of using them may be a factor in the University’s decision-making process-an assertion Dawkins denied.”They are not a deterrent,” one officer said of contract security. “Sometimes a gun is necessary.”Too soon to tellIt is too early to draw conclusions about changes to crime numbers since Graves’ arrival.Figures are only available through the end of 2006, and information from 2007 will not be released until October, when it must be available as mandated by the Clery Act, Maj. Gloria Graham, DUPD’s operations commander, wrote in an e-mail.

Available statistics paint an unclear picture of campus safety. Only three indices saw significant changes from 2005 to 2006. Burglaries inched up from 44 incidents to 49. Forcible sexual offenses, however, halved from eight to four, and liquor law violation referrals dropped by more than 150 to 294.Some officers said little substantial progress on Duke’s preparedness for an emergency has been made since the shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007, although the University has announced a number of emergency notification improvements. Ultimately, officers who expressed concerns about leadership said they are motivated to speak out by the feeling that DUPD’s retention problem may ultimately wreak havoc on campus security.

“We’re talking about the safety of the student body and employees,” one officer said. “We’re going to be in jeopardy.”

Private police chief found not guilty www.privateofficer.com

Private police chief found not guilty of assault www.privateofficer.com

CASHIERS NC April 18 2008

By: Bryan Hill

Security News Magazine

www.privateofficer.com – A private police chief who had been accussed of assaulting a woman in 2007 has been found innocent. A judge found the owner of a company that provides police services in three counties not guilty of hitting a woman at a bar.
David Finn, 62, owner of Blue Ridge Public Safety, had been charged with assault on a female. His company provides law enforcement services to homeowners’ associations and private businesses.

Judge Steven Bryant acquitted him of the charge Monday after a daylong trial, attorney Sean Devereux said.
“Mr. Finn is grateful for his day in court,” he said. “He has waited nine months to tell his side of the story.”
The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation charged Finn on Jan. 16 after investigating a claim that he hit the woman months earlier during a party at Mica’s Restaurant and Pub in Cashiers. The woman reported an assault to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. Officials there called in the SBI.
There has been some some political harsh words between Finn and the sheriff’s office in the past and Finn had filed a lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Jimmy Ashe personally for interfering with his business before he was charged with assault.

In the lawsuit, filed Oct. 7, Finn claimed Ashe lobbied against legislation Finn supported as president of the state’s Company Police Association in 2006.
He also claimed that the sheriff told his clients to stop using his service in an effort to derail a deal to sell part of his company for $1.5 million.
Ashe, in his response to the lawsuit, denied the allegations.
“For a misdemeanor assault, this case received an extraordinary amount of personal attention from Sheriff Ashe,” Devereux said. “You would think he had more serious matters to attend to.”
District Attorney Michael Bonfoey said the SBI was called to investigate because of the civil matter between Finn and the sheriff. The SBI normally does not handle misdemeanor crimes.
Devereux praised the prosecutor’s office, saying Assistant District Attorney Melissa Jackson “handled the matter very professionally and efficiently.

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Retailer charged in theft scheme www.privateofficer.com

Minneapolis MN. April 18 2008
A Cottage Grove man who sold stolen DVDs and electronic equipment on the Internet and through a retail outlet in Oakdale has been charged in federal court with trafficking in stolen property.
John T. Jundt, CEO of InetDVD.com, was charged by federal prosecutors on Wednesday with buying and selling more than $100,000 in stolen merchandise between August 2006 and Sept. 15, 2007.
The Star Tribune reported in December that state and federal investigators had traced millions of dollars in stolen DVDs, video games and high-end electronics gear to organized shoplifting gangs and two east metro retail stores that sold their goods on the Internet.
Nearly 100 so-called “boosters” are suspected of stealing the merchandise from Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy stores throughout the Midwest and selling it to the east metro companies for pennies on the dollar. Investigators seized two semitrailer loads of merchandise from the stores in late September.
The charging document, known as a felony information, was made public this morning. When defendants are charged in this manner, rather than by a federal grand jury indictment, it generally indicates that they are cooperating with authorities.
Besides InetDVD, the other retailer was identified as Media Exchange 123 in Woodbury’s Valley Creek Mall.
U.S. Postal Inspector Troy Sabby said the businesses, which are not related, had been reselling the stolen property as high-quality “used” goods through eBay, Amazon.com and their own Internet and retail outlets. Most of the suspected shoplifters have criminal records, he said.
The busiest shoplifting ring had about 30 people and delivered an estimated retail value of $3 million, said Woodbury detective Chris Huhn, who launched the investigation.
Jundt, 31, could not be reached today for comment. But he said earlier that he was cooperating with authorities and had voluntarily ceased operations.
Media Exchange owner Christopher Janota declined to comment on the case. “I haven’t heard anything for months. I guess I’m not going to comment on pending litigation,” said Janota, 39, of St. Paul.

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Elderly woman found guilty of murder for profit www.privateofficer.com

from the LA Crime Wire
LOS ANGELES CA. April 18 2008 – In a case that has drawn worldwide attention, a 77-year-old woman was convicted Wednesday of killing two homeless men in a chilling, slow-motion plot to collect $2.8 million in life insurance. Her 75-year-old co-defendant was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit murder, and the jury still was considering two murder charges and a second conspiracy count against her.
Helen Golay, who was convicted of murder, and Olga Rutterschmidt, found guilty on the conspiracy charge, were accused of plucking Kenneth McDavid and Paul Vados off the streets, fraudulently gaining millions in insurance coverage, putting them up in apartments for two years until insurance companies’ legal deadline to contest the fraud expired, and then having them run over in dark alleys.
Golay faces life in prison without possibility of parole. She buried her face in her hands as the verdicts were read.
Rutterschmidt faces 25 years to life for the conspiracy conviction. She put her chin in her hand and glanced around the courtroom as the jury’s decision was delivered.
From the start, the defendants’ advanced age kept the case in headlines, drawing comparisons to the film “Arsenic and Old Lace.” The killings came to be known as the “Black Widow” murders.
Experts said there was no point in seeking the death penalty against them because they probably will die in prison during the lengthy appeal process. A plea bargain also was out; any prison

term would be a life sentence for the women.
Only 206 women in California’s prison system are 60 or older, but Golay and Rutterschmidt would not set a record. The oldest is an 84-year-old at the California Institution for Women in Chino, said Wendy Still, associate director for female programs at the Department of Corrections.
After two years in custody, Golay and Rutterschmidt appeared frail during the trial in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Prosecutors said Golay, a former real estate agent, and the Hungarian-born Rutterschmidt, who once owned a coffee shop with her late husband, targeted the most vulnerable people in society because their deaths would not raise a stir.
Golay and Rutterschmidt had known each other for at least 20 years before their arrests, police and others say. They allegedly were partners in a number of bogus lawsuits and petty crimes before embarking on the murder scheme, authorities say.
Golay fronted the money for the enterprise, and is believed to have pocketed most of the insurance proceeds, which infuriated Rutterschmidt, according to acquaintances and investigators.
No witnesses to either killing came forward, and details about the killings were scant, leaving prosecutors to build a painstaking case based on fragments of testimony and a long paper trail of insurance documents and rent checks.
Prosecutors said the similarities between the two deaths were too uncanny for mere coincidence. The Los Angeles Police Department concluded the deaths were connected after McDavid’s death when two investigators bumped into each other, compared notes and realized the same pair of odd women had claimed the bodies.
Vados and McDavid were insured for millions by Golay and Rutterschmidt, who claimed to be the cousin and fiance of the deceased.
Jurors also heard damaging statements from the defendants, even though neither took the stand. A conversation at Los Angeles police headquarters immediately after their May 2006 arrests on fraud charges was secretly videotaped, and the recording was played for the jury.
On the 30-minute tape, an animated Rutterschmidt angrily bangs on a table, shakes her finger and accuses Golay of inviting scrutiny by greedily piling on numerous insurance policies.

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Former police officer nabbed for shoplifting again www.privateofficer.com

EAST LONGMEADOW April 18 2008

Kyle T. Greene

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com – A former Springfield police officer was charged yesterday for attempting to shoplift $208 in baby formula and over-the-counter medicine from a supermarket less than a month after his arrest on similar charges in Wilbraham, police said.
Robert C. Jacobson, 52, of Springfield, was charged with shoplifting and assault and battery at about 10:30 a.m., East Longmeadow police said.
The assault and battery charges stem from a struggle with a security guard who confronted him in the Big Y store at 441 North Main St., police said

He was found with $208 in baby formula and two over-the-counter medications, Claritin and Prolisec, police said.
Jacobson was arraigned yesterday at Palmer District Court. Information on the arraignment was not available.
The arrest yesterday comes less than a month after he was charged with shoplifting March 20 at the Home Depot in Wilbraham.
Wilbraham police said he placed a can of paint and a ceiling fan, valued at $118.43, in a cart and tried to exchange them at the returns desk for cash. The items matched a receipt that he found in a shopping cart, police said.
He pleaded innocent at his arraignment and was released. He was due back in court for that charge on May 20.
Jacobson retired in November from the Springfield Police Department after a 27-year career.
He was the president of Local 364 International Brotherhood of Police Officers and his most recent assignment was as a community policing officer for the city’s South End.
Jacobson received a letter of recognition in 2000. In 1995, Jacobson was off duty when he rushed into a burning apartment building with two other officers to evacuate tenants.

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Ohio calls for stricter shoplifting laws www.privateofficer.com

Ohio retailers call for stricter shoplifting laws www.privateofficer.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio April 18 2008
Grocery and retail store owners want Ohio lawmakers to help crack down on organized crime that does large-scale shoplifting.

State senator Bill Seitz says it’s more than petty shoplifting than prompted him to support the legislation.

Teams of crooks that police call organized retail thefts have been caught on tape sweeping the shelves of valuable goods.

Retailers are asking for help.

The plan allows prosecutors to more easily use racketeering laws against thieves and enhances the possibility of felony sentencing.

It even allows retailers to sue for triple damages against crooks as well.

Jason Sams works for an Akron market that helped bust up a ring that traveled and fenced products where they could.

He says they found they were going to Canada as well as other places.

The bill was just introduced and will go a set of hearings before House and Senate members consider making it law.

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Fleeing shoplifters flip car during pursuit www.privateofficer.com

Shoplifter rolls car during police chase
Waveland MS. April 18 2008

Kyle T. Greene

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com

A routine shoplifting case turned into a car chase Tuesday when police pursued a suspect. He overturned his vehicle and tried to flee on foot before being shot with a Taser.
The chase ended with 18-year-old Khrystofer Joseph Bankston, of Gulf Grove Apartments in Waveland, in jail and facing multiple charges.
The incident began about noon Tuesday when police received a report of shoplifting from the Kmart store on U.S. 90. Sgt. Travis Foreman spotted a vehicle reportedly driven by the suspect and gave chase, Police Chief James Varnell said.
Foreman pulled over the vehicle on Waveland Avenue and left his police car to approach. As he did so, the vehicle sped off again and pulled into the Oak Park Apartments, where the driver wove through alleyways and yards. The chase continued to the parking lot of a shopping center and then back toward Waveland Avenue.
By this time as many as six Waveland officers had become involved. The suspect drove across the grass and onto Auderer Boulevard, then veered out of control in a pile of mud. The vehicle overturned in a hole where utilities were being installed, Varnell said.
Bankston, whom Varnell described as “very belligerent,” escaped the vehicle through a window and began running. He was stopped with a Taser.
He was charged with aggravated assault, malicious mischief, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, failure to comply and felony shoplifting. Bond was set in Waveland City Court at $31,500.
Officers recovered more than $500 worth of electronics items allegedly taken from the store. “He had thrown it out of the vehicle,” Varnell said.

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Police, security chase bank robbers www.privateofficer.com

MESA, Ariz. April 18 2008– Five people are in custody in connection with two east Valley bank robberies that ended in a barricade situation, police said.
A fast-moving chain of events began around 11 a.m. when a man walked into a Compass Bank in Mesa, handed the teller a note stating he was armed and to give him money, Diana Tapia with the Mesa Police Department.
The man fled the scene in a car, police said.
A short time later, a man matching the same description walked into a Bank of America branch at Power Road and Southern Avenue, handed a letter to the teller, and fled outside, Tapia said.
Once outside, he did not see his getaway vehicle so he began running from the scene, officers said.
A security guard pursued him as officers arrived on the scene, police said.
The man ran into Leisure World and then fled, according to Tapia.
Next, a robber entered a home where he confronted a man, demanded his car keys, and then fled in the man’s car, police said.
A car driven by a detective following the robber was hit by a citizen exiting a driveway, officers said. The detective was transported to the hospital with minor injuries.
The robber blew a tire on Southern Avenue, bailed out of the vehicle and took off running, according to Tapia. The man then ran into a home, officers said.
Police said they saw a broken patio window and fresh blood and a barricade situation ensured.
The robber was eventually caught inside the home, police said.
Police said they located the getaway car with two 18-year-old men and two women inside.

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Police arrest “Peeping Tom” at Macy’s www.privateofficer.com

SALISBURY, Md. April 17 2008- Salisbury police have arrested a man accused of spying on someone trying on clothes in a department store’s dressing room.
Police say that on April 14 at 4:21 p.m., officers responded to the report of a suspicious person at the Macy’s Department Store at the Centre at Salisbury for the report of a suspicious subject.
According to police, officers learned from a victim that 20-year-old Lester Cruz-Contreras of Cambirdge had been hiding himself in the store dressing room and spying on the victim while the victim tried on clothes.

Cruz-Contreras was then detained by store employees and mall security.

Police charged Cruz-Contreras with visual surveillance in a private place, visual surveillance without consent (peeping tom) and disorderly conduct.

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Voyeurism is on the rise www.privateofficer.com

Voyeurism on the rise www.privateofficer.com

Voyeurism on the rise in retail stores
Atlanta Ga. April 18 2008

By: Rick McCann

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com

Authorities and loss prevention personnel say that they have been noticing an increase in voyeurism in department stores and shopping malls.
In recent weeks, nine people have been charged in separate incidents at Walmart, Target, Macy’s and several malls through-out the country.
The incidents may be unnoticeable to the average person as suspects begin using small covert surveillance equipment, cellphone cameras and small handheld video recorders.

Detective Anthony Bruden, a special victims investigator in Connecticut said that it used to be when you heard of a “peeping tom”, it was someone looking into your window. but now, as recording devices are getting smaller, spy shops are abundant on the internet and cameras are everywhere, so is the crime of peeping.
Lawmakers in most states have recognized the need to change their peeping tom statues to include much broader language that now makes it a criminal offense to take pictures of individuals with intent of using the pictures for sexual explortation, gratification or sales of the material. In some states, the charge of criminal voyeurism is a felony punishable by 1-3 years in prison.
Detective Bruden said that the internet also fuels these predators as they post their recordings on YouTube, MySpace and the many adult websites that feed off these type of videos. Upskirting as it’s sometimes referred to has gone from normal men being men trying to get a look at a pretty woman to people who are stalking others and taking unbeleiable liberties not only to get a look but to get sexual photos and videos of a person without their knowledge.

Mike Matthews, a longtime security expert and prior law enforcement officer said that he could remember when men might look around the corner into a dressing woman if they saw a pretty lady going in but that’s as far as they would go. They knew there was a line and they pretty much never crossed that line. Now there is no line and the sky’s the limit as these people do whatever they have to just to get their jollies Matthews said.

People have been taking pictures and videos of each other as long as there has been cameras Bruden said and that’s okay, it’s legal whether they are naked or dressed .
As long as both people agree to it, there’s no problem. But when you’re out in a shopping mall or department store shopping, you’re not expecting someone to be following you around trying to see some skin so that they can snap pictures of you.

In a recent case Matthews said a male was hiding under a clothes rack in a womens department of a major retailer taking video of unsuspecting shoppers. Another man was arrested at a Walmart for using his cellphone camera to record woman’s body parts without their knowledge. It’s not only disturbing to the victims but also to the retailers and their security staff Matthews said. They don’t want that kind of person in their store scaring off customers or creating a hazard or a problem and also, let’s not forget, committing a crime Matthews added.

Security officers, loss prevention staff and even store management have a duty to make sure that they keep the stores, shopping malls and public areas free of people committing criminal acts and safe for those using their property Matthews said. If the security staff should notice anyone acting suspicous or recording, definitely notify the local police and if need be, apprehend and detain the suspect until police arrive, Matthews added.

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Police charge shoplifters with felonies www.privateofficer.com

Police charge shoplifters with numerous felonies www.privateofficer.com

BRAINTREE MA. April 18 2008

Kyle T. Greene

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

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Police arrested a Holbrook couple and a Randolph man for allegedly stealing movies from the Kmart store.
Edward Morgan, 22, and Noelle A. Veneau, 20, both of Holbrook, and Nicholas Tempone, 19, of Randolph are each charged with larceny of property worth more than $250. Morgan is also charged with possession of a burglary tool, and Tempone is also charged with possession of marijuana and possession of a double-edged knife.
Store security contacted police Sunday after allegedly spotting Morgan and Veneau in the store.
Morgan had been involved in a similar theft at the store in the past, police said.
Security personnel watched as Morgan allegedly put clothing and movies in a carriage and then entered the bathroom, where he removed the DVDs from their protective cases.
Police learned from security that Morgan’s accomplice, later identified as Tempone, was waiting outside in a green Ford Explorer.
A police cruiser later stopped the Explorer in the MBTA parking lot.
The stolen movies were found on the floor of the vehicle.
Police said Morgan was carrying a knife that he used to break open the DVD cases.
Tempone had an outstanding warrant for an assault and battery charge, police said.

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