Website and automated forms processes, Copyright
2007, Matthew August LeFande.
All
rights reserved. No claim to original government forms
Website and automated forms processes, Copyright
2007, Matthew August LeFande.
All
rights reserved. No claim to original government forms
California: Threat Level Orange Put More Cops on the Road, More DUIs Behind Bars
Last week’s heightened anti-terrorism alert may have produced an unexpected fringe benefit in California: a sharp increase in the arrest of suspected drunken drivers over the Memorial Day weekend,” reports the Union-Tribune. “The 30 percent increase in DUI arrests locally and 12 percent increase statewide comes as both the California Highway Patrol and Mothers Against Drunk Driving say a dangerous complacency toward drinking and driving might be taking hold among motorists."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20030528-9999_1n28dui.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 10:48 PM
matt@lefande.com
Supreme Court rules in favor of police in interrogation case
A fractured Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a police officer did not violate the rights of a gravely wounded farm worker by interrogating him at the hospital without reading him his Miranda rights. But Oliverio Martinez may still be allowed to collect damages on grounds that his constitutional due process rights were violated by the 1997 hospital room questioning, the court said in sending the case back to California for more consideration. The ruling means that police officers cannot be sued for failing to read someone their rights, known as Miranda rights, if the person is never prosecuted, the attorney for the sergeant in the case said.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=01-1444
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:35 PM
matt@lefande.com
U.S. Capitol Police Seek To Expand Authority
U.S. Capitol Police want the power to make arrests throughout the Washington area, a proposal that some members of Congress are criticizing as an unwarranted widening of authority that goes beyond the agency's traditional responsibility to protect the Capitol grounds, lawmakers and visitors.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41826-2003May26.html?nav=hptoc_m
posted by Matthew LeFande 6:13 AM
matt@lefande.com
Czech Designer Introduces Armor-Penetrating 9 mm Ammunition
An advanced 9 mm pistol round introduced last month at an international arms show has the capability to penetrate body armor, the manufacturer says.
The designer of the round, Vlastimil Libra, took a standard 9 mm Lugar design—similar in appearance to a wad cutter round—and added a tip. With an outer layer of brass and inner core of steel, the result is a round with “managed deformation,” according to Libra. The combination of materials and the construction gives it high penetration capability.
Libra said he began working on the design more than a year ago. He saw a need for a higher-performance round that could be used in existing weapons and that would penetrate hard targets—particularly newer types of body armor.
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/article.cfm?Id=1103
posted by D 4:53 PM
'Homeless' police give traffic tickets
Police in Kissimmee Florida went undercover as homeless people in tattered clothes to catch drivers running red lights.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/05/23/offbeat.homelesssting.ap/index.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:52 AM
matt@lefande.com
5th District resident officers being equally ignored by MPD as others.
The commander of the Metropolitan Police Department's 5th District said yesterday that police officers are not targets of intimidation by local criminals, even though the cars of two officers living in her district were shot at separately over the last three weeks.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20030522-120311-4609r.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 11:30 AM
matt@lefande.com
NO-CONTACT JACKET
The No-Contact Jacket is a wearable defensive jacket. When activated by the wearer, 80,000 volts of low amperage electric current pulses just below the surface shell of the entire jacket. This exo-electric armor prevents any person from unauthorized contact with the wearer's body. If an assailant were to grab hold of the wearer the high voltage shocking exterior would interrupt their neurological impulses which control voluntary muscle movement. The neuromuscular system would be overwhelmed causing disorientation and loss of balance to occur and of course pain. The pain experienced is non-lethal but is enough of a shock to effectively and immediately deter contact with the body and provide a critical life saving option for escape.
http://www.no-contact.com/
posted by Matthew LeFande 10:30 AM
matt@lefande.com
Police Radio Frequencies
Here is a pretty comprehensive list of local police department radio frequencies and their PL codes including MPD's planned 800 Mhz trunked system.
http://www.lefande.com/Freqs.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 1:23 AM
matt@lefande.com
Office of the Independent Monitor
On June 13, 2001, the District of Columbia, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to minimize the risk of excessive use of force, to promote the use of best available practices and procedures for police management, and to build upon recent improvements MPD had initiated to manage use of force issues. On April 9, 2002, it was announced that DOJ and MPD jointly had selected my team -- comprised of attorneys from Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, consultants from PricewaterhouseCoopers, and several nationally recognized policing experts with extensive experience in all aspects of local law enforcement -- as Independent Monitor to review and report on MPD's implementation of, and assist with MPD's compliance with the MOA.
http://www.policemonitor.org/
posted by Matthew LeFande 11:54 PM
matt@lefande.com
Norwegian's $30,000 Drunk Driving Fine
A Norwegian car importer has been fined the equivalent of almost US$30,000 after being caught drunk driving his Rolls-Royce, according to a newspaper.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3044539.stm
posted by Matthew LeFande 11:18 PM
matt@lefande.com
The History of the Internet
A further explaination of blogging is incorporated into this timeline of the history of the internet.
http://www.thelemon.net/issues/timeline.php
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:52 PM
matt@lefande.com
"If We Run Out of Batteries, This War is Screwed."
Swarm theory holds that you move fast and don't worry about securing the rear. The benefits to this are many. First, you need fewer troops and less equipment. War becomes cheaper. Second, it's harder for the enemy to attack a widely dispersed formation. Third, units can cover much more ground - they aren't forced to maintain the wedge by slowing down to accommodate lagging vehicles. Fourth, swarming allows you to go straight for the heart of the enemy's command structure, undermining its support from the inside out rather than battling on the periphery.
Swarm theory is also moving online - into chat rooms. When a problem develops on the battlefield, a soldier radios a Tactical Operations Center. The TOC intelligence guy types the problem into a chat session and the problem is "swarmed" by experts from the Pentagon to Centcom. Not only is the technology changing the way we maneuver, it's changing the way we think.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.06/battlefield.html?pg=1&topic=&topic_set=
posted by Matthew LeFande 5:46 PM
matt@lefande.com
Operation Iraqi Freedom, by the numbers.
Report from US Central Command Air Forces (CENTAF) based on information collected during operations at the Combined Air Operations Center, Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
Iraqi_Freedom_Report.pdf
posted by Matthew LeFande 5:43 PM
matt@lefande.com
Olde Skool with N.W.A.
A pig gotta hustle...
http://www.killfrog.com/emi/gottahustlefr.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 10:49 PM
matt@lefande.com
Council Judiciary Committee Hearing Thursday
THURSDAY, MAY 22 10 AM
Selected items from the agenda:
1. "Omnibus Public Safety Agency Reform Amendment Act
of 2003," Bill 15-32.
To require the Fire Chief and the Chief of Police to establish criteria for command
staff promotions;
To require the Fire Department and Police Department to provide notice and adverse action within 45 days of the date Department knew or should have known of the incident constituting cause;
To require that Fire Department and Police Department to implement a limited duty program;
To require biennial physical exam, agility testing and psychological testing;
2. "Millicent Allewelt Act of 2003," Bill 15-34.
To require law enforcement agencies to preserve evidence from open homicide, sexual assault, and other violent crime cases for 50 years;
3. "Public Safety Employees Defined Workers
Establish a limited duty program for members recovering from performance and non-performance of duty injuries and illnesses;
To mandate retirement on disability whenever members have achieved maximum medical improvement but are unable to perform the full range of duties.
http://www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us/Calend06.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 8:35 PM
matt@lefande.com
Standardized Hand Signals
I have posted a page demonstrating Standardized Hand Signals For Close Range Engagement (C.R.E.) Operations.
Not sure that these are the same signals everyone else uses, but some training and familarization with them might come in handy some day.
http://www.lefande.com/hands.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:56 PM
matt@lefande.com
Website problem this weekend
A little oversight making changes this weekend to the website resulted in missing pages if you accessed the site from www.lefande.com/mpdforms.
If you accessed the same pages from www.lefande.com, where I was testing the new pages, there was no problem.
Sorry for those of you who had to handwrite your reports, just a little reminder of the time before Autoforms.
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:47 PM
matt@lefande.com
MIT Guide to Lock Picking
The big secret of lock picking is that it's easy. Anyone can learn to pick locks.
The theory of lock picking is the theory of exploiting mechanical defects. There are a few basic concepts and definitions but the bulk of the material consists of tricks for opening locks with particular defects or characteristics.
The only way to learn how to recognize and exploit the defects in a lock is to practice. This means practicing many times on the same lock as well as practicing on many different locks. Anyone can learn how to open desk and filing cabinet locks, but the ability to open most locks in under thirty seconds is a skill that requires practice.
http://www.toool.nl/pdf/mit.pdf
posted by Matthew LeFande 7:26 PM
matt@lefande.com
Sex Offender Registration Program in Arkansas
Arkansas has posted New Signs to notify vistors about known sex offenders from its state.
posted by Matthew LeFande 6:30 AM
matt@lefande.com
Petition Against $25,000 Raise for MPD Chief Charles Ramsey
Times are tough. But not everyone is sharing the burden.
DC has cut pay increases for cops, funds for senior citizens centers and libraries, and the Mayor even wanted to raise taxes. Violent crime has risen since Chief Ramsey took office, DC is again the "Murder Capital," and our 911 phone system is worse than ever. Hardly cause for a $25,000 raise.
Sign the petition against Ramsey's raise and let him demonstrate the true extent of his commitment to the District of Columbia.
http://www.safestreetsdc.com/petition.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 3:33 PM
matt@lefande.com
DC business owner's armed response thwarts robbery
The owner of Campbell's Barber Shop, where Mayor Anthony A. Williams recently got a new hairstyle, apparently keeps more than a razor and scissors at the ready.
John Campbell raced out of the Northeast Washington barbershop on Tuesday -- armed with a .38-caliber revolver -- and chased a robber. He exchanged gunshots with the man, who ran into nearby woods, where police later found and arrested a suspect.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1551-2003May16.html
posted by Matthew LeFande 12:59 PM
matt@lefande.com
West Wing Photos
I have posted photos of our filming of this week's episode of the West Wing.
While we were supposed to be only driving in the scene, John Ashley and I wound up as part of the ERT team instead. The Props folks were happy we were able to supply all our own gear.
It seems after seeing the show last night, our cars got much more screen time than we did.
Sorry, I don’t have thumbnails or a narrative to go with it.
http://www.lefande.com/WestWing.htm
posted by Matthew LeFande 12:54 AM
matt@lefande.com
