Under a Gibbous Moon

I was reading this article (sorry I couldn’t seem to access the original). It’s about two off duty police officers shooting a man who had a pellet gun (to be fair, the man was running around and shooting it) that they thought was a rifle.

The police officers were working as private security for a bar at the time and in the middle of the article there is something that seemed strange.

What is known, he said, is that Messerschmidt and Palermo were approached by a woman who said two men in a car double-parked on south 33rd Street were causing problems and might be armed.

The officers approached the men, placed them in handcuffs and began to search the car for weapons. None were found.

So, while off duty, the walk up to somebody’s car, handcuff them, and then search them. I’m not sure that would have been legal if they were on duty. They seem to be on really shaky PC detaining and searching people on the say so of someone at a bar.

We’ve all seen those stupid personal questions that banks, in particular, tack onto your log in so that someone who knows what high school you went to can bypass knowing your password.

Ally Bank has taken this to a higher level with personal questions when you call in. You can create your own question/answer pair and the operator presents the challenge and you must answer it. Of course, this leads to all kinds of fun:

Q: Do you know why I think you’re so sexy?
A: Probably because you’re totally in love with me.Q: Need any weed? Grass? Kind bud? Shrooms?
A: No thanks hippie, I’d just like to do some banking.

Q: The Penis shoots Seeds, and makes new Life to poison the Earth with a plague of men.
A: Go forth, and kill. Zardoz has spoken.

Q: What the hell is your fucking problem, sir?
A: This is completely inappropriate and I’d like to speak to your supervisor.

Q: I’ve been embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from my employer, and I don’t care who knows it.
A: It’s a good thing they’re recording this call, because I’m going to have to report you.

Q: Are you really who you say you are?
A: No, I am a Russian identity thief.

Of course, you can always come up with your own:

Q: What is the airspeed of an unladen swallow?
A: African or European?

Q: What do you do with a drunken sailor?
A: Throw him in the bunk with the captain’s daughter.

Q: Sir, did you know that the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1?
A: Never tell me the odds.

Q: You load sixteen tons and what do you get?
A: Another day older and deeper in debt.

Q: What manner of man are you that can summon up fire without flint or tinder?
A: I am an enchanter.

Q: By what name are you known?
A: There are some who call me… Tim.

I imagine that any profane questions would be rejected but it’s always humorous to see a company that hasn’t quite thought things through.

Hat Tip: Schneier on Security

This is something that occurred to me lately. We’ve all heard of the people who are caught by tracing incriminating information back to their computer, through traffic over the internet or via the files stored on the computer itself.

Now, we’ve also all heard of people using the prepaid cell phones as disposable phone that are used for the planning of or in the commission of the crime and are then thrown away afterwards.

Now with the proliferation of cheap computers (notably netbooks), I wonder if any enterprising criminals are using them solely for the planning or execution of a crime and then just ditching it afterwards. By ensuring that no personal information is ever placed on the computer and using public internet access, relative anonymity and plausible deniability can be maintained.

Of course, this now means that buying a netbook will put you on the FBI’s watch list and you’ll get asked at the airport if you own or have ever owned a netbook.

James Rummel over at Hell and a Handbasket wrote a very good post on the benefits/risks of staying put in the case of a home invasion or going out into the darkness to search for the invader(s). It’s a great post and I recommend that you read it.

Another reader of the post asked several questions and I answered them at length, in such great length that I figured I’d just put it up here too.

How long will it takes the cops to get there?
Irrelevant, the longer it takes the police to arrive is just the longer you will stay your safe room (i.e. bedroom).

How many bad guys in the house?
Well, if they are a hit team coming after you. You are likely screwed. Otherwise they are looking to burgle and not to confront. In any case, your safe room comes purpose built with, what we called in the Army, the Fatal Funnel. Only one person can effectively cross the threshold, giving you the advantage over multiple hostiles.

What if the bad guys are really drugged up and don’t worry about the cops coming?
Either the police will deal with them when they do arrive or they will still have to cross your Fatal Funnel.

What if your kids rooms are in another part of the house?
Either quickly retrieve them or designate their room (or one of their rooms) as the safe room and rally there.

If nothing else the ability (with much practice) to clear your house would be handy if needed.
Without another’s life being at risk, I would never attempt to clear a building solo. You leave yourself dangerously exposed as it would be difficult/impossible to cover all possible angles of fire as you cleared each room. Hell, just to clear a half wall properly requires two and staircases are a nightmare.
Think of it this way, as opposed to the ambush analogy (which is quite apt), think of it as assault/defense. A successful frontal assault generally require 3:1 odds, therefore, staying put is the best bet.

This is what happens when agencies don’t cooperate and share information.

Hat Tip: Schneier on Security