Tuesday, November 25, 2014

What Goes Around Comes Around

                                           What Goes Around Comes Around                                      

We in the Private Investigation industry are in the business of providing information so that others can render solutions. But as a follow-up to my last article entitled “Conducting Ethical Investigations in a World Seemingly without Ethics” I would like to provide a solution.

            Years ago while attending Graduate School at The Ohio State University I submitted a term paper entitled “Some thoughts on the causes of crime and delinquency” that was later published in the State FOP Magazine then known as the Ohio Police”.

            A Chinese study I referred to in that article was the results of a program that ended crime in the Province of Lu. The study read as follows:

            “I have made a study of our prisons and I discovered that almost all the prisoners are poor, or children of the poor. I have also discovered that almost all the prisoners are ignorant or children of the ignorant. It therefore seems that poverty and ignorance make people commit our laws and commit crimes. If we could do away with poverty and ignorance then we would have no more crime in our land.”

            The question was raised as to how would one do away with poverty and ignorance?

            “The way to do away with ignorance is through education. If we educate all the people, then we do away with ignorance. We can do away with poverty by teaching the people useful trades and occupations so that they can earn and honest living.”

            When asked by the community leaders how do we bring about this change the answer was:
            “You are their leaders, it is your duty to be good and honest. People need leaders who they can follow.  If the leaders are corrupt the people will also be corrupt. But if the leaders were good, the people will follow their example and also be good.”

            The above was written by Confucius in 550 BC when he was the Minister of Crime in the Province of Lu in China.  After two years of the above program being implemented the prisons were empty.

            Recently in my home city of Columbus, Ohio and similarly as in Atlanta, GA. School administrators to include principals and teachers were criminally indicted for changing student’s grades from failing to passing as well as absences to presents in order to obtain pay bonuses; thusly dumbing down our youth to a life of ignorance and crime.

            As a personal note, it was the main reason I gave up teaching part-time at the college level.  My students couldn’t read nor write and had a hard time speaking English..

            As I watched the happenings of the fiasco in Ferguson, MO. I could only relate back to the above 550 BC findings as lawlessness and criminal activity played out on national television for all to see. It was only interrupted by so call leaders exacerbating the circumstance.

            Until we demand honesty from our leaders we are doomed to a society of ignorance, poverty and crime. The solution was found in 550 BC but then who reads.
                       
  



            

Monday, November 17, 2014

Conducting Political Investigations in a World without Ethics

Conducting Political Investigations in a World without Ethics
           
The standard for ethics in our profession was set by Kitty Hailey in her text entitled “Code of Professional Conduct, Standards and Ethics for the Investigative Profession” and “do no harm “continues as that standard. But might I query, ‘harm to whom”?

Harm to our purse or wallet; harm to our children by not provided them with the latest technology or a college education; harm to your significant other by not being able to provide for that yearly vacation; harm to your political and/ or religious beliefs and harm to all of mankind. I guess the answer depends on whose ox is being gored.
“Doing the right thing when no one is looking” has also been a past standard but in today’s world there is never a time when someone isn’t looking.  I just finished reading Sharyl  Attkinson’s best seller “ Stonewalled” and began question myself as to what the right thing was. To some her text will be pure fiction while to others it will be the blatant truth.

What do we as investigators do if placed in Shayl Attinson’s shoes?  Do we have a greater responsibility other than handing our client what we believe is a factual report? If there is an extreme injustice are we to turn a blind eye?  

Doing no harm is an object statement that each investigator faces with every investigation that he or she conducts.  When does a simple locate or domestic surveillance case become stalking?

We are all in this for the money as no one in their right mind would do this for free.  So what part of yourself are you willing to sacrifice for your client?

In conducting political investigation one must first inquire as the reason behind the inquiry. Why were you asked to conduct the investigation? Was there or is there ongoing political corruption or is your client just looking for dirt?

What happens to the truth as you come to know it? If you are a believer in Ms. Attikinson’s findings in “Stonewalled” who do you trust?

At present we are living in a world with no apparent ethics or moral standing. If you have both you become the villain to be demonized.

As an investigator you must look in the mirror daily and ask “Am I doing the right thing?” Am I doing no harm? You only have two people to answer to in the end, that’s yourself and a deity if you so believe. If an atheist only one. But most assuredly if you are a NALI member you have to answer to Kitty Hailey.



Thursday, October 2, 2014

"The Strain" fiction and/or present day fact?

Over the summer as experts and adherents of common sense were warning of an unprecedented health crisis due to the flood of illegal immigrants, the state-run media was decrying the “myth of the diseased immigrant”.

A few days ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added Ohio to a list of at least 28 states hit by the virus, which has caused complications in children and led to a surge in pediatric illnesses and hospitalizations in recent weeks.

In Columbus, the increase in respiratory illnesses has been seen at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and pediatric urgent cares, said Dr. Mysheika Williams Roberts, medical director at Columbus Public Health.

From Sept. 17 through Sept.22 555 children went to Columbus Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s emergency department for respiratory symptoms, according to data provided by Columbus Public Health. Now in the coming weeks propagandists will be working overtime to downplay the fact that more than 3000 children in 10 states have been hospitalized after being infected with a potentially fatal respiratory virus. In that State up north, the Michigan Department of Community Health has confirmed numerous cases of the enterovirus in Detroit.

The virus is called Enterovirus 68 (EV68) and it’s been plaguing the world’s developing nations for decades. The onset is marked by flu-like symptoms and for some victims infection will result in paralysis and even death. All twelve species of Enterovirus, including polio and rhinovirus (the common cold), mutate rapidly and are highly contagious. EV68 was first isolated and identified in California in 1962. While the CDC has noted ‘clusters’ of the virus occurring in Europe, Asia and North America between 2008-2010, global statistics are inconclusive due to a lack of testing and inadequate documentation in developing nations.

                However, in November of 2013 a study published by the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal (PIDJ) found that among 345 Honduran children, more than 75% were found to be infected with a respiratory virus, most commonly enterovirus.

                EV-D68 can cause mild to severe respiratory illness. Mild symptoms may include fever, runny nose, sneezing, cough, and body and muscle aches. Severe symptoms may include wheezing and difficulty breathing. Since EV-D68 causes respiratory illness, the virus can be found in an infected person’s respiratory secretions, such as saliva, nasal mucus, or sputum. EV-D68 likely spreads from person to person when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or touches contaminated surfaces.

                Commenting on the ‘unprecedented’ number of children hospitalized under intensive care the CDC said that the current number of EV68 cases may just be the tip of the iceberg. While not yet declaring an emergency, the statement released by the Centers for Disease Control said that prior to the mass migration of illegal children into the U.S. only 79 cases of EV68 were recorded by the National Enterovirus Surveillance System in the prior four years.
               
            Since this summer, Obama’s ‘Dreamers’ have been sidestepping TSA security and boarding commercial airline flights to every corner of the nation including Alaska, Hawaii and the Virgin Islands. Airliners are notoriously conducive to the rapid and widespread distribution of communicable diseases yet the Obama regime has been happily providing illegals with a free ride to the destination of their choice (funded by the US Taxpayer) but only after they’ve spent a few weeks locked up in overcrowded cages with others that are known to be carrying the dangerous EV68 virus.

Paralysis and fatalities resulting from EV68 are believed to occur in only a minority of cases, but for the United States even a small number of children killed or permanently disabled because of a communicable disease represents a shocking regression of our national standard of living.
                On Sept. 22 Emily Otrando, a 10-year-old from Cumberland, Rhode Island died at the Hasbro Children's Hospital, after tested positive for enterovirus D68. Dr. Michael Fine, Rhode Island's Department of Health director, told reporters that the girl "died from overwhelming Staphylococcus aureus sepsis." Staphylococcus aureus is a bacteria resistant to many antibiotics, while sepsis is an illness affecting all parts of the body that springs up in response to an infection, according to the CDC. That determination notwithstanding, Fine also noted that "cultures also showed the presence of enterovirus D68." He explained that the child, who was otherwise healthy, experienced shortness of breath "and really by the time she got to the hospital, everything fell apart very quickly within 24 hours."


What is the CDC and the current administration not telling us? Funny of how the timing of the illegal migration of illegals and the 9/11 date coexist in this mysterious enterovirus breakout.  Could “The Strain” be turning into fact rather than fiction?

Saturday, July 19, 2014

A Complete Turn Around

A Complete Turn Around

                Some weeks ago I posted an article to this Blog complaining about the lack of an adequate identification card for our industry; one that would truly serve to identify us to the court system and/or the general public; not the current “Mickey Mouse” card board cut out that is currently issued by the Department of Public Safety.

                When our industry was under the auspicious of the Ohio Department of Commerce we were issued as identification the notorious “Green Card” which in its time was a bigger joke than our current issue. 

                Shortly after September 11, 2001 our industry was moved to the Department of Homeland Security it was the industries hopes that we would then be in receipt of a more official looking identification respective of our professional standing.   Again this did not happen. Instead we were issued a computer generated paper cut out that was to suffice as an identification; another joke and a step down from the Green Card.

                But in retrospect, as a licensed member of our industry, I am glad that my current identification no longer states, issued by the “Department Homeland Security”. In a backdoor move made by the Department of Public Safety and without notification to the industry our regulatory entity was moved from Homeland Security to the Department of Public Safety. At the time of this change I, as an OASIS member and retired Executive Director of the industry, became extremely aggravated because of promises made to our industry that we would never be brought under the control of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

                Unbeknownst to our industry at the time was that this broken promise would turn out to be somewhat of a blessing.  At least our current ID Cards, as Mickey Mouse as they are state Department of Public Safety and not Homeland Security.


                While what was once thought to be a great association that would give our industry respect and standing in the community The Department of Homeland Security respect has taken a nose dive. They initially provided monetary grants to local law enforcement without keeping any paper trail and wasting millions taxpayer’s dollars. Now they have formed their own police department to suppress individual’s right while allegedly protecting the Federal Government.  I was led to believe that their main responsibility was the protection of the citizens from oversea terrorist, not protecting the IRS from abused citizens or illegal aliens criminals.  

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Once Before I Die

         This past Christmas my son-in-law knowing I’m a Cleveland Brown’s fan got me; got me as a present a T-Shirt in Orange & Brown that reads “Once Before I Die”. The chances or odds of the Browns winning a Super Bowl are as great as the Ohio Department of Public Safety answering a request from the PI/SG industry.

         For the past fifteen years I have been personally involved with negations with the State of Ohio both as a lobbyist for the industry and as a licensed business owner representing the interest of our industry, so I am therefore qualified to address the issue.

          Let’s start out with a simple issue that will address all the major issues that follow. This past year our investigative agency was request to do an intellectual property investigation in Licking County, OH; otherwise make an undercover purchase of “knock-offs” goods. After several undercover purchases we turned our evidence over to the Newark Police Department. We provided that department with physical evidence that a crime was being committed in their jurisdiction and requested their assistance in obtaining a search warrant. The search warrant was served and additional evidence recovered. Our investigative assistance led to the indictment of an individual for:

         2925.11B - Felony 4th Degree POSSESSION OF COCAINE-
         2913.34 - Misdemeanor 1st Degree TRADEMARK COUNTERFEITING
         2921.03 - Felony 3rd Degree INTIMIDATION
         2921.51 - Misdemeanor 4th Degree IMPERSONATING A PEACE OFFICER

      Here’s where it gets interesting. The above individual is an ex-con, jail house lawyer whose live-in-girl friend is a para-legal who practices law without a license. To cut the story short the above two with the assist of an individual from Franklin County, who we previously investigated for their involvement in criminal activity filed a Civil Protection Order in Franklin County against our agency to cease and desist our investigation of their illegal activities. Upon having a hearing on said CPO we learned that it was an attempt by the indicted to question my undercover investigation into his criminal activities for which he was indicted. Ok, let’s get back to the issue at hand. As part of the testimony in the CPO hearing we had to produce for the Franklin County Deputy running security for the court room and to the magistrate our individual PI license, the one issued by the Ohio Department of Public to all investigators and security guards in the State of Ohio. What an embarrassment.

       That’s where the fun began, neither the Deputy nor the Magistrate; believed the “Mickey Mouse” ID, designed by Walt Disney and issued by the Ohio Department of Public Safety was a real ID Card. For those past fifteen years of dealing with the State of Ohio our industry has requested something as simple as an official ID issued to every license holder and their employees; but our controlling entity the Ohio Department of Public Safety, ie. The Ohio State Highway Patrol” somehow has it in their mind that if we show a proper State Issued ID someone may mistake us for a law enforcement officer or heaven forbid a State Trooper.

        This comes from an entity that for 15 years has lobbied against our industry obtaining anything in reform or professionalism. This comes from an entity whose director was the OSP lobbyist who for the past fifteen years spoke against every progressive change that the industry attempted to make. Initially when the PI/SG industry was moved to the Department of Homeland Security from the Ohio Department of Commerce the PI/SG industry was promised that they would never be under the control of the Highway Patrol or its retired officers. Guess what?

       So before I die, and I am quickly approaching age 70, like to see the following:

           1. The State of Ohio, Department of Public Safety, live up to one of its promises and obligations to the PI/SG industry. Just one. A new ID would be nice.