Crime Tip of the Day: If you're a celebrity---Be afraid......

Buz was intrigued by two recent articles: one: the Laura Vozella piece about Michael Phelps's trips to Vegas and guess who's coming to dinner; two: the ESPN News piece about how it's been about a year since Sean Taylor was murdered in his home during a home invasion/robbery. And one could include any number of other pieces seen on the news or in the paper about other celebrities, where they live, what they're doing, where they hang out, etc. 

Buz advice: Celebrities, you are all in danger.

Since we've now entered the high crime time of the year, combined with hard times, lots of layoffs, and a criminal mindset along with an overwhelmed criminal justice system, all of us, whether we are world class athletes or not need to be extra careful.

The National Football League has a staff of mostly ex-FBI agents to protect the integrity of the game and to oversee security for the league, the teams, and the players--as well as protecting the "brand" of the league (they don't want too many of their players arrested or hurt). The league also assigns a security consultant to each team to look out for player protection. And most teams have their own security directors. Several players have been robbed, including during home invasions, and others have been threatened. A couple have been shot and killed, and one maimed.

So if you're a Raven, an Olympic athlete, a CEO, or just somebody who has their name mentioned a lot, some minor, brief tips:

• Try not to let anyone except trusted friends and relatives know where you live. Some celebrities get Secret Service protection. If you don't, minimize the public knowledge of your house, neighborhood, or where you like to go to party or hang out. Especially don't mention or tell anyone in the press: they're sure to publish how neat it is that so and so lives here. Consider renting or having the house in a corporation's name or someone else, so that your name does not appear in the public record.
• Make sure you home is secure; good solid locks--at least two on each door; a peep hole to see who's out there; and a solid hotel-style door lock, so it can be opened only party way and still be locked. The alarm systems  should be able to be activated when you're home. You're probably safeer in a high-rise and/or a gated community, but don't be lured into a false sense of security even there.
• Watch where you go, and use good judgment about who you hang out with. It's probably not a good idea to be closing up the clubs and going to after-hours joints, especially with old friends who've gotten into trouble in the past. Watch people who are overly friendly, want to buy you drinks, or offer you something for nothing.
• Try to have someone with you that you can trust to watch your back at public events.
• Lower your profile as much as possible, except in your field (or on the field) as necessary.
• If you think you are being followed when driving, make three right turns, if they're still back there, you are!
• Above all, don't have this sense that oh, it can't happen to me.

Security tip of the day--ATMs

Buz was going to the bank to get some money at an ATM in order to finance his ravenous appetite for pizza. As he was pulling up, your consultant noticed a man get out of his car at the ATM, leaving the engine running with keys in the ignition and the door to his car open as he did a "quick" visit for some money to the machine.

Now, have realize that this was Roland Park, but come on. I've noticed that many people often have a false sense of confidence: It can't happen here; I don't need to worry; it won't happen to me.

This was the same ATM where a young mom was car-jacked at night and driven around the city for several hours several years ago. Fortunately, though terrified, she still had her cellphone while locked in the trunk of her car. Police were able to home in on her cell and found her car in Clifton Park-abandoned by the robber/abductors. And in front of this same bank, a woman's purse was snatched in Broad Daylight (I love that term!) several months ago.

It only takes a few seconds for a dirt-ball to rob you, then jump into your car and you've-provided him with the means to escape or a second car for his group.

Buz's advice:

• Avoid using ATMs at night. Most are well lit, but you'll stand out like a sore thumb. If you must, use one inside somewhere that doesn't have a window. For example, the one in the 3100 block of St. Paul is inside, but anyone can stand outside and watch you get money and see where you put it. Try to use one in Whole Foods at Mt. Washington.
• Avoid ATMs in high-crime on the street locations, where the machine is right there outside on the street--unless the guard is present. I don't, for example, recommend using the one at 26th and Charles anytime, unless both your car and the guard is there. 
• If you're going to use one, survey the area as you approach, either on foot or in your car. Look for people "hanging around"--both in cars or on foot. If you see anyone staring at you, however briefly, consider not engaging in the transaction. Seriously. 
• Watch out for corners and right angles of buildings, where someone could just be out of your sight. 
• Don't leave your car running, even for  a moment, if you're not in it; and don't leave the door open. It draws attention and puts ideas in people's heads. You'd be surprised how many women leave the rest of their purse on the front seat.
• If you do get confronted by a robber, try to make the transaction as quick as an ATM withdrawal--and as pleasant as possible. Do not resist unless you are specially trained or skilled to do so (I don't mean a self-defense class several years ago). Many of these stickup artists are drunk or high, have poor decision-making skills, and are impulsive. They are disinclined to put up with any "disrespect". You can say something like: here, you can have it, that's all I've got.
• I would recommend at all costs not getting into their car or your car with  them. You may not have an option depending on your situation, but it should certainly be only if you have no other choice.
• And of course a lot of people have almost stopped carrying cash altogether so they don't have to visit ATM machines hardly at all.

Let's hear it from the bouncers!

Buz has already gotten a couple of comments from doormen/bouncers at some of Baltimore nightspots/clubs/bars. He'd like to hear more on how the the big guys are thinking about the withdrawal of approval for cops to work overtime for the clubs. There seems to be a bit of anxiety out there, but your consultant wants to know: how's it going? Can you guys (and, maybe, some gals) handle it? Will the cops come if you call? at all? quickly? Do you guys think some of the officers will work for the bars, anyway, out of uniform--under the table? And, if so, will the on-duty officers wink and nod, and handle stuff for them?

And how did the first "college night" last night go without the boys in blue? I know the cold probably kept the lid on a bit.

Let me know what's going on with nightclub security! You folks, the first line of defense, are in the best position to know.

buzoncrime: A Drive home at night thru Baltimore in Search of a Snack

This is an old post  dedicated to a dear friend and Sun food blogger extraordinaire:

buzoncrime: A Drive home at night thru Baltimore in Search of a Snack

What's with this perp walk stuff?

From reading some of the comments in the Sun's recent article on the bail review for the alleged Harris killers, poor Buz realized that he was not alone in finding the media-enhanced "perp walk" done to the accused a little unseemly.

Of course, your consultant was delighted in the 2 arrests, but not in the immediate aftermath of perp walk.

It was an especially disappointing end point in an investigation during which the Commissioner used words like "thoughtful" and "professional" in stating how the investigation was proceeding. I know they were under a lot of pressure to solve the case by members of the council and the Harris family. But apparently, certain members of the department[or was it City Hall] conjured up this dog-and-pony show by alerting the media that they were captured and going to be brought thru the front door. Suspects are usually brought in thru the back garage.

  Buz has a couple of ideas which members of the Command staff might have instigated this--maybe. And he has always been uncomfortable with perp walks. Suppose the person gets off for some reason. Can they sue for intentional infliction of emotional distress? Too bad they didn't do a perp walk on the guy who texted: "I killed two people today, and one of them was a woman." I least we would have known what that clown looked like. And I am glad they didn't perp walk the folks who were arrested and some tased on the night of Obama's election.

But seriously, a thoughtful person should resist these things: there's a presumption of innocence in this country,  last I checked (unless you're at Guantanamo).

Apparently, some members of the department are not aware that there is a strong undercurrent in this city that the Harris murder was given significant more attention, resources, and determination than hardly any other murders get. And only the "connected" have the police on their side.

 Lights and sirens? How far? From the arrest scene? from 29th Street? Or were they just waiting around the corner for the show to begin? Even if they were going to have a perp walk, why didn't they just put them in the wagon and quietly drive down there obeying all traffic regulations? Anyone aware of how many auto accidents our police have? And how an emergency vehicle approaching can cause drivers to do abrupt things, including slamming on the brakes and getting creamed in the rear. And not to mention the ratcheting up of tension and stress in the city by unnecessary sirens--we have plenty, thanks.

If the intention was to have good PR, it was a disaster. The same thing could have been accomplished with another press announcement. And, remember, only one of the three was the killer; but the parade left these two bitter and nastier than they were. And the arrest is only the beginning: the third suspect is still out there, and the case has to still go to trial. And the defense has some negotiating advantages here.

The curmudgeon has spoken!

No more police in uniform working for bars/nightclubs!

Buz is not sure where this business of having uniformed city police officers working outside bars and nightclubs exactly began. When I first came on the police force (a couple of years ago), working around alcohol was strictly forbidden. Then the crack in the policy began when officers were allowed to work, in plainclothes, at various charity functions-to provide security as long as they did not have anything to do with serving alcohol.

Your consultant became aware of the first big deployment of uniformed officers at the 3rd iteration of Hammerjack's when it moved to Guilford Avenue. [At the second Hammerjack's, management more than fulfilled its order-maintenance role. In addition to heavy bouncer/security presence inside, at closing time, everybody had to be out by 2am, there was a trashcan at the exits, any drinks in your hand were grabbed and not allowed outside; once the club was empty, all the security staff (sometimes more than 25) went outside and told people they could not hang around the underpass and to leave the area. They harassed, cajoled, and pestered til you left. They were following to the letter their obligations to the community: this was all observed by us.] We understand that later things got rougher and rougher til the club closed to make way for Ravens Stadium and they opened at their location on Guilford. Sometimes, they would have 10, 15, or even more uniformed city police working "outside" the club, as the club made an explicit business determination to attract the "rough kind of crowd" where the big bucks were to be made. This crowd required the presence of armed, uniformed off-duty police officrs--and lots of them.

Gradually, other bars and nightclubs across town began having them too. One bar owner in Brooklyn had more cops working for him, than working in the surrounding Sector 1 neighborhoods of Southern District-who were working for the city. {It didn't work: that bar had its licensed revoked by the liquor board because of the crowds and violence the owner attracted-deliberately, as a business decision.} Apparently, now many of the clubs in the Market Place and downtown area, as well as in Federal Hill now hire off-duty officers, often several at a time. Because of some problems that have inevitably occurred, the Police Commissioner has ended the authorization for secondary employment at these places effective November 17th. The world will not end, and life will go on.

I know many of my wonderful former colleagues in the department who work these details cannot see it, but there is an inherent conflict of interest in having officers work in licensed beverage outlets such as bars, nightclubs, and strip joints. The police department has the first level of legal oversight of these places, and the economic interests of the owners sometimes conflicts with legal mandates. I mean, c'mon, it's against the law to allow persons under 21 to drink booze and it's against the law to serve persons who become so inebriated that they want to fight and become obnoxious. 

At least one club sponsors buses to take dozens of college students (all seniors and 21 of course) directly to their club. They have been banned from the Towson University campus, and have been teh subject of complaints by other neighborhoods where they pick up and drop off these kids, in keeping with their "business model". And if your business model relies on those factors plus attracting a "thug" crowd, as well as an atmosphere of Preakness Infield-like activity, then I guess you would need several armed, uniformed police. Buz thinks you should re-assess your business model and its needs for security.

Ya can't have fights and barroom brawls, with police present, and nobody, including them, sees anything. The commissioner alluded to the combative, rowdy drunks being thrown out of the bar, only to have to be dealt with by the city police. And there have been instances whereby the city has been forced to pay settlements when bar patrons were injured.

In addition to liability, the department has to eat the court time that any of these officers get as a result of assignments there (oh, they're supposed to charge it to their secondary employers; betcha, 23-1, it doesn't happen, because the administrative challenges are too formidable.) The department can also get stuck with sick leave, workers comp, and have the potential for "double dipping". So, while, yes, the business owners are paying the salary of the cops, if anything happens, they want them to put themselves "on duty", in order to take police action with the city carrying any liability.

This reminds Buz of the untenable situation that occurred for many years at the Preakness infield: the city police deploying hundreds of officers (really on duty, though) to referee fights, drunkenness, and brawls often involving dozens. So that a large drunken frat party could occur and the TV stations could have "cute" shots of folks guzzling beer down tubes, etc. Over the years, many officers were injured, and a number of arrests occurred. Well, over the last several years, the city police segued out of doing it; last Preakness was totally security provided by Pimlico race track through its own sources and funding.

However, having taken a position in support of the commissioner, your consultant believes that he has also gotten himself into a conundrum: the patrol shifts in the city are at minimal strength. A few years ago, the department decided, for a variety of reasons, to eliminate one post in each patrol sector in the city on the midnight shift. Then later, the department decided, hey, patrol is worthless, so they then eliminated that same post on the day shift and 4-12 shift as well. So, there was a substantial reduction in the uniformed patrol presence, allowing them to dedicate more staff to specialized police units. Then, under yet another change, they decided to give each district only 160 officers, no matter how geographically large, or how many calls for service, or how much crime or accidents. 160 is it! One friend told me that when he was assigned toe the Northeastern District a number of years ago, they had well over 210 officers.

Violent Crime Impact Division has, depending on who you talk to, 200-300 officers. Betcha, 3-1, the bulk of them work secondary employment at bars/nightclubs. And, the Deputy Commissioner for Operations has not really spent much of his career in patrol; he made his mark in Narcotics stuff.

In the meantime, the poor patrol force, on midnight, has been relying on overtime to fill all its units for the first several hours of the shift. Apparently, there has now been placed a strict limitation on overtime. So, are those units now going to not be staffed, or are the few discretionary units available to the district commanders be called upon to fill 'em? And this overtime conundrum will  manifest itself when the bars let out without their police bar-employed babysitters. We'll see. Central and Southern District will be the most affected, because those areas seem to have the most Off-Duties working the clubs. Southeastern also has historically had a problem with post-bar club problems.

When I was a shift commander there, I usually had a district operations foot squad of 6 or so officers there on weekend nights, in addition to our whole patrol squad in Sector One--another 7 or 8. {At that time, none of the bars used off-duty police for security.}

For the guys and gals who want more off-duty overtime, there is plenty: Hopkins (both campuses), MICA, Loyola, Our Daily Bread, et al. And the guys and gals who own bars and clubs must reassess their business models and security situations in light of this new decision. It might require them to tighten up, reduce their income a bit, rethink and pay for security in a different way, and reduce the "socialization of risk" by relying on uniformed police in operating their businesses, but relying on the city when the heavy stuff goes down.

Some new security and crime thoughts

A few tidbits related to crime, which came to my mind:

• Buz ran into a Northern district member, who said, recently, that the robbery problem along Northern's border with the Northeastern district has been pretty bad recently, so they've detailed plainclothes units up in that area.
• Your consultant ran into one of the officers working plainclothes: on his t-shirt, there was a logo of a stop-and-frisk, with the words: "real police work in the city". .........Ok, uh-uh. I ain't gonna touch that one.
• This robbery problem was accentuated by Major Buzzoro at the community meeting at the Govans library when he talked about the problems just south of there along the east side of York Road, down to Coldspring or so.
• As a result of that meeting, I signed up for a neighborhood communications crime group fostered by one of the folks at the meeting. We've noticed, along with spotcrime.com, a real surge in burglaries along that York/Belvedere area, along with some other robberies along York Road, and the "carjacking" at York Road Plaza.
• As a result of the Yahoo group's efforts, a bunch of citizens are going to get together at the leader's house tomorrow night for their first "Citizens-On-Patrol" walk, accompanied, this time, by one of Northern District's community relations officers. We're pleased that this tiny taxpayer's group is doing all it can to both alert people about crime, and patrol, and they have sent a letter of concern about a house that got raided on Belvedere for selling the wacky weed, etc.
• Halloween in downtown Medfield was pretty quiet and uneventful; haven't heard too much from around town about how it went in other neighborhoods. How did your neighborhood survive during Halloween night?! Buz would like to know!
• Did anyone else see Ralph Fridgen(?) on TV--UM's football coach? He was surrounded by city police and school police at the Dunbar-Edmondson game during the brief sports shot I saw. I mean, seriously, were they worried about his safety? Hmmmmm. Maybe. But shouldn't he have a bodyguard detail like the mayor and governor of several University Police? On the other hand, since he make more than a million $ a year, maybe they feel he should hire his own security/bouncers. I just thought it was kinda funny.
• Buz noticed the double shooting in the 4600 blk. of Marble Hall over the weekend. Your consultant has noticed that area was where the former Morgan student was murdered last year, and maybe, just maybe, I think the killers of Ken Harris were headed up to that area, running thru the alleys north from Northwood. I hope the cops in Homicide are all over this shooting.