Interesting column, Dan!
Truly, you are doing God's work! However, there are some things out there that need to be considered when reading this column--particularly from an employer's perspective. There are some employers out there who will hire ex-offenders because of the nature of their businesses, and their need for staffing. However, more and more employers do not want people with criminal convictions on their premises---and not just those who have just gotten out of prison, either.
Most employers operate on this main theoretical premise: you will do what you have done. It's pretty hard to get convicted in this town nowadays. Offenders often get two, three, four bites out of the apple, suspended sentences, probation, etc. But unless they change their ways, they are still they. The guy that served 11.5 years had to do some serious stuff to get there, and that was probably 75% of his sentence. And probably not the first time he did bad things, for sure. So, in essence, the punishment continues. People make choices.
After working closely with a fair number of ex-offenders, I have found the ones who have done long stretches in DOC really don't plan on going back if they can help it. Of course, I know the odds are against them. But at least the majority seem reasonably motivated to do some serious jobhunting. I try to coach them on where they should look, and where they should not look, because it is probably a waste of time. The guy looking for a housekeeping job at a hospital is not likely to find success. Healthcare institutions, those dealing with kids, hotels, and apartment complexes do not want people with convictions working for them--with certain exceptions. (If you're working in a kitchen in a hosptial, they probably are using an agency for staffing, and only rule out convicted felons.) So if the man in Rodrick's story was looking in any of these places, he has a very low probability of success.
The offenders who aren't just out of DOC are more hard-headed, though their records are usually not as bad. However, most employers run the other way when you've been convicted of assault. You really have to honestly sell yourself, and somehow prove that you've changed. Most of the folks I've worked with who have a lot of trouble finding jobs have one or more of the following "barriers to employment": dropped out of school in the 9th or 10th grade; never went back for a GED; no or little computer skills, history of run-ins with the boys in blue, often with "chump" convictions (Oh, I don't have any felony convictions--as if thast makes everything ok); often have a substance abuse issue, and won't stop smoking blunts or coke; no driver's license (or sometimes had one but suspended or revoked or expired); no good ID or social secuirty card; and finally, they often have a "street" attitude: look scary like they're ready to fight, look like thugs, long white shirts, wrinkled and dirty hanging down close to their knees, and can barely put a sentence together. Finally, looking for a job is a job in itself: a full-time job. Their followup is often poor to non-existent.
Many employers who need help tend not to hold minor or old convictions against folks if they're honest and halfway sell themselves. But those employers are limited to certain fields. Come on, would you want somebody working in your house who served over 11 years for burglary and obstruction of justice or assault? Or working around your loved one's hospital room or working in your hotel or apartment building? The sad truth is that the Division of Correction doesn't do much correcting--and everybody knows it.
Wood Curry, a therapist who runs the Baltimore Station, a therapeutic community for ex-addicts, sums it up well when he says that you have to teach the addict a new way of looking at and dealing with the world. In his building the entire first floor has floor to ceiling mirrors. When asked why, Woody said: "everywhere you look there's a problem." I thinks this applies to both addicts and ex-offenders: until they take a choice to straighten themselves out, they might possibly get a job, but usually they won't keep it very long.
Most employers don't weant to take the time to find out if the ex-offender is ready to make a change--not to mention the risk. Many employers have been sued by victims of their employees who they did not properly vet and committed a serious crime against a customer or fellow employee. Remember, people that operate in the criminal subculture live chaotic lives which are marked by deception and deceitfulness, and manipulation, and "getting over'. We all have a little of this in us, but keep it under control reasonably well so that we function ok in the workplace and actually help other people. But in order to survive in prison and the drug world, and on the streets, addicts and criminals function differently. It's all about what they want and what's theirs and "me".
Unfortunately, in Baltimore, and many other large cities, these folks did not choose their parents well: no one to tell them they loved them, or showed they cared about them, or taught them a sense of personal responsibility.
So, it's sad and expensive but most serious offenders and recent offenders are just going to have a hard time finding most kinds of jobs unless, in the workforce development vernacular, "they're ready".
Friday, February 1, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
burglaries at schools
For those of you upper middle-class people living in Baltimore who may not have heard: Bryn Mawr and Boys' Latin schools got broken into a couple of weeks ago.
Bryn Mawr was broken into overnight with a substantial loss reported by the Sun to be over $20,000; sources report it was higher.
Boys' Latin was broken into a night or two later, overnight, and cash was stolen as well as an unknown amount of property. The damage was reported to be so great that classes in the affected areas had to be relocated or cancelled for a day or two.
Buz sources indicated that these were both "professional jobs", using glass cutters, avoiding alarms which might alert the local gendarmes, and knowing exactly where the selected electronics (laptops, and projectors) were stored. Of course, this has all the earmarks of "inside information". The suspect poured sodas and other beverages over everything to try to make authorities believe that kids did it. Sources report that the police are focusing on the security company which both schools use. That's probably a good start, but investigators probably should not put all their eggs in that basket (though it's a good one). Even more important is which, if any, guards had worked at both schools (maybe many). There may be other contractors, such as construction types, cleanup crews, event staff, and even students attending athletic events, who could be on the lookout for way to get goodies for nothing. Or it could simply be good ol' fashioned burglars who did some good scouting. It doesn't really take a genius to figure out where alarms are or are not, but ya gotta know where the good stuff is. Somebody who looks, but pretends he's not looking. Somebody who no one thinks is bad. How about new faculty who worked at both schools?! But the usual suspects are the most likely: someone who legitimately was on the premises and got greedy, perhaps was in Baltimore's drug world or let slip, deliberately or otherwise, where the good stuff was and how to get to it.
Remember the Pepe's Murder!? A trusted employee told his junkie brother when the boss would be thee by himself to open up the place and how much money could be expected where. Just give brother a little cut. The owner was found stabbed to death, the body discovered by the employee who had been allowed to live upstairs and had worked there for years. When the cops asked if they could look in his place, he said sure. A lifted mattress found bloody money, a search warrant, and a trip to Towson. Both brothers got 30+ years.
Most organizations, including private schools, are too laissez faire about certain kinds of security--and this is discovered soon enough by some greedy dirt-ball, often someone within their own organization. Most organizations need a consult with a paranoid, suspicious, but sensible security person--like me.
These projectors and laptops are and have been the treasured piece for burglars for a while now. (Soon to be outdone by GPS devices.) Any school or business that has projectors or laptops: look out: they're eventually gonna come for you. Buz wonders where they sell all this stuff at. Betcha 2-1 that the police department doesn't know (of course, our licensed pawn shops wouldn't take in any stolen stuff would they?!) Nah, they're all 100% law-abiding. Except of course they may lie when the victim asks: did you take in any laptops recently. No, they said (my wife's was in the back room, legally reported to the police as required, but he wasn't going to tell US).
How bout bars: think they sell any of this stuff in the rest rooms of bars or out of trunks of cars. Betcha: 3-1 that so-called decent law-abiding people buy this stuff--like projectors and laptops and GPS things.
Buz heard that Bryn Mawr used to have a security guard on premises around the clock. He wonders if they dispensed with that because of the cost and relied instead on technology. Most people don't understand that tech has its place but is limited in what it can do. Notice the wave of residential burglaries in Pigtown--some of which had alarms. Technology is just a start, but has to be supplemented with the human element, policies, practices, procedures, hardware and defense in depth.
Who knows!? We hope the cops get these guys, and will be interested in finding out who if they do. In the meantime, business and school and nonprofit leaders: watch out! They're comin' for you or more specifically, your stuff. Trusted retired cops can help!
Bryn Mawr was broken into overnight with a substantial loss reported by the Sun to be over $20,000; sources report it was higher.
Boys' Latin was broken into a night or two later, overnight, and cash was stolen as well as an unknown amount of property. The damage was reported to be so great that classes in the affected areas had to be relocated or cancelled for a day or two.
Buz sources indicated that these were both "professional jobs", using glass cutters, avoiding alarms which might alert the local gendarmes, and knowing exactly where the selected electronics (laptops, and projectors) were stored. Of course, this has all the earmarks of "inside information". The suspect poured sodas and other beverages over everything to try to make authorities believe that kids did it. Sources report that the police are focusing on the security company which both schools use. That's probably a good start, but investigators probably should not put all their eggs in that basket (though it's a good one). Even more important is which, if any, guards had worked at both schools (maybe many). There may be other contractors, such as construction types, cleanup crews, event staff, and even students attending athletic events, who could be on the lookout for way to get goodies for nothing. Or it could simply be good ol' fashioned burglars who did some good scouting. It doesn't really take a genius to figure out where alarms are or are not, but ya gotta know where the good stuff is. Somebody who looks, but pretends he's not looking. Somebody who no one thinks is bad. How about new faculty who worked at both schools?! But the usual suspects are the most likely: someone who legitimately was on the premises and got greedy, perhaps was in Baltimore's drug world or let slip, deliberately or otherwise, where the good stuff was and how to get to it.
Remember the Pepe's Murder!? A trusted employee told his junkie brother when the boss would be thee by himself to open up the place and how much money could be expected where. Just give brother a little cut. The owner was found stabbed to death, the body discovered by the employee who had been allowed to live upstairs and had worked there for years. When the cops asked if they could look in his place, he said sure. A lifted mattress found bloody money, a search warrant, and a trip to Towson. Both brothers got 30+ years.
Most organizations, including private schools, are too laissez faire about certain kinds of security--and this is discovered soon enough by some greedy dirt-ball, often someone within their own organization. Most organizations need a consult with a paranoid, suspicious, but sensible security person--like me.
These projectors and laptops are and have been the treasured piece for burglars for a while now. (Soon to be outdone by GPS devices.) Any school or business that has projectors or laptops: look out: they're eventually gonna come for you. Buz wonders where they sell all this stuff at. Betcha 2-1 that the police department doesn't know (of course, our licensed pawn shops wouldn't take in any stolen stuff would they?!) Nah, they're all 100% law-abiding. Except of course they may lie when the victim asks: did you take in any laptops recently. No, they said (my wife's was in the back room, legally reported to the police as required, but he wasn't going to tell US).
How bout bars: think they sell any of this stuff in the rest rooms of bars or out of trunks of cars. Betcha: 3-1 that so-called decent law-abiding people buy this stuff--like projectors and laptops and GPS things.
Buz heard that Bryn Mawr used to have a security guard on premises around the clock. He wonders if they dispensed with that because of the cost and relied instead on technology. Most people don't understand that tech has its place but is limited in what it can do. Notice the wave of residential burglaries in Pigtown--some of which had alarms. Technology is just a start, but has to be supplemented with the human element, policies, practices, procedures, hardware and defense in depth.
Who knows!? We hope the cops get these guys, and will be interested in finding out who if they do. In the meantime, business and school and nonprofit leaders: watch out! They're comin' for you or more specifically, your stuff. Trusted retired cops can help!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
New Liquor License for Waverly
A couple wants to buy and refurish the space just off Greenmount where the Antique Attic is at in order to open a "quality" seafood restaurant. But, they say, in order to make it economically feasible, they must have a liquor license. One problem: they have arraned for a BD-7 license, which allows them not only to serve wine and beer with food but to operate a package goods operation 7 days a week, from 6am-2am.
When residents objected, they said oh, we really are only interestd in the restaurant business, but it won't work without that liquor license. Who's fooling who here?
Buz says: Ain't nobody going to come for really good food in the evening there unless you're in a spot that is not only safe, but feels safe. This isn't Alonso's! The people that buy package goods in that area contain a lot of drunks, panhandlers, litterers, loiteres and other assorted bad people. Many of fthe current residents in Abell community remember only too well whata happened when the Phaze III nightclub was on 32nd Street. It took an employee to get killed before the liquor board would do anything. Many of the current establishements have customers which litter, urinate and cause "confusion" in the evening. Thus, people who want to have a nice meal aare not going toj go there after a while. On the flip side, once the restaurant fails, the owners will now go full bore with their bar/package business--seven days a week if they want to. This is a common ruse used throughout the city to get in.
Remember, people, once a place gets that license, it is almost impossible, and takes a great deal of time and effort, to get them out. The liquor board has long shown itself to place the interests of the industry and the licensees ahead of communities: they take administrative law, and use it as though the standard is the death penalty. Sorry, no hearsay! Did you call the police!? When!? Dijd you make note of the time and date you saw that happened. Why didn't you call the police!?
Oh, you just don' t like bars, huh!?
Buz would ask: did your inspectors check anything out in response to these complaints?
The liquor board'sown staff, with some exceptions, are not aggressive, and have no real authority without police. The only reason the Cameo Lounge had its license revoked on Harford Road was that the manager told police officers to get off the property when they were responding to calls at 3am. Not a good move, mr. manager. Wonder whrere he's employed now.
Buz reminds his readers that the Blockbuster store which opened next to the new Giant closed shortly after the manager was shot and killed during a robbery attempt. It has never reopened. The last time I went by there it was still vacant.
Best of luck to the Abell community. Wonder how that new restaurant down the street on Greenmount is doing,
When residents objected, they said oh, we really are only interestd in the restaurant business, but it won't work without that liquor license. Who's fooling who here?
Buz says: Ain't nobody going to come for really good food in the evening there unless you're in a spot that is not only safe, but feels safe. This isn't Alonso's! The people that buy package goods in that area contain a lot of drunks, panhandlers, litterers, loiteres and other assorted bad people. Many of fthe current residents in Abell community remember only too well whata happened when the Phaze III nightclub was on 32nd Street. It took an employee to get killed before the liquor board would do anything. Many of the current establishements have customers which litter, urinate and cause "confusion" in the evening. Thus, people who want to have a nice meal aare not going toj go there after a while. On the flip side, once the restaurant fails, the owners will now go full bore with their bar/package business--seven days a week if they want to. This is a common ruse used throughout the city to get in.
Remember, people, once a place gets that license, it is almost impossible, and takes a great deal of time and effort, to get them out. The liquor board has long shown itself to place the interests of the industry and the licensees ahead of communities: they take administrative law, and use it as though the standard is the death penalty. Sorry, no hearsay! Did you call the police!? When!? Dijd you make note of the time and date you saw that happened. Why didn't you call the police!?
Oh, you just don' t like bars, huh!?
Buz would ask: did your inspectors check anything out in response to these complaints?
The liquor board'sown staff, with some exceptions, are not aggressive, and have no real authority without police. The only reason the Cameo Lounge had its license revoked on Harford Road was that the manager told police officers to get off the property when they were responding to calls at 3am. Not a good move, mr. manager. Wonder whrere he's employed now.
Buz reminds his readers that the Blockbuster store which opened next to the new Giant closed shortly after the manager was shot and killed during a robbery attempt. It has never reopened. The last time I went by there it was still vacant.
Best of luck to the Abell community. Wonder how that new restaurant down the street on Greenmount is doing,
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Guardian Angels sighted in Baltimore again!
Just came from the Evergreen coffee shop in Roland Park and spotted 4 Guardian Angel guys in there with flashy red jackets, red berets and various other paraphernalia. Two were sitting in a booth talking earnestly to two beautiful young women, who could have been Loyola students. One of the Angels told Buz that they were recruiting. I decllined to join.
Buz is very puzzled by this phenomenon. Who are they? Are they local or did they come from New York? And like what do they think they're going to do here in Bodymore, Murdaland? Are they a 501c3? Who pays for all their stuff? Like, do they have day jobs?
Upon observatijon, jBuz noticed that their satin-like red jackets were not cheap-looking; one guy had a nextel-type phone attached to his lapel which he kept checking, along with a walkie talkie on a fancy, not cheap utility belt,which they all wore. They were carrying handcuffs, but no apparent other weapons.
Buz wonders how they deploy and what their "rules of engagement" are. Are they covered if one of them gets hurt jor killed. Are they screened in any way by any one!? Who knows!? WTF!?
Perhaps they will deploy in and around the MTA bus system. I wonder if Bernie Goetz is a member.
I wonder if they have a compstat, where the commanders get to blame subordinates for not knowing of any and every small detail of crime in their area. I wonder if they have a commander who yells and throws papers in disgust.
I welcome any crimefighting effort, but the Buz-Curmudgeon is skeptical. In any case, the Evergreen felt safe with them there.
Buz is very puzzled by this phenomenon. Who are they? Are they local or did they come from New York? And like what do they think they're going to do here in Bodymore, Murdaland? Are they a 501c3? Who pays for all their stuff? Like, do they have day jobs?
Upon observatijon, jBuz noticed that their satin-like red jackets were not cheap-looking; one guy had a nextel-type phone attached to his lapel which he kept checking, along with a walkie talkie on a fancy, not cheap utility belt,which they all wore. They were carrying handcuffs, but no apparent other weapons.
Buz wonders how they deploy and what their "rules of engagement" are. Are they covered if one of them gets hurt jor killed. Are they screened in any way by any one!? Who knows!? WTF!?
Perhaps they will deploy in and around the MTA bus system. I wonder if Bernie Goetz is a member.
I wonder if they have a compstat, where the commanders get to blame subordinates for not knowing of any and every small detail of crime in their area. I wonder if they have a commander who yells and throws papers in disgust.
I welcome any crimefighting effort, but the Buz-Curmudgeon is skeptical. In any case, the Evergreen felt safe with them there.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
pigtown crime, etc.
I wonder what our blogger Carol Ott makes of all the TV and newspaper articles about the crime in pigtown. Though I'm sure the burglar caught did a fair number of jobs, I doubt that he was alone. One little tidbit in the paper I did catch was that he (and others) broke into houses with alarms, and ripped the sirens off the wall, figuring they could get away before the cops came. Hmmm. Not such a great police response time, huh; but whaddaya expect when half or more of the day shift is sitting in court? And the others are handling accidents and taking other reports.
Most burglars shy away from alarmed premises, and the fact that some are not is scary. People, the alarm just means that they've now arrived. You also need good locks, and doors, and grates, and windows to delay their entry.
Most burglars shy away from alarmed premises, and the fact that some are not is scary. People, the alarm just means that they've now arrived. You also need good locks, and doors, and grates, and windows to delay their entry.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
College campus risks
Just received my issue of Campus Law Enforcement Journal. On the cover is a group of officers taking down and arresting an "active shooter". (Active shooter is a phrase which has come into police/college lingo over the last several years since Columbine and now Virginia Tech. Most shootings happen and are over and done with by the time police arrive; active shooter implies the guy is going around repeatedly shooting people right now.) While it is important to plan a response to something like this, the notion that campus police would captre an "active shooter" is, I believe, overstated. Very few active shooters are going to be taken alive--if any. They shoot who their messed up mind tells them to shoot, and then, usually at the approach of police, shoot themselves.
Despite the gravity of VT and Columbine, an active shooter is still the rarest of events, thank goodness.
In the same issue, sexual assault against women in college is also covered in the back in a smaller article. It is much more likely to happen than an active shooter, and schools are struggling, sometimes more, sometimes less, to get a handle on it.
As with all emergencies or crisis, the manager should prepare for three phases in dealing with it: prevention, response/mitigation, and recovery. Buz argues that always, the most important is prevention. Once an active shooter, becomes "active", in essence, you've already lost, you can only hope to mitigate by your response--even if you're able to do that. In almost all these kinds of cases there are what Gavin de Becker calls "pre incident indicators": usually the suspect(s) will say or otherwise do someting to indicate they are deeplky troubled and//or vioilently inclinded. If only those who heard/saw could have effectively done something. The Virginia Tech police did their part, but really, he had sent several red flags up and needed to be suspended from campus. Oh, I forgot, he had rights to privacy, etc.
Despite the gravity of VT and Columbine, an active shooter is still the rarest of events, thank goodness.
In the same issue, sexual assault against women in college is also covered in the back in a smaller article. It is much more likely to happen than an active shooter, and schools are struggling, sometimes more, sometimes less, to get a handle on it.
As with all emergencies or crisis, the manager should prepare for three phases in dealing with it: prevention, response/mitigation, and recovery. Buz argues that always, the most important is prevention. Once an active shooter, becomes "active", in essence, you've already lost, you can only hope to mitigate by your response--even if you're able to do that. In almost all these kinds of cases there are what Gavin de Becker calls "pre incident indicators": usually the suspect(s) will say or otherwise do someting to indicate they are deeplky troubled and//or vioilently inclinded. If only those who heard/saw could have effectively done something. The Virginia Tech police did their part, but really, he had sent several red flags up and needed to be suspended from campus. Oh, I forgot, he had rights to privacy, etc.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Death of an officer
So sad to see a person of such niceness struck down by a hit-and-run drunk driver (we think).
Here's hoping:
*That the MDTA police and the Maryland Transportation Authority recognize the high risks of the situation the officer was placed in: darkness, New Year's Eve and its concurrent heavy drinking, and working on an interstate. Flares and barrels won't protect your number one asset: personnel! These kind of situations need vehicles between the speeding and aggressive interstate drivers and the officers--preferably those big MDot dumptrucks with the bright flashing lights and arrows. It's no panacea, but ideally the driver will notice and not hit that, but if they do, some protection will be afforded the people. By the way, is there any way in hell we can get people to slow down on the interstates?
*That they make a case against the Block stripper who almost certainly was driving and hit this officer. They've got an uphill battle, though, since one of the elements of drunk driving is that the offficer or witnesses see the suspect actually in control of the car. Perhaps one of her Block bar bunkies can be pressured to reveal they saw her get into the car.......even that is weak. Maybe her insurance company will raise her rates.
*That somebody figures out how that suspect vehicle made it all the way from the accident scene to the rest stop in Cecil County without being noticed. Buz thinks that there were two few cops on the interstate and they all rushed to the scene, or were tied up off the highway with arrests or handling accidents. That car had half the windshield cracked!
Here's hoping:
*That the MDTA police and the Maryland Transportation Authority recognize the high risks of the situation the officer was placed in: darkness, New Year's Eve and its concurrent heavy drinking, and working on an interstate. Flares and barrels won't protect your number one asset: personnel! These kind of situations need vehicles between the speeding and aggressive interstate drivers and the officers--preferably those big MDot dumptrucks with the bright flashing lights and arrows. It's no panacea, but ideally the driver will notice and not hit that, but if they do, some protection will be afforded the people. By the way, is there any way in hell we can get people to slow down on the interstates?
*That they make a case against the Block stripper who almost certainly was driving and hit this officer. They've got an uphill battle, though, since one of the elements of drunk driving is that the offficer or witnesses see the suspect actually in control of the car. Perhaps one of her Block bar bunkies can be pressured to reveal they saw her get into the car.......even that is weak. Maybe her insurance company will raise her rates.
*That somebody figures out how that suspect vehicle made it all the way from the accident scene to the rest stop in Cecil County without being noticed. Buz thinks that there were two few cops on the interstate and they all rushed to the scene, or were tied up off the highway with arrests or handling accidents. That car had half the windshield cracked!
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