As I've expected the police have been busy recovering money and rounding up suspects. The odds of breaking a case where a gang of criminals is involved increases by the number of participants. This gang was too large to avoid quick discovery and capture. Read more and watch the video here... Still more progress 2/25/06.

I knew this powder keg was going to explode soon. It’s not been a secret, just something nobody wanted to talk about. Hurricane Katrina destroyed massive amounts of paperwork, evidence, laboratory work needed for thousands of pending criminal cases. Additionally, thousands of displaced crime victims and witnesses won't be returning to New Orleans to testify in court. Another huge problem is that a large percentage of the members the New Orleans legal community suffered the total loss of their offices, homes and most important, paying clientele. Many of these lawyers had to retire, change careers or move elsewhere. If all that was not enough, the bankrupt local government simply does not have the funds to provide defendants needed lawyers handle the cases including those that came after the Hurricane. The result of this mess is thousands of dangerous criminals must be released from custody as speedy trial and right to counsel issues force the courts to dismiss the cases. Shortly as ...

Even before this case is solved, and I predict that it will, agents and filmmakers are already scrambling to fill the various roles. This is about that kidnapping of a security manager and his family to facilitate the UK’s largest ever heist, in Tonbridge, Kent, which is located some 20 miles southeast of London. The hold-up was pulled off this week by a ruthless, armed gang in a country where the laws have made sure only criminals can have guns. Sweden's Securitas AB, the world's biggest security firm has suffered a disastrous public relations nightmare over their failure to prevent the loss of this fortune from their facility. Visions from Chicago’s, St. Valentine’s Day Massacre surround this story as in that case the perpetrators donned police uniforms and used a phoney police vehicle in the looting of the depot. The robbers are said to have worked with military precession as they engaged in heavy lifting, moving the cash bundles for over an hour. If only there was a role fo...

This morning, the L.A. Times provided in inside view of the business affairs of Stefan Erikssen, of Bel-Air, the 44 year-old Swedish ex-convict who walked away from the million-dollar wreck of that Ferrari Enzo. Many of us wonder where someone acquires the kind of money it takes to be able to ride down Pacific Coast Highway in that kind of style. Tales of a counterfeiting conviction, the development and marketing of a must have, hand held, gamer’s gizmo and the failure of a business promoting the thing.

The four-day Las Vegas SHOT SHOW is over but my readers can take a coveted look at some if the really great products designed to keep both cops and law-abiding civilians safe. I was privileged to fondle, examine and photograph all the hardware I covered in a special blog just for this show. Click here and take a look !

The victim was shot execution style. What does that phrase mean? To me it sounds like they took the victim blindfolded to a stake in the ground, first offered him a cigarette then a squad of Riflemen shot him dead. Too often what it really means is that the person who uses that phrase while describing a homicide exaggerates and can't be believed. He was shot at point blank range. Go ahead define that term if you dare! I remember watching a defense lawyer destroy a cop’s testimony on a murder case. Tell us officer, what’s the definition of the term, point blank range that you just used? I watched the homicide detective react like a deer caught in the headlights. He stuttered, coughed, babbled and finally confessed he was just not sure what that meant. I watched as members of the jury laughed out loud. That came back to haunt the detective again in the defense lawyer’s closing argument to the jury. The jury acquitted the defendant who later sued the police department and received a s...

I’m all for cops having the right tools for the job. I’m not so sure the Taser stun gun is right for anybody. I’m not worried about the deaths blamed on this device or cops using them for eliciting confessions from suspects. I’m concerned this one shot gizmo with a 15-foot range has been over-ratted by an aggressive marketing campaign. The right clothing will stop this thing cold and the user does not get a second chance. Of course there is always the possibility the thing will fail altogether. I was really dismayed when United Airlines wasted lots of money getting these Tasers as a anti-hijacking weapon for their pilots. Every airline pilot should be trained and armed with a handgun. Those refusing to do so should be invited to leave and go flip burgers somewhere. As a firearms trainer the only use I can see for the Taser is to deal with an unarmed person who refuses to submit to an arrest. Of course an officer with proper backup can accomplish a difficult arrest without injury to him...

Be sure to click on this picture to see this baby right! This was the hot story in L.A. this morning, as L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies were scratching their heads trying to figure out who was going to get a pocket full of citations. Early claims were that the car was traveling at 200 miles per hour. The suspected occupant was hardly scratched but remembered how to dodge and duck when the tough questions were hurled at him. So far, no citations have been issued. Now the insurance company involved can raise all our rates to pay this claim. Hit this link to see two news videos and read more! Here's an update...

This is how one chase ended on a highway. In hindsight running from the police was a really bad idea. This video is not for the faint of heart...

Hurricane Katrina did not give ua anything to smile about except this guy. I think he needs a top notch agent! He could make the rounds of the late night and even morning TV shows. Perhaps he could swing a huge commercial deal with his favorite beer maker. That grin he has on his mug is abso looter ly priceless. Since AP published this fellows likeness folks everywhere have taken to photoshopping the "beer looter dude" into new and really comical scenes. There’s even a Beer Looter Dude movie now!

I borrowed this photograph of a Hollywood casting director’s dream of a perfect actor to play a retired Chicago cop. I once met John Mahoney several years ago at a “Frasier” wrap party that Kelsey Grammer invited me to attend at Paramount Studios. It’s no coincidence that Mahoney is a Chicago boy. I recently got involved in the defense of a criminal case involving a retired cop who will soon be 80 years old. This old warhorse had a venerable 35-year career with the Chicago Police Department with the awards and letters making anyone proud of his service. He had suffered a stroke several months before the event that brought him a charge under California law of, Brandishing a Firearm. It’s only a misdemeanor. Dishonor is the only real penalty that’s possible for this well liked oldster. In a nutshell the old copper observed suspicious behavior and took some action. Nobody was hurt but the alleged “victim” has a lawyer and is really only looking to get rich with a lawsuit against my client...

When I was high school age in the mid-1960s, the small Honda motorcycles were in vogue. My job at The Pup In The Ruff, hot dog stand at Montrose and Broadway (It’s still there being run by my old boss Jake Siegel who looks younger than I do.) allowed me to have enough money to by a really nice 90 cc bike. I knew some other lads my age with similar bikes and we hung out together hoping not to get into too much trouble with the cops. There were about a half dozen of us, younger versions of Marlin Brando or at least we thought so. Our clothes and haircuts were right out of West Side Story. We hung out around Nelson and Sheffield. The ones I remember were brothers, Tom and Jerry. One of the other guys was Jose, a Puerto Rican who had a way with the girls. Jose had a 90 cc bike and used it like a stealth fighter plane. I remember Tom and Jerry’s dad telling Jose he was not going to live long because of his driving. That caused a macabre bet to be made. Tom and Jerry’s dad had a $50.00 bill...

You know the one I’m talking about! It’s the one where the bad guys score points by killing cops. Let me make it clear I don’t want to see killing cops made fashionable or in any way legitimate. I’ve seen too many murdered cops on Cook County Morgue autopsy tables. I can never get the face of Joanne Crowley out of my mind as I passed the folded American flag to her at her husband, Pat Crowley’s funeral in the fall of 1976. This poor widow was now burying her second Chicago policeman, at the very same church! Just a few years earlier, Joanne Crowley’s first fiancee, Tom Kelly was also murdered in the line of duty. Officers Kelly and Crowley were great cops and good friends who were gunned down by the most vicious of Chicago’s criminals. I dare not to think of the emotional toll these senseless murders have taken on that fine woman. The sound of Joanne Crowley constant screaming during Pat Crowley’s wake and funeral will haunt me for the rest of my life. So what do we do about that fi...

Do you remember Maxwell Smart from the TV spy-spoof series called Get Smart? The late actor, Don Adams played the lead role. His scene scripts often went like this: Cmdr. Drury: Smart, you appear to be in pretty good shape, do you work out? Maxwell Smart: I jog one hundred miles every day! Would you believe it? One hundred miles! Cmdr. Drury: I find that hard to believe. Maxwell Smart: Would you believe fifty? Cmdr. Drury: No! Maxwell Smart: How about two push-ups and a deep breath? It seems that the Chicago Police department have since revised their claims about yesterday’s gun raid. Officer Kristina Schuler told the Chicago Tribune that instead of seizing 300 guns they actually only have 276. They’ve now named the gun collector at the heart of the story as, James R. Patrick, 63. Gone are the claims he was selling his collection to street gangs. Those claims were the basis of probable cause needed to obtain the search warrant from a judge. My guess is the “tips” to police were manufac...

The good Lieutenant, Stephen Glombicki informed the Chicago Tribune and AP of the seizure of some 300 weapons from an unnamed 63-year-old man at his house in the 3700 block of West 62nd Place. The story sounds so familiar as I’ve heard it several times before, as the great Yogi Berra once said,"This is like deja vu all over again." “Tips” come into the Chicago Police Department that a man, (always a serious gun collector) is selling guns to street gang members. The well-connected officers of the CPD gun-chasing unit mobilizes, using the “tip” information obtains a search warrant, kicks down the collector’s door and takes his collection while demonizing him to the world as a dangerous and deranged criminal. At the same time police officials and Mayor Daley tell us had that raid not occurred there would have been bodies of dead school children all over the streets of Chicago. Of course our heroes make outlandish claims about the power of the seized guns and explain how grenades...

The Feds unsealed more of the Pellicano Indictment snaring the biggest fish yet. Los Angeles lawyer, Terry Christensen , 65, and his billionaire friend, entertainment mogul, Kirk Kerkorian were indicted for intercepting the phone calls of Lisa Bonder Kerkorian to gain tactical advantage in their pending high octane divorce proceedings. Christansen has a huge problem here because Pellicano not only wiretapped Lisa Bonder Kerkorian’s phone; he recorded his own conversations with Christensen. We can expect a huge legal fight to exclude the calls illegally recorded by Pellicano as evidence against Christensen. I’d venture to say new law might result over this prosecution of Christensen. I must say that I find it really hard to believe that Christensen would have actually incriminated himself in conversations with anybody because of his long stellar history as a big gun lawyer. The fallout from the expected civil litigation may well include record jury verdicts once the criminal cases have...

My fellow cops often criticize me for my unusual opposition to the death penalty. Unusual because nearly every cop in America champions the notion of that final retribution is a way to achieve crime prevention. I have long ago reached the conclusion that Capitol Punishment is fraught with human error and mischief. Here’s yet another example of chicanery and derailed justice. Steven L. Manning , a former fellow Chicago cop no less, was framed for Murder and kidnapping with the aid of a bogus jailhouse snitch. Today, Manning, who was already awarded $6.5 million in damages against the FBI by a jury filed another lawsuit in U.S. DistrictCourt. This time against the Village of Buffalo Grove and two former police officers for their alleged role in the conspiracy to convict him. Manning in the new lawsuit, is now demanding unspecified damages against former police chief Gary Del Re, officer Robert Quid and the village. Manning had some serious baggage that landed him a spot as an FBI inform...

Okay, I’m being cute about this impressive little item from the Technology Division of Remington arms. There’s no question that this gee wiz gizmo will save lives of both cops and citizens. It’s a wireless high-resolution color video camera with audio no larger than the size of a baseball. You can plant it, throw it or roll it to the area you want to observe. It rights itself and you can remotely position the camera to view in any needed direction. You can simply view the large handheld color monitor and if needed connect to your digital recording device. This sweet little toy will cost about $4,500.00 per unit.

I’m off to the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Las Vegas, NV for the rest of this week. For gun-lovers and such the SHOT SHOW is like a child’s trip to Disneyland. All the top manufacturers exhibit their latest goodies. The show is so huge that it’s impossible to stop at every booth and still see the entire show. I created a special blog just for the SHOT SHOW where I intend to put up lots of video, photos and interviews for your enjoyment. I suspect that I’m going to run into trouble getting my postings up until I return, but stay tuned… I have a special blog for this show.

Here's the file . it should take you to my hosting site were you can download a 60 page-- .pdf file and learn all about the Telesluth computer program to intercept telephone calls.