California cops don defensive headcams - The Register

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/29/taser_axon_headcams/

By Rik Myslewski in San Francisco •

Posted in Policing, 29th December 2009 20:47 GMT

A California police department is testing a high-tech defense against one of the most pernicious weapons used against them in recent years: the video camera.
Ever since Rodney King was famously videotaped receiving what many saw as an over-the-top thrashing by Los Angeles lawmen back in 1991, video footage of alleged police misconduct has time and time again come back to haunt overzealous boys in blue.

And now, the same folks who enabled 2007's immortal "Don't tase me, bro!" video are leveling the playing field with a camera-computer combo known as the Taser Axon - or, to use the less-subtle terminology of Taser International's marketeers, the "TASER® AXON™ ... a tactical networkable computer combining advanced audio-video record/capture capabilities worn by first responders" that's "designed for simple, easy operation even under extreme stress."..................................

THE MAN WHO CONNED THE PENTAGON - Playboy

http://www.playboy.com/articles/the-man-who-conned-the-pentagon-dennis-montgomery/index.html?page=1

Dec. 2003 - .” The feds forced the cancellation of dozens of French, British and Mexican commercial “flights of interest” and pushed foreign governments to put armed air marshals on certain flights. Air France flight 68 was canceled, as was Air France flight 70. By Christmas the headline in the Los Angeles Times was "Six Flights Canceled as Signs of Terror Plot Point to L.A." Journalists speculated over the basis for these terror alerts. “Credible sources,” Ridge said. “Intelligence chatter,” said CNN.

But there were no real intercepts, no new informants, no increase in chatter. And the suspicious package turned out to contain a stuffed snowman. This was, instead, the beginning of a bizarre scam. Behind that terror alert, and a string of contracts and intrigue that continues to this date, there is one unlikely character.

The man’s name is Dennis Montgomery, a self-proclaimed scientist who said he could predict terrorist attacks. ........................

Mental Health - detainees; literature review

Mental Health Among Persons Awaiting an Asylum Outcome in Western Countries: A Literature Review in the International Journal of Mental Health Vol 38 No 3 by Ryan, D.A.; Kelly, F.E.; Kelly, B.D.

Detention of Children

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has published an intercollegiate briefing paper:Significant Harm - the effects of administrative detention on the health of children, young people and their families

Detainees - Section 4 application process [courtesy of ICAR]

Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) has produced three new information bulletins for detainees and their representatives, covering the new Section 4 application process; UKBA's policy on forced returns to Zimbabwe, Sudan and Somalia; and the right to legal aid in bail cases, as well as a revised edition of their notebook on bail.

Immigration - Policy & Law - ICAR

ICAR has updated its Key Statistics about Asylum Applications in the UK paper. The current version includes information on making Freedom of Information requests.

The Home Affairs Committee’s 3rd report: the UK eBorders programme claims that digitalising immigration control would be illegal in the European Union. This has been denied by Minister for Immigration Phil Woolas.

In response to parliamentary questions the government has provided

• a breakdown of the numbers of persons in immigration removal centres by place of detention and sex.
• figures for attempts to remove asylum seekers which have been successfully challenged, covering the last two financial years.
• numbers of asylum seekers supported in accommodation in Scotland, by parliamentary constituency.

Doctors and Euthanasia - PhysOrg.com

Physician-assisted suicide: A perspective from advocates for people with disability
Although public opinion in the United States on physician-assisted suicide is evenly divided, about half of states have either defeated bills to legalize assisted suicide or have passed laws explicitly banning it and only two states (Oregon and Washington) have legalized it. In this environment, A Disability Perspective on the Issue of Physician-Assisted Suicide, a special issue of Disability and Health Journal: The Official Journal of the American Association on Health and Disability, published by Elsevier, examines the issues related to assisted suicide and disability, the legal considerations and the Oregon and Washington experiences.

Public sector cuts?

Shape shifting, by Keith Leslie - CIPFA
	The dilemma of achieving top performance while simultaneously taking billions of pounds of cost out of the civil service and local government is at the heart of Deloitte’s new report: New shapes and sizes: reshaping public sector organisations for an age of austerity...

Spending cuts?

CAA comes under fire again - CIPFA
Another London borough has criticised the new inspection arrangements for local services, suggesting they are inappropriate in a climate of public sector spending cuts...

Midnight shift and health risks: New study tells sobering truths

Force Science Research Center, www.forcesciencenews.com

Officers who predominately work midnights are at greater risk of developing severe health problems than civilians and other cops, especially if they average more than about 90 minutes of overtime per week and have trouble sleeping.

This is established in a new study by an 8-member team of health experts, headed by Dr. John Violanti, a former state trooper and now a research associate professor at the State University of New York-Buffalo..............................

A full report on the study, "Atypical Work Hours and Metabolic Syndrome Among Police Officers," appears in the journal Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health, vol. 64, #3, 2009 and is available online for a fee. Click here to go to the report.

Immigration Policy & Law - ICAR

Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency: annual report 2008/09 See also Home Officeresponse to the report.

The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee has published a report on The Work of the UK Border Agency

Also in parliament, Minister for Immigration Phil Woolas has provided a list of all the private firms used by UKBA and the services they manage.

UKBA enforcement instructions and guidance on judicial review and injunctions (Chapter 60) - has been updated, with effect from 11 January 2010.

Bah! Humbug! - PhysOrg.com

Santa should get off his sleigh and walk, says public health doctor
Santa should share Rudolf's snack of carrots and celery sticks rather than brandy and mince pies and swap his reindeer for a bike or walk, says a public health expert in the Christmas issue published in BMJ today.

Privacy, Society, Research - PhysOrg.com

Privacy concerns could limit benefits from real-time data analysis, researcher says
Society will be unable to take full advantage of real-time data analysis technologies that might improve health, reduce traffic congestion and give scientists new insights into human behavior until it resolves questions about how much of a person's life can be observed and by whom, a Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist contends in a commentary published Friday in the journal Science.

Predicting insurgent attacks with a mathematical model - PhysOrg.com

Predicting insurgent attacks with a mathematical model
When bombs and bullets left 37 dead during Friday prayers at a mosque in Pakistan, earlier this month, the insurgency was using the element of surprise. Unpredictability is the hallmark of modern insurgent attacks such as this one. However, the likelihood of such events, their timing and strength can now be estimated and managed before occurring, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Miami. The study entitled "Common Ecology Quantifies Human Insurgency" is featured as the cover of the December 17, 2009 issue of the scientific journal Nature.

Vetting Database - Spiked

Appleton and Panton
Still absurd, insulting and authoritarian
Two key campaigners against Britain’s vetting database argue that Ed Balls’ ‘u-turn’ isn’t nearly enough: the vetting regime must be dismantled.

Crime gangs push paint stripper as 'party' drug - news.com.au

Crime gangs push paint stripper as 'party' drug
	CRIME syndicates are pushing a dangerous industrial solvent as a harmless "party" drug, detectives say.

Cybercrime Prevention & the Role of Log Management - CIO and CSO Online Resources

Log Management in a Cyber World
As the world becomes increasingly digitized, we’ve witnessed the rise of myriad cyber attacks aimed at private and public sector organizations. With so many potential cyber villains poking around the gates, enterprises must have strong protections and pristine visibility into what’s happening on the network. Explore the increasing importance of log management as cybercrime and other malicious threats grow.
Read this eGuide.

Mobile privacy rights? [USA] - The Register

US Supremes to hear text-message privacy case

Do gov employers have a right to snoop?

Witnesses to verbal or physical bullying.... - PhysOrg.com

Witnesses to bullying may face more mental health risks than bullies and victims
Students who watch as their peers endure the verbal or physical abuses of another student could become as psychologically distressed, if not more so, by the events than the victims themselves, new research suggests.

Book demystifies psychiatry for the general public - PhysOrg.com

Book demystifies psychiatry for the general public
Psychiatric disorders are underdiagnosed, poorly treated and highly stigmatized, according to psychiatrists Charles F. Zorumski, M.D., and Eugene H. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D. So these Washington University physicians have written a book to address those problems.

Tattoo ID - PhysOrg.com

Whose Tattoo Is It Anyway?
(PhysOrg.com) -- An infra-red digital camera could be a crucial tool in the fight against crime when trying to identify suspects by their tattoos, according to new University of Derby research.

The wearing of veils... PysOrg.com

Veiling in style: How does a stigmatized practice become fashionable?
Why are an increasing number of Turkish women wearing veils in a secular country where the practice is banned in public buildings? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says one factor is fashion.

Value of volunteering more than economic - PysOrg.com

Value of volunteering more than economic
With rising unemployment and fewer job vacancies, the current financial crisis has seen renewed policy emphasis in both Europe and the UK on volunteering as a route to employment, according to a new report from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC.)

Critics blast 'great firewall of Australia' - ABC

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/15/2772781.htm

The Federal Government's decision to press ahead

with compulsory internet filtering has come under fire from lobby groups and the Greens.

The Government wants to pass laws to force internet service providers to block banned material hosted on overseas servers..............

ISP content filtering pilot report

Liverpool declares itself an ID-free zone - The Register

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/11/liverpool_next_trial/

By John Oates

Labour members back non-cooperation vote

Posted in Government, 11th December 2009 12:54 GMT

Liverpool City Council passed a motion last night vowing not to co-operate with Home Office plans to extend its ID card trial to the city early next year.

Liverpool and Blackburn have been apparently been chosen for the next stage of the trial - the cards are currently being piloted in Manchester.

Gov slams critical database report as opaque, flawed, inaccurate - The Register

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/11/rowntree_report/

By OUT-LAW.COM Not the diplomatic dept then

Posted in Government, 11th December 2009 10:13 GMT

The Government has slammed as opaque, inadequate and riddled with factual errors a think tank report that claimed that a quarter of Government databases were operating illegally. The Government has said the report was methodologically flawed.

In March independent political reform body the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust published 'Database State', a report which said that 11 of the UK's 46 databases were almost certainly operating in breach of data protection and other laws.

"Everyone... has a right to take photographs and film in public places. Taking photographs... is not normally cause for suspicion and there are no pow

Police snapper silliness reaches new heights

City of London employ new ironic policing tactics.....

Last week, ACPO put out a strongly worded statement to all forces in England and Wales warning against over-use of anti-terror laws to question and search innocent photographers.

US, Russia begin talks on cyberspace security - The New York Times

In Shift, U.S. Talks to Russia on Internet Security - Series ...

13 Dec 2009 ... Get Science News From The New York Times » ... Strengthening defensesagainst Internet criminals would also strengthen defenses against any military...

Fla. judges, lawyers must 'unfriend' on Facebook - PhysOrg.com

Fla. judges, lawyers must 'unfriend' on Facebook
(AP) -- Florida's judges and lawyers should no longer "friend" each other on Facebook, the popular social networking site, according to a ruling from the state's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee.

Asylum seekers from dangerous countries will no longer automatically qualify for shelter in the Netherlands - Radio Netherlands/Expatica

Cabinet scraps automatic group asylum

The Hague - Asylum seekers from dangerous countries will no longer automatically qualify for shelter in the Netherlands. The cabinet adopted the proposal by Deputy Justice Minister Nebahat Albayrak on Friday.

From now on, all asylum requests will be judged on an individual basis.

Albayrak says the former collective policy was attracting many fraudulent requests.

Until now people from Ivory Coast, parts of Sudan, and, before that, Iraq and Somalia, qualified for asylum automatically.

Dutch immigration and residency regulations

Asylum Policy - UK; EU

Asylum directives: scrutiny of the opt in decisions : by the House of Commons European Union Committee, First report of Session 2009-10.

The Work of the UK Border Agency House of Commons Home Affairs Committee Second Report of Session 2009-10, Vol 1.

The House of Lords has ruled that the courts should decide age assessment issues and this should not be left to local authorities. See also free movement blog.

In the case of a Chechnyan asylum seeker in Bulgaria, the European Court of Justice has ruled that the Returns Directive does not allow a person to be detained for removal purposes for more than 18 months, although the period during which they are held in a detention centre on the basis of other provisions of national and Community law concerning asylum seekers is separate and should not be counted as part of 18 months.

See also the Sofia Echo

Migration, Public Opinion and Politics - New publication [£]

Migration, Public Opinion and Politics by Bertelsmann Stiftung, Migration Policy Institute (eds.). Focuses on the UK, Germany and the United States.

Durham police demonstrate DNA will stuff you - The Register

Durham police demonstrate DNA will stuff you

By John Ozimek • Get more from this authorPossession of non-illegal substance will still arse up your prospects

Posted in Policing, 10th December 2009 10:02 GMT

Durham police last week put the final nail in the coffin of the Home Office mantra "nothing to hide, nothing to fear", with a clear announcement that DNA and fingerprinting could harm an individual’s career prospects – even if they are otherwise totally innocent.

The warning came in a press release relating to mephedrone, which began by establishing that the substance remains legal to possess – until the government determines otherwise – but illegal to sell for medicinal purposes.

Immigration spy centre hit by staff delays - The Register

Immigration spy centre hit by staff delays

By Chris Williams • Get more from this authorMatch analysts sans frontières

Posted in Government, 10th December 2009 12:14 GMT

The opening of the operations centre at the heart of a new £1.2bn computer system - planned to monitor every person who enters or leaves of the UK - has been delayed by staff training.

The National Border Targeting Centre (NBTC), the Manchester clearing house for the e-Borders programme, was scheduled to open this month. According to the Home Office, it will now begin operations sometime in the first three months of next year..............

Mathematical models key to tracking gossip, terrorists - PhysOrg.com

Mathematical models key to tracking gossip, terrorists
(PhysOrg.com) -- Thanks to the Internet and online social networks (OSNs) news and gossip now spread literally like wildfire -- uncontrollably and seemingly without any order. But according to one Ryerson researcher, there is method to the madness. With the right mathematical model, you could spot when and where a story starts, then watch as it skips across the Internet. One day, similar models could even detect and track terrorist cells within OSNs.

Panic! Panic! Panic? Remember K2 - moneymaking scams!

Maurizio Morabito Same fears, different name? Maurizio Morabito uncovers a 1974 CIA report [link below]showing that the ‘scientific consensus’ then was that the world was cooling. http://www.climatemonitor.it/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/1974.pdf

H&P historian comments on the Guardian's coverage of sex-trafficking

Opinion article, 2 December 2009

Jane Berney of the Open University uses the history of the Contagious Diseases Act in Victorian Britain and Hong Kong to shed light on the contemporary debate over the scale of sex trafficking. She demonstrates that then, as now, statistics are easily manipulated whilst the voice of the prostitute is absent.

Read Jane Berney's article, More sex, lies and trafficking.

Remember Cable Street? Wrong battle, mate

H&P paper, 24 November 2009

David Cesarani discusses why Communities Secretary John Denham was wrong to compare recent anti-Muslim demonstrations with fascist attacks on British Jews in the 1930s.

Read the paper, Remember Cable Street? Wrong battle, mate.

Scammers scrape RAM for bank card data - The Register

Scammers scrape RAM for bank card data

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http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/09/ram_scraper_credit_card_theft/

By Dan Goodin in San Francisco •

Posted in Enterprise Security, 9th December 2009 05:02 GMT

Forget keyloggers and packet sniffers. In the wake of industry rules requiring credit card data to be encrypted, malware that siphons clear-text information from computer memory is all the rage among scammers, security researchers say.

So-called RAM scrapers scour the random access memory of POS, or point-of-sale, terminals, where PINs and other credit card data must be stored in the clear so it can be processed. When valuable information passes through, it is uploaded to servers controlled by credit card thieves.

EC needs new agency for three-headed security database - But don't give it to Interpol, warns data supervisor

EC needs new agency for three-headed security database

By Joe Fay •

Posted in Government, 9th December 2009 13:47 GMT

The European Data Protection Supervisor has called for a new agency to be set up to oversee the massive three-horned citizen watching database proposed by Brussels earlier this year.

The Commission in June proposed an agency - "responsible for the long-term operational management of the second-generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), Visa Information System (VIS) and EURODAC.

New DNA Rules - The Register

New DNA rules may still breach human rights

Council of Europe unsatisfied

DNA bungle shows 'lessons not learnt' - ABC

By Mary Gearin for the 7.30 Report

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/10/2768294.htm

A young man is trying to get his life back on track after 16 months in prison for a rape he did not commit. The 22-year-old has become a textbook case for the disastrous consequences of blind belief in DNA evidence.......................

Cyber crooks tarketing banks-social networks: Cisco - PhysOrg.com

Cyber crooks tarketing banks-social networks: Cisco
An annual security report being released Tuesday by technology titan Cisco warns that banks and online social networks are prime targets for increasingly sophisticated cyber crooks.

Same old story! Public servants in Australia to social network - if access allows!

BLOG, tweet, update Facebook - that's the message the Australian Government is sending its bureaucrats as part of a push to break down barriers between public servants and ordinary people....................................................

"Yet not enough public servants have work access to these building blocks of Government 2.0.''

Indeed, none of the public servants on the taskforce preparing the Engage: Getting on with Government 2.0 report had access to instant messaging despite the fact that it was an important tool for other taskforce members, it said.

The report also noted that one public servant responded to a call for colleagues to engage in robust work discussion online with: "Ha - we can't get to FaceBook, YouTube, Flickr, or most common discussion forums where I work.'

(Can't resist saying - some of us, in a UK government department, started doing this back in 2004 - now the victim of a cutback in public service costs!

However, probably left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing, see also

Update on digital engagement in Home Office )

See previous posting!!!!

Think smart - CIPFA
In the Pre-Budget Report, the chancellor must consider cutting non-essential public services and make sure others are being provided efficiently – even if this means outsourcing...

HMRC wastes public money on private firm - CIPFA

R&C property contract failed to obtain ‘value for money’
Revenue and Customs has wasted more than £300m on a private sector contract to run two-thirds of its estate, according to a damning report by the National Audit Office...

Large-scale public sector IT projects - CIPFA

Think-tank recommends appointment of IT minister
Central government should be given more powers to intervene in large-scale public sector IT projects to avoid costly failures, according to a think-tank...

Fauxtographical terror take? - The Register

Lord Carlile: Police are taking the proverbial on terror

Snap-unhappy cops really do over-use powers, says gov advisor

Force Science and the aftermath of violent encounters

FS News archives

2 new case histories: Force Science and the aftermath of violent encounters =Force Science News

How do principles of human behavior and memory stimulation studied in Force Science certification classes get applied in real-world policing?

Consider the recent experiences of 2 police trainers and Force Science graduates who played pivotal roles in significant use-of-force investigations, 1,700 miles and an international border apart.

In one, an officer ended up cleared of wrongdoing in a controversial Tasering. In the other, an officer's frayed emotions were calmed after a lethal confrontation and his department is now on its way to modernizing its post-shooting policies.

Says Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Institute, which to date has conferred the title of Force Science Analyst on some 400 certification graduates: "These are excellent examples of how psychological and physiological research findings can be brought to the investigative arena--not in any way to excuse or obscure egregious police behavior but to help officers get fair, informed, and scientifically based treatment in use-of-force reviews."

How do principles of human behavior and memory stimulation studied in Force Science certification classes get applied in real-world policing?

Consider the recent experiences of 2 police trainers and Force Science graduates who played pivotal roles in significant use-of-force investigations, 1,700 miles and an international border apart.

In one, an officer ended up cleared of wrongdoing in a controversial Tasering. In the other, an officer's frayed emotions were calmed after a lethal confrontation and his department is now on its way to modernizing its post-shooting policies.

Says Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Institute, which to date has conferred the title of Force Science Analyst on some 400 certification graduates: "These are excellent examples of how psychological and physiological research findings can be brought to the investigative arena--not in any way to excuse or obscure egregious police behavior but to help officers get fair, informed, and scientifically based treatment in use-of-force reviews."

Study confirms that cannabis is beneficial for multiple sclerosis - PhysOrg.com

Study confirms that cannabis is beneficial for multiple sclerosis
Cannabis can reduce spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. A systematic review, published in the open access journal BMC Neurology, found that five out six randomized controlled trials reported a reduction in spasticity and an improvement in mobility.

Lost laptop - track, and detonate data!

Download of the day: FireFound tracks your stolen computer, nukes your personal data - PhysOrg.com
The worst thing about losing your laptop isn't the cost of replacing your gear; it's the loss of personal info and saved passwords. Firefox extension FireFound tracks your lost laptop's location and nukes your personal data in a few clicks.

Is cannabis the answer to Booze Britain's problems? - PhysOrg.com

Is cannabis the answer to Booze Britain's problems?
Substituting cannabis in place of more harmful drugs may be a winning strategy in the fight against substance misuse. Research published in BioMed Central' open access Harm Reduction Journal features a poll of 350 cannabis users, finding that 40% used cannabis to control their alcohol cravings, 66% as a replacement for prescription drugs and 26% for other, more potent, illegal drugs.

Security ID cards with built-in holograms - PhysOrg.com

Security ID cards with built-in holograms (w/ Video)
(PhysOrg.com) -- Plastic cards with security features are ubiquitous these days, having a wide variety of uses such as credit cards, employee cards, licenses, and so on. Many have holographic images, but they are relatively easy to tamper with. Now researchers at SABIC Innovative Plastics and GE Global Research have developed a new class of thermoplastic holographic materials that embed holograms within the plastic of cards, making them virtually impossible to copy or alter.

Facebook, MySpace ban New York sex offenders - PhysOrg.com

Facebook, MySpace ban New York sex offenders
Facebook and MySpace have closed the accounts of 3,533 convicted sex offenders in New York state under a law combating online predators, officials said Tuesday.

Are the effects of pornography negligible? - PhysOrg.com

Are the effects of pornography negligible?
A Université de Montréal researcher, funded by the Interdisciplinary Research Center on Family Violence and Violence Against Women, has launched a new study to examine the effects of pornography on men. "We started our research seeking men in their twenties who had never consumed pornography. We couldn't find any," says Simon Louis Lajeunesse, a postdoctoral student and professor at the School of Social Work.

Crime scene measurements can be taken from a single image - PhysOrg.com

Crime scene measurements can be taken from a single image
Two researchers from the University of Salamanca have developed a procedure to enable forensic police to extract metric data from crime scenes using just a single photograph. Their proposal, published this month in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, makes it possible to reconstruct a crime scene in 3D.