Developing a deeper understanding of terrorism today to aid local law enforcement tomorrow

Analysis by Security Consulting Investigations, LLC
"Your premier private investigative service worldwide."
Dr. Ross L. Riggs, Director

1 October 2014

THE ISLAMIC STATE is terminology that is worthwhile as a non-identifier which aides U.S. media in re-drawing the lines as to what constitutes 1) a Member of the Islamic State 2) a State Action by the Islamic State (as compared to non-State action and classified as a 'private action' even when the subject identifies themselves in allegiance to the Islamic State and declares their actions as designed to further the Islamic State. In other words, IS has become a tool for the politically correct to redefine it however they need to for their purposes.

If one traces the etymology of the term Islamic State, a direct correlation can be found with its predecessors of ISIS including but not limited to: the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria; ISIL, the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant as well as others. The purpose of the recodification of the terminology is to bolster the Obama Administration's claim following the death of Osama bin Laden that al Qaeda is decimated and on the run, that terrorism as such was eliminated from the known threats for the citizens of the US by al Qaeda's demise.

Nothing, of course, is further than the truth - al Qaeda has been growing and morphing into all varieties of terrorist outlets all across the Middle East and northern Africa. One cannot deny the vitality of the terrorist movement, unless, of course, you consider events such as the pathetic attempt by major media outlets in the U.S. kowtowing to pressure from the Obama Administration to label the beheading of Colleen Hufford, age 54 and the brutal stabbing of Traci Johnson, who remains in serious condition, by Jah'keem Yisrael a known Muslim extremist who tried to convert co-workers to Islam and screamed Islamic phrases as "workplace violence". According to reliable sources, Nolen began attending worship services this May at the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City. This is the same Mosque that Breitbart News report that Imam Suhaib, who had ties to al-Qaeda mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki used to attend.

Under the category of "NAH...HE DIDN'T REALLY SAY THAT, DID HE?" is the
report on CNN September 30th during the morning expose' on the Oklahoma beheading case, stating that the prosecutor was not going to seek the death penalty, the talking heads of psychobabble were declaring the actions by Jah'keem Yisrael, aka Alton Alexander Nolen, a result of the build-up of family and personal pressures since he was a child and the resulting violence was the proximate result of his environment. The anchor, John Berman, closed the

segment with the statement, "this case is a difficult case (referring to the beheading)...any way you slice it." In fact, the news watch Buzz Feed News counted 3 times in 10 seconds that he used the phrase referring to the beheading.

A SECOND THREATENED BEHEADING IN OKLAHOMA CITY - MAN ARRESTED
After a verbal altercation and on-going difficulty in an Oklahoma base nursing home, one employee threatened to behead a female employee. The man, arrested on charges of TERRORISM, claimed that he represented ISIS. Here are the basic facts from MAILONLINE:

• Jacob Mugambi Muriithi, 30, worked 20 miles away from beheading scene;
• A Muslim, he was fired on Wednesday for the threats at Bellvue Nursing Home;
• Muriithi told the victim he would cut off her head and post the footage on Facebook;
• Police arrested him Friday - the same day  Alton Alexander Nolen was identified as the suspect in the beheading at  Vaughan Foods in Moore, OK; 
• Muriithi is now being held on terrorism charges with his bail set at $1million.  

First - it is critical to reinforce with local police and with the public that other than a very rare "in the right place at the right time" kind of moment, police very seldom have the ability to "prevent crime" or "protect the citizens" to understand the concept, refer to this author's published article "To Protect and Serve". There is only one person who must accept the responsibility to protect and that is the individual who is facing the attacker. Police respond to a call for help which means that the attack has already taken place. If police take it upon themselves to be the ultimate guardian of the population then every time they fail to be at the exact right spot at the exact time, they will count themselves a failure - great for destroying a job satisfaction and increasing stress exponentially. If the public actually believe that the police officer will come springing out of a phone booth, blue tights and a red cape ready to whisk them to safety, they will certainly be eager to vote down the next safety

levy and bad mouth the police every chance they get.

Can crime be prevented by having a police force that is strong, resilient, professional in appearance and highly visible with a great track record of cases solved and convictions received? Yes! Absolutely! The "less stupid" criminals will go hunt their prey in cities where the probability of being apprehended either in the act or following the investigation is much less. The point, however, is that the individual citizen must be ready at a second's notice to not be a victim. (I have another whole diatribe on why we should drop that word from our language all together, by the way!) The local citizens must be willing, equipped and prepared to defend themselves. Local law enforcement can learn from these recent instances however and take action to prevent such acts of terrorism in their communities -

FIRST ACTION POINT: Local Law Enforcement should get behind quality, self-protection training for their citizens; everything from identifying trouble, reporting suspicious persons and events (sometimes to their employers and to local police).

Recently in a small town in NE Ohio a 90 plus year old woman who lives alone was nearly stabbed to death one evening because she partially opened her front door to someone asking for 組asoline・because his car broke down. This assault never had to happen. A peep hole in the door. A front camera with a video screen, or simply knowing that as a 90 year old woman, she does not answer the front door after dark. Yes, it is a sad commentary on our times but, these are the times in which we live and we must be prepared to protect ourselves.

SECOND ACTION POINT: Local Law Enforcement should train employers on their responsibility to take the reports by employees of bullying, extreme behavior of any kind, and threats very seriously and have a course of action laid out based on the type of threat or incident.

THIRD ACTION POINT: Develop connections within neighborhoods. COPS NEED TO GET OUT OF THEIR CARS - talk to people, develop a rapport with young people, elderly people, shop owners, - Cops need to develop their people skills. The earliest signs of someone about to cause serious trouble (even within normally closed communities like a Mosque) there are always people who either know or suspect something is building and about to happen. Usually these people would tell the authorities if they had someone they trusted and that they knew how to reach. It does not happen overnight but it will never happen if the department does not start.

Here come the nay-sayers with "not enough money, short on personnel...we're running from call to call now and have no time to stop and walk the beat, eating the grocer's apples and getting the kitten down from the tree (oops, that's the fire department's job...skip that last one!)

There are always excuses. There are always obstacles. PRO-ACTIVE POLICING requires no longer being satisfied just going from call to call as "responders"...Someone once said, "if you always do what you've always done, you always get what you've always gotten."

If you go all the way back to 9-11, there was information out there about the hijackers. The citizens who were in contact with them - such as at the flight school - were not trained on what to be looking for, and there was no connection for people to know who to call, how to call, or what to report. The car bomb in Times Square - how many times did those guys drive cross-country and go around buying up chemicals in quantities that only the world's largest hair salon would need?・Did you know that those guys did not exactly fit the description of "Che' Robere's House of Hair". Someone, somewhere, had a gut instinct that these guys were up to something, but "who you gonna call?"

Agencies must not forget the lessons of 9-11 and begin to retreat behind their walls of non-cooperation. Organizations, such as the International Counter Terrorism Officer's Association, continue to support inter-agency cooperation, training, and information sharing. We have the tools, the people, the equipment and methodologies to stop these attacks but we have to get back to some good old fashioned police work.

Beheading of French tourist - The Islamic state claims responsibility

A 55 year old professional mountaineering guide from Nice France, Herve Gourdel was kidnapped on September 28, 2014 by a jihadist group called Jund al-Khalifa (caliphate soldiers). She had been hiking in an Algerian national park. The group claims allegiance to the Islamic State. They had threatened to kill Gourdel unless France stopped bombing ISIS targets in Iraq. A search by a large contingent of security forces of Algeria in the Tizi Ouzou region failed to locate Gourdel. Thirty minutes after President Obama urged the world to

unite against ISIS and destroy what he called a "network of death". ISIS released the short video of Gourdel's beheading.


According to the Langley Intelligence Group, "an international appeal from ISIS in which it called on its backers everywhere to attack Europeans...jihadists in the Philippines declared that they were holding two Germans hostage and would kill them unless Berlin withdrew support for the U.S. led campaign against ISIS or paid ransom...jihadists in a wide array of other locations, including Tunisia, Libya, Jordan, Pakistan and the Caucasus are among those who have pledged allegiance to ISIs, which is gaining supporters around the world...as this terror network grows, so too does the danger to the security of Americans and other westerners who seek to travel the world."

Urban and Suburban Warfare in America

October 27th, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

     

Between 6,000 and 10,000 terrorists, capable of running drugs, extortion, child sex rings, rape, assault and vicious murder; some in ‘uniform’ others conspicuously inconspicuous in their attempt to ‘fit-in’ to their communities – will that give you a reason to sit up and listen? (In this case, read the rest of this post?) To continue, experts believe that these terrorists have entrenched themselves in Washington D.C. and in Los Angeles but have cells operating in Virginia, Maryland and almost coast to coast.

The risk has recently magnified itself nearly one-hundred fold. This vast army of terrorist cells, without a single leadership per se, but each cell acting autonomously to create as much havoc and uncontrolled violence in order to control through fear their local communities has a new ally. Take the group already described and attach to it an international drug cartel that is the singularly most violent cartel in Mexico, the most heavily armed and the one most capable of coming through on a promise of training these terrorist allies how to do suburban/urban warfare.

Now, do you really want that second doughnut before you go out on the street or would you prefer to double check your weapon, your shotgun, get your vest out of the bottom of the closet and ask your wife if she renewed that gym membership you got last Christmas? It only takes a minute to scan the vast majority of police forces in the U.S. and see that to battle this type of terrorist on our own turf, we are out equipped, physically we are beaten in a heart-attack inducing sort of way, out gunned and pretty soon, perhaps out trained if the urban guerrilla warfare training that was promised by the Mexican cartel comes through. Add to the mix that officers are operating under the most restrictive judicial environment in decades while these terrorists are reaching ultimate heights of heinously violent acts and recruiting actively in our schools for more soldiers.

26 MS-13 gang members indicted for racketeering in 2010

Who are the terrorists? None other than Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13 is the El Salvadoran gang that reaches numbers nearing 10,000. The Mexican drug cartel that has linked with MS-13 is Los Zetas led by former Mexican Special Forces soldiers. There could not be a deadlier mix. The U.S. Treasury Department has listed both MS 13 and Los Zetas as Transnational Criminal Organizations which allows the U.S. to freeze their accounts and to block any financial or business institution in the U.S. from doing business with them.
The drug wars of Mexico that have harangued our police and enforcement officials along the border for years is now fully operational in dozens of America’s cities and towns. Presidential candidate Romney wants to complete building the structural and electronic wall between us and Mexico, a great idea that needs to be done but it is also  too little too late. As police officers¸ you need to do a risk assessment of your own communities and learn what connections your students have to MS 13, where your drugs are coming from and then brace yourself for a full scale war for the hearts and minds of our youth and for the safety of our towns.

Additional information on this report can be found through: The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point and through the Langley Intelligence Group Network LIGNET www.lignet.com

 Dr. Ross L. Riggs, Director SCI www.security-consulting.us

Unsung Heroes: The Other Silent Service

August 24th, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

A vague report about a possible attack somewhere in a remote part a country most folks cannot find on a map may be the only word from the other silent service. For most of its WWII years and beyond, the U.S. Navy’s submarine fleet was known as the silent service for their ability to seemingly glide right past enemy defenses and deliver tactical units or observers behind enemy lines. There always seems to be, in the movies at least, a sub somewhere within responding distance to help out a stranded James Bond, agent 007 of the MI-5. Perhaps there-in lay the link between the submarine service and the clandestine world of field agents, operatives and, our imagination’s favorite, spies. 

There is neither glamor nor glitz, as the Ian Fleming portrayals make us believe (or at least hope for). The work of an undercover operative whether it is in a local police department sorting out the drug dealers from the thieves or in the clandestine section of the CIA in some exotic part of the world, such as a back alley, near the dumpster, just past the sanitation station in Tabriz has little need of spare tuxedos with two-way radio cuff links. The most seductive beauty that has passed information to the agent in the last six months is a too soon aged crack addict who has recently contracted head-lice. This is the stuff of which Hollywood blockbusters are made!

Throughout the Iraq wars and continuing in Afghanistan, Iran has aided and abetted our enemies with weapons, training, and personnel and is responsible for the deaths of far too many Americans. But there is an amazing side to this story and that is the taking it back to them and sticking it in their face that our CIA, under General D.H. Petraeus, is accomplishing. Without fanfare and even in the midst of leaks from the Administration that border on treason, the CIA and other U.S. military groups continue to function effectively. Actions, reported to have occurred, include cyber-attacks which sabotaged Iran’s nuclear program and the virus Stuxnet; which according to sources, set Tehran’s nuclear hopes back two years. Sabotage and unclaimed explosions in different parts of the country contiguous to the nuclear research, 17 top Iranian military officials killed, destroyed gas and oil facilities and a plant that makes a special kind of steel used in the centrifuges all have come under special scrutiny by the U.S. and her allies.  I have no direct knowledge as to what group, groups, nation or nations orchestrated this on-going special warfare. One Israeli general is quoted as responding, when asked about the source of these complex operations and the damage that has been inflicted, that sometimes there are “things that happen unnaturally.”[i]

We want the silent services to be permitted to remain silent, and wouldn’t now shed light on it except that the light has already been turned on and it is the nay-sayers, the detractors that control the light switch; so it is time some positive light shows through. I, for one, am very thankful for everything that General Petraeus has meant for this country. We are a better people because of him and those he has commanded and now commands. We are a safer people because of him and the men he commanded and now commands. Our gratitude and prayers go with him and with those persons carrying out whatever directives they have received.

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[i] Dowd, Alan W. “Shadow War” The American Legion Magazine, July 2012.

A Churchillian Premonition

June 24th, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

  
Dateline: Pre-war Britain 1936

                “Two things, I confess, have staggered me, after a long Parliamentary experience, in these Debates. The first has been the dangers that have so swiftly come upon us in a few years, and have been transforming our position and the whole outlook of the world. Secondly, I have been staggered by the failure of the House of Commons to react effectively against these dangers. That, I am bound to say, I never expected. I would never have believed that we should have been allowed to go on getting into this plight, month by month and year by year, and that even the Government’s own confessions of error would have produced no concentration of Parliamentary opinion and force capable of lifting our efforts to the level of emergency.”[i]

If one can imagine standing on a rooftop on the outskirts of London after the Battle of Britain during the summer and fall of 1940, it may be possible to envision the devastation left by German Luftwaffe. It would take a much closer view to see the real devastation left in the lives of thousands of Britons. How did the politicians who failed to act in 1935, 36, 37, 38, and 39 console themselves when they looked at the carnage they could have, perhaps, prevented? Let us trust that it was more than a ‘shift the blame game.’ If politicians in the United States cannot learn from Mr. Churchill’s remarks in 1935, perhaps they can find the key to self-consolation used by latter British Parliamentarians who heeded not his warnings then; for the day, now, when Iran unleashes its nuclear wrath on civilian Israel or perhaps, the United States.

Air Observer over London

A distasteful medicine, no doubt; but Americans must not be too quick to prescribe such a tonic to their Congressmen if they are not ready to indulge in a spoonful of the nasty elixir themselves.  Every person who does not raise the alarm nor prevail upon their elected representatives to do so must share in the blame of what shall come. It is no longer a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ the madman of Iran will get his destructive tool completed and will seek with the greatest of evil desires to annihilate Israel and, in turn, the Great Satan of America.  When the attack comes, Americans will rise up and proclaim, “Something must be done!” I would say, ‘Sit down; you have already done less than enough.’

I applaud with great enthusiasm those who have raised the banner of alarm and have declared the urgency of these days. I overwhelmingly support our military men and women.
Look back to the world in 1936 when Winston Churchill understood the nature of the time. Here is a brief timeline provided by Holocaust Encyclopedia[ii]:

September 18, 1931
Japan invades Manchuria.

October 2, 1935–May 1936
Fascist Italy invades, conquers, and annexes Ethiopia.

October 25–November 1, 1936
Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy sign a treaty of cooperation on October 25; on November 1, the Rome-Berlin Axis is announced.

November 25, 1936
Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, directed against the Soviet Union and the international Communist movement.
Only two ‘shooting wars’ had erupted briefly; one in Manchuria the other in Ethiopia. Fast forward to 2012 and compare it to the timeline NPR provides of the “Arab Spring”[iii]

December 2010 January 2011
Tunisian President toppled after violent demonstrations.
Dissent begins in Egypt (January 2011)

February 2011
Mass protests in Yemen – President promised to step down at the end of his term
Mubarak steps down as Egyptian President
Violence in Bahrain quelled by military intervention from Saudi Arabia
Libya ignites in violence

March 2011
Libya rebels in control –
Syrians rise up against violent Assad regime – Assad begins program of mass murder against civilian dissidents and innocents
NATO and US authorize airstrikes in Libya in attempt to force Gadhafi out

June 2011
Yemeni President Saleh is badly injured in explosion at presidential compound – leaves the country

August 2011
Mubarak on trial
Rebels in Libya enter Tripoli

October 2011
Gadhafi killed
Tunisian elections – Islamic party Ennahda wins

November 2011
Bahrain report shows government tortured dissidents
Muslim Brotherhood – extreme Islamic party takes lead in Egyptian elections

December 2011
5000 Syrians believed murdered by Assad regime since ‘Spring’ began.

June 2012
Mohamed Morsy, of the Egyptian Brotherhood declared the next president of Egypt after receiving 51% of the vote.[iv]

21,435 Syrians believed murdered by Assad regime since ‘Spring’ began.[v]

Currently, Russia is providing tanks and military helicopters to Assad in Syria for “self-defense” according to Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.[vi]  Henry Kissinger (Secretary of State under Richard Nixon) described the Syrian civil war as an unfortunate event, a human catastrophe. Russia and Iran have ensconced themselves in the Syrian Civil War backing Assad and leveraging Hamas and the Palestinians to increase their strangle hold on the region, particularly isolating Israel.

Thomas Donnelly writes,

 “Obama has insisted that the ‘tide of war’ in the Middle East is ‘receding.’ It’s not just that American troops have been withdrawn from Iraq, are being more rapidly withdrawn from Afghanistan, or were not employed on the ground in Libya. It’s the President’s belief that they need not – should not – be used again. This is an unrealistic belief.”[vii](Emphasis added)

June 23, 2012 Syrian forces shot down a Turkish jet that was in international air space and some NATO countries are meeting at the request of Turkey to prepare a response to the unprovoked attack. Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi declared the attack to be “unacceptable” and announced that Italy would be part of the NATO meeting with Turkey.[viii]

Twenty-three Hamas rockets were fired into Israel just yesterday (June 23, 2012) bringing the total since Monday to 150 not including the armed incursions and the fire fights between IDF and Hamas forces.

The Russian proffered ‘talks’ for nuclear weapon pull-back with Iran have had no success and Tehran remains recalcitrant about their desire to ‘wipe Israel off the map’ as well as attack and destroy ‘the big Satan’ the United States.

What will it take? A Blitzkrieg across Poland and the opening of camps like Chelmno (Kulmhof) and Auschwitz? A public commitment to “the Final Solution”? (No, wait, we have that already!) Another 9/11?

“When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.“[ix] 

Oh, but to find in our leaders both in Washington, the states and in each home and family good leaders. There are some. They must associate or they will, as Edmund Burke warns, ‘fall one by one.’ Who will hear Mr. Churchill’s admonition? Who will answer the call? My prayer is that when the events of history record this time, I will be known to have taken my stand together with other good citizens and drawn that line against which evil must not be allowed to cross.

 [Dr. Ross L. Riggs Global Security Consulting a subsidiary of Security Consulting Investigations, LLC www.homelandsecuritynet.com/HSN/   www.globalsecurityconsulting.us]

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[i] Churchill, Winston remarks to the House of Commons, November 1936 as recorded by William Kristol and Jamie Fly in “No Iranian Nukes” The Weekly Standard June 25, 2012

[ii] http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007306

[iii] http://www.npr.org/2012/01/02/144489844/timeline-the-major-events-of-the-arab-spring

[iv] Jerusalem Post on-line June 26, 2012 jpost.com/headlines

[v] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Civil_War_%282011%E2%80%93present%29

[vi] Donnelly, Thomas “Obama Fiddles” The Weekly Standard June 25, 2012

[vii] Ibid.

[viii] Jerusalem Post on-line June 26, 2012 jpost.com/headlines

[ix] Burke, Edmond Thoughts on the Cause of the Current Discontents (1770)

A Routine Day

June 2nd, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

 

A routine day, Friday, June 1, 2012, it is the first day of the ‘weekend’ in Israel. A 21 year old Staff-Sergeant in the IDF is working as a Medic doing a “normal patrol” along the southern border area of Israel along the Gaza Strip. The security fence is up and working properly. It is, for all intents and purposes, a beautifully routine day. And then the unexpected happens… surreal almost in the action, that I am certain the IDF units on scene had to shake their heads for a collective second. Could someone actually be stupid enough to scale that fence and come across right in front of us? But that is exactly what this terrorist did and the 21 year old soldier, a native of Ashkelon was buried hours later. The terrorist was also killed in the firefight with the Sergeant’s patrol team.[i]

 

“Yes,” you say, “but that is Israel. The Sergeant, he was IDF and was on patrol along the Gaza Strip. They are at war. Even today rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. That wouldn’t happen to me.”
 Just today I drove past a large billboard that was advertising for some insurance company. The sign read, ‘The: that will never happen to me – just happened to me.’

Not too terribly long ago a local police officer in a rural area near where I live was on patrol and approached a man wanted for writing bad checks while the man was getting items from his vehicle in a well-known and occupied ‘Re-Po’  lot.  The officer, a ten year veteran of the village police department, was somewhat aware of the situation into which he was driving and had called another jurisdiction for a back-up car to respond. However, the bad-check warrant is a very low degree crime and seldom gets jail time, so the officer had little reason to imagine that in seconds he would be shot four times, nearly fatally by the suspect for no apparent reason. The officer survived by taking cover under a truck awaiting help. The suspect had no hesitation, gave no warning signs, no verbal or physical cues to let you know there was something extremely violent about to happen; he simply refused to exit his vehicle. When a struggle ensued, the cop had his gun taken from him and barely lived to tell about it.

You are right, that guy in the ‘Re-Po’ lot was not a terrorist. No, he was a potential murderer who wanted to kill a cop. The terrorist who crossed that fence on Friday in Israel had one objective minimum. Sure, he wanted over that fence; but the way he was armed and ready to fire, he wanted to kill someone, preferably an IDF soldier. That he was killed as a result, for him he thought, was a plus. Perhaps the bad guy in the ‘Re-Po’ lot wasn’t hoping to die for some sensual eternal reward; maybe he just didn’t have anything for which he felt it was worth staying alive. He did stay alive though, and in 2008, only thirteen years after being sentenced to a “minimum 15 to 50 years”, he was up for parole. The officer, although back to work; in 2008 was still undergoing surgeries to repair damages done by the four shots he sustained. A newspaper article telling the story of the shooting of the police officer ran the headline, “A Routine Day.”[ii]

Can you see the connection? It can happen to you and since 9-11 here in the United States, we are at war. If you are in law enforcement, you are at war every day; because every day may be the routine day you have to fight for your life.

[Dr. Ross L. Riggs, Chief of Police Retired]

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[i] http://www.policeone.com/legal/articles/1704436-Man-who-shot-Ohio-cop-up-for-parole/

[ii] http://www.jerusalemonline.com/dhome.asp

The Thin Blue Line Gets a Little Thicker

May 22nd, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

As the National Law Enforcement Memorial Week has drawn to a close both on the Mall in Washington DC and elsewhere; another 300 plus names are on the forever engraved on the wall.  We realize that many of those were not shot or injured in the last calendar year, but were from previous times and their information has now been updated enough for them to be included. However, over one –third were alive and well this time last year. What about those alive and working today? Will their name be one added next year? If you were able to ask any of those whose name was just added for this past year, one year ago if they imagined  where they would be; if  they had any fore-knowledge or suspicion, perhaps a premonition; most likely the answer would be ‘no.’

The Thin Blue Line

But, ladies and gentlemen of law enforcement does it take adding over 300 names to our memorial wall to remind us that each and every day, we are at war? War… not a career. We are as a country, a people, as our military and as law enforcement as the thin blue line of defense in America, some describe it as the thin blue line between civilization and anarchy. The truth of the matter is: we are at war. War brings death. War brings pain and suffering, injuries and disabilities. War brings separation from loved ones. War, someone once said, is hell. ‘Capt. Hawkeye Pierce’ of M*A*S*H fame said once that ‘war is war and hell is hell.’ That hell has no innocent bystanders.

When you go to your shift, whatever precinct, borough, county, city, small town or village; whether patrol, DB, homicide, vice, even attached to a Homeland Security task force, do you feel like you are going to war, to battle? My suspicion is that you do not. You read someone like me, who is writing about your role in this war against terrorists and you think I am blowing smoke. So, back to your coffee break, maybe signal out at the hospital where that cute new nurse is on duty, don’t worry about anything like terrorism happening in your little neck of the woods. That is for the big boys; the feds or anyone other than you.

November 28, 2011

“Local police bust a phone hacking ring that is sending money to terrorists. Investigators then uncovered a paper trail that proved the funds were going to al Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).”

Sept 28 2007 Local police arrested Houssein Zorkot, “who is of Lebanese dsecent, after he was spotted walking around a park wielding an AK-47 assault rifle, wearing camouflage makeup and dark clothes. Zorkot’s website includes praise for Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah.” It also links to Al-Manar, a satellite television controlled by Hizballah and contains statements such as: “Hezbollah protects Lebanon” and “Hezbollah is a national resistance organization.” Location: Wayne State University. He was a medical student there.

“In July of 2005, officers from (Torrance CA) police department arrested two suspects for robbing a local gas station. As the investigation continued to unfold, the officers came face-to-face with a direct act of domestic terrorism. An Islamic extremist group based …in California and known as “Assembly of Authentic Islam” (JIS) was uncovered. This group, operating primarily in state prisons without apparent connections or direction from outside the United States, committed several armed robberies throughout Southern California, including the one in Torrance. The robberies were committed with the goal of financing attacks against the enemies of Islam, including the United States government and supporters of Israel.” (Torrance CA has a population of about 147,000 people.)

These are just the first three examples from the first investigative website I pulled up to show you what I am talking about and yes these are a few years old, but you get my point, I hope.  You can rest assured that you are not alone in this fight however.

The retired and off-duty cops across this country have been arming themselves well based on the federal, Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act. Carrying for officers who are retired, still qualifying and capable is becoming more common place and the number of times is increasing in which retired officers are stepping in to assist an officer who is injured or happen to be in the right place at the right time as some recent church shooting crimes have gone down and these armed officers made a difference. Yes, I agree with you; there are some retired cops that should not be out there wielding a badge and a gun. The LEOSA takes care of that in the annual qualification process where they must meet the same standards as the current on-duty cops.

I urge you, cops of all agencies, specialties, patrol assignments, administrative responsibilities; remember, we, the United States of America (our people not our government) is at war with a radical bunch of people who have threatened to kill every last one of us. Start acting like you know you are at war. Teach your citizens how to protect themselves. Serve them with the professional courtesy they deserve. Be aggressive in your learning and in enhancing your skill set. Always watch your partner’s back and make certain he or she is watching yours. Go home safe at the end of your shift. Rest up and come back to the fight willing to give it everything you have. You are the thin blue line. In some places it is a little thicker than others but it is what it is and you are crucial to keeping it. God bless you, your families and may God bless America.

[Dr. Ross L. Riggs, Director Security Consulting Investigations, LLC, parent company to GSC21 –Global Security Consulting for the 21^st Century www.security-consulting.us    www.globalsecurityconsulting.us]

U.S. Foreign Policy and the Beat Cop:
The Truth Behind the Headlines 

 

April 9th, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

You are working your beat…. Patrolling the streets as you have been doing now for what seems like a lifetime. You know every sound, especially the late night and early morning sounds that you can hear for blocks. Summer nights get hot and even with the air on in the car and your window open enough to hear the dogs barking, perhaps alerting you to a prowler, or to hear the sound of glass breaking, you recognize the sounds of normal. During the day, you know who you will see in that next block, on the corner. He is there every day. Maybe he’s a drug dealer you have busted a dozen times or maybe an elderly war vet looking for help. Whatever the sights and the sounds, it is your beat. You know it so well because it has become part of you, good and bad. As you think about your beat, ask yourself: ‘When was the last time the U.S. Secretary of State came out to ride along and see how things were going?’ Ridiculous. ‘When was the last time any U.S. Secretary of State called you prior to your shift at roll call to ask if there was anything you needed to help your shift on your beat go better?’ Nonsense. ‘When was the last time you received a letter, personally signed by the US. Secretary of State, asking you: “How things could be better on your beat?”’ Never going to happen. “Why? What does the Secretary’s role in world affairs have to do with my beat?” you ask. Everything.

Because of the way the current administration has ignored the issues in Mexico and the U.S. Southwestern borders, major Mexican drug cartels are now directing the street drug operations on your beat. Do the amounts of drugs and the sources of those drugs impact your job? Absolutely. The violence that has been transplanted north of the border is criminal. (Pun intended).

Is it possible that America’s planned withdrawal from Afghanistan on a set date, already announced by the Administration, influences the already heated relationships between Muslims and everybody else on your beat? No doubt about it.

These are just two simple examples. Do you really believe that anyone at that level of government cares about how you have to listen to some clown on the street bad mouth the U.S. military and tell you that you can’t do this or that because America is too weak and you have to listen to that garbage every day? No, of course, you don’t. So what can you do about it? Why even think about it because it just irritates you that much more and your doctor is already on you about your stress and your wife just told you that you come home from work in a negative mood. (She probably doesn’t use those exact words.)

The point is that you can do something about it! You do not have to listen to that garbage mouth guy on the street. If you choose not to just turn and walk away, you can ask him when it was that he cared enough about his own freedoms to serve in the Armed Forces. You can ask him when he had the courage to actually stand up for freedom or, for that matter, even vote! But, wait. Maybe you can’t say that because you quit voting three elections ago! You figured it didn’t matter. It does matter. It matters a great deal.

Maybe you have to get angry before you get involved? Of course, you are already serving your country as a cop and for that you should be proud. Chances are that you are a veteran, too. You should be proud of that. You cannot stop there. When the righteous no longer care enough to become involved in the political process, only the unrighteous will be. You should be writing your congressional representatives. Write your state representatives, too, it will shock the daylights out of them to hear from an ‘ordinary’ person for a change! It is a national campaign year and already the commercials and media hype are enough to turn you off of voting forever. That is all the more reason to be involved. One of those people who are jamming your airwaves will be the next Commander in Chief and will pick the next Secretary of State who, as has already been shown, impacts your daily patrol! Perhaps you are one who has to get angry to get involved. Anger turned inward is destructive. Anger turned outward is vile and ugly. Anger turned upward in prayer returns as wisdom.

Watch the link of this criminal vandalism against the graves of our WWII veterans by a disrespectful, ignorant mob of apparently non-Christians, non-Jews who present themselves as pathetic follows of Islam. (I personally know dozens of young Muslims and none of them would do what you are seeing done in this video, so don’t go throwing your anger at just anyone for what you are about to see.)

Muslim mob in Libya vandalizes Christian & Jewish WWII Tombstones

Angry enough now to get involved? No? OK, try this cartoon on for size.

Now, first things first, you must take that anger and turn it which direction? Upward, right. In prayer. Oh, you say you haven’t prayed for a long time, wouldn’t be sure how to? Not a problem. Have you talked to your patrol partner about how you feel on these issues or maybe another cop? Maybe you are one of the few who has even talked to their spouse about how they feel. Now, if you have done that, you can pray. God, the Father, the Bible tells us is ‘leaning forward, anxious to hear your prayers.’ He wants to talk to you but it is best if you start the conversation. Pretend you are on patrol and He is sitting in the seat next to you and just start talking. (Not to spoil a secret, but when you are on patrol… He is right there with you every day already.) So, tell your Partner, (capital P is out of respect for who God is as a holy and righteous God, He has earned it and deserves it), how all of this makes you feel and ask Him for wisdom. The Bible says that the third king of Israel, Solomon, asked God not for riches or fame or victories but wisdom and that pleased God so much that He made Solomon the wisest man that ever lived. You and I are not going to be a Solomon but God will give us wisdom.

Now, take that wisdom and get involved. Local politics, state issues and maybe, particularly this year, get involved in national campaign issues. Investigate all the candidates and what they say. Send them a letter or e-mail and ask them to clarify what they mean when they are playing the ‘fuzzy answer’ card. Share with others what you are learning about the candidates and get on a couple of newsletters. If you consider yourself a political conservative or just a good American, you might be interested in following Senator Ron Paul’s blogs and newsletters; he seems to have his finger on the issues and knows what he is talking about, at least most of the time. (I would have said that ‘Good American’ and ‘conservative’ are inter-changeable terms; but to keep this argument where it needs to be, I must admit that I truly believe anyone who takes an active role in understanding the issues and voting his conscience or his faith is a great American regardless of political stripe. Just remember though I said ‘takes an active role in understanding the issues.’ That is crucial.)

Personally, I hope you are a person of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is me, DocRoss, saying that, not HSN. If you would like to but you don’t know how, contact me, I will help you. The point is not just a political one or about improving your beat, but about changing your life here and the one after this one for eternity, which means forever and ever. It is also about understanding correctly the relationship Christians have to come alongside and help the Jewish nation of Israel. That is a longer conversation. We can do that, too, if you like. You cannot avoid getting involved if you want to make a difference for yourself and your beat.

In the three departments with which I have been a cop, each one had one older sergeant who was as negative a man as I have met. I have no other appropriate term that adequately describes them except they all fit a certain mold, whatever that is in your mind and I bet you just thought of someone just like that on your department. They come as standard issue. I am pleased to tell you that one of those eventually came to know Jesus Christ as Savior and his negativity disappeared and you could never meat a more pleasant man.

One great example of another that I will never forget (and I have been retired for a dozen years now). This fellow would argue you into a corner over the Ohio Lottery. The Lottery had, maybe still has, a show where they pick the winning numbers. When the State would announce that there were no winners, he was adamant that they couldn’t know that because… (Wait for it, this is too good to miss and don’t jump ahead of me)… they couldn’t know that there were no winners because he hadn’t checked his ticket yet! Do you really want this guy casting a vote for the next leader of the free world and you don’t? If for any other reason, when you think your vote doesn’t count; you could at least be cancelling his out!

Much more importantly, you are making your voice heard in a democratic Republic. That is worth fighting for and even dying for. So many already have. Please, gain wisdom, get involved.

Stay safe.

Back in Time

 

January 28th, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs

I begin with a disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the following are those of the author, alone, and are not necessarily those of anyone affiliated with the Homeland Security Network, SSI or any of its subsidiaries. –R. Riggs

Not long ago, I wrote about traveling through time with Mr. Peabody and his boy Sherman in the Wayback Machine. A few of you thought perhaps that I had finally been separated from what remaining part I maintained of my senses!  I assure you that I am as sane as I have ever been. True, that is perhaps not as reassuring as it first was when I thought of it; but nonetheless, it is the best I have. Some others, have, however, considered the possibility and it is not as far afield as it first sounds!

There have been some discussions regarding the necessity of determining what common characteristics those who have been guilty of acts of terror against the United States in the past have; so as, to identify those who might seek to commit acts of terrorism against the United States in the future. In other words, that are more succinct: if it walks like a duck… This has been given an inappropriately negative valuation under the now politically incorrect moniker of ‘profiling.’ Back in time, it was called ‘good police work.’

As a street police officer through the rather raucous 1970’s and 80’s, I had my share of good collars. Being a good patrol officer meant knowing your beat; whether that beat was a 10 block radius in a downtown or a three square mile population of a small town. If you could not, while sitting having coffee anywhere in town, be able to recite the position of each exterior lock mechanism at a strip mall set of stores to know when the door was locked or unlocked, you probably had not rattled enough doors in your career. You also knew which vehicles, vehicle types, individuals or individual types did not ‘fit’ in a given neighborhood at a given hour of the night. If you couldn’t, then why were you collecting a paycheck?  Good cops knew their beats.
Back in time, good cops could recite an ‘articulable suspicion’ based on factors of what is known about their patrol area.  So, when either someone did not fit in an area or a suspect car was seen that did fit the type known to be voted ‘most likely to be carrying a stolen television or bag of dope’, you made the stop and completed the F.I. card. (For those who never believed in their existence, in this computer generated age some thought they were an urban legend; I assure you that Field Interview cards, which really were 3×5 cards you filled out by hand, really did exist. And yes, we carried a pencil because ink pens didn’t write in the rain, and they would tear a wet card.)

Now there is a new breed of cop out there. He is the PC cop. He is the one always on the lookout for violations of political correctness. The PC cop would be quick to question why you singled out an individual to do an FI card on at 3:40a.m. in the back alley of the upscale leather shop just because the card says he is the member of some newly protected species.

Can you imagine a National Geographic special on these new endangered species? I can almost hear the narrator: “The (fill in any politically correct name of any PC protected species) is known for rapid flight at low altitudes –upon viewing a police officer. This species’ mating habits can be accelerated by introduction of a six pack of Milwaukee’s finest into the nest. The male of this endangered species is known to leave the female as soon as she becomes pregnant, to return at the same time each month, right around the 1st of the month, preceded by a visit to the nest by a local postal worker. He will leave the nest again as soon as another female of the species is visible on the horizon, usually a much younger version of the initial mate. This species has an inherent attraction to things of value owned by opposite species which are endangered only at tax time. The PC protected species will go to great lengths to enter the nest of the opposite species to remove items to which they are attracted and will be found within an hour of their hunt at a local watering hole, meeting other males of their species to exchange the items taken for hallucinogenic, naturally regenerated vegetation, (which is usually dropped by the species when in flight as described above.)” That is a National Geographic special worth watching!

However, our topic here is terrorists, although they too may be on the PC Protected Species list. Already certain terms related to Islamo-terrorism and jihad are facing extinction from U.S. government printed law enforcementtraining material on terrorism. Oh, that’s correct (politically correct), Islamo-terrorism and jihad are on that list also. (See Senator Joe Lieberman’s List of Seven Dirty Terrorism Words You Can’t Use in Literature) CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) and other pro-Al Qaeda groups have pushed for U.S. officials, including FBI Director Robert Mueller to direct what is printed in law enforcement counter-terrorism materials to be in line with PC  Standards. (Thankfully, Congresswoman Sue Myrick, R-NC, has pushed back and the brakes may be on…[i])

Back in time, we could identify the enemy combatants against the United States so that every U.S. citizen knew who it was we were fighting, why, and how to help. Let me be clear: The U.S. should not be fighting a ‘war on terror.’ We should be waging an all-out war against terrorists and anyone who gives safe harbor or any type of assistance to a terrorist. In some of my earlier writing, I used the terminology of the day, ‘war on terror’ but it is time for a redaction and correction. If any country or government decides to give aid to our enemy, like a flotilla of ships with civilians to bring aid to someone with whom we are at war (including those who have attacked our allies*); they should also be considered an enemy combatant. Any civilians, who take part in such an operation, should be considered enemy combatants and if they are American citizens they should be arrested and tried for treason.
                                                                                                          
Back in time, people honored their commitments. American people, in general, I believe, still do even if our government doesn’t. We are at war. Just as we were at war on December 8, 1941 and just as we were on September 12, 2001, we are at war today. Terrorists like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have sworn to wipe us and our ally Israel “off of the map.” He runs a pseudo-army called Hezbollah from Lebanon which has individually, collectively and corporately killed American GI’s in Iraq and Afghanistan. He funds HAMAS and stockpiles for them and other Palestinian factions: mortars, rockets and weaponry that are fired at, and have killed, our allies living as peaceful civilians in the sovereign nation of Israel. Whether Ahmadinejad has currently the ability to put a nuclear weapon on the end of a rocket, or not, he has already gained the exclusive right to be blown right to his reward, whatever that might be. The Iranian people, although they should have stopped this madness themselves, deserve to be free from this tyrant who is putting their lives and the lives of their children in dire jeopardy every time he thumbs his nose at Israel and the United States. We are used to small people thumbing their noses at us, that is not the problem. The problem is that same thumb rests against the switch of major military weapons and enough is enough.

And for you, the street cop who is probably a United States military veteran, have patiently read my diatribe hoping that somewhere in here I will get to the point; are one of those that deserves to be the angriest. Your family and even your children’s children will be forced to live with the consequences of the action or inaction of us who now stand guard. The Bible says, “Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.” (Psalm 127:1) The reckless spending, the non-existent foreign policy, the political correctness that makes it nearly impossible for you to do your job effectively and especially the complete disregard for the Christian principles upon which this nation was founded are all reasons you deserve to carry a righteous anger. I hope you carry it all the way to the voting booths this spring and in November. I hope you carry it as you decide whether to support causes like safeguarding the Second Amendment. I hope you carry it with you and pass it to your children and your co-workers and anyone else who will listen. After over 230 years of American history, will we be the generation that allows our colors to come down from the ramparts of Fort Sumter and hundreds of other proud military bases around the world, a nation lost to the history books; devoid of any good thing? I don’t know about you, but I say, NOT ON MY WATCH!

Back in time, a man’s word stood for something and his Christian faith drove his honor. I hope and pray that we, as Americans, get our values straightened out and our country back – in time!

[Dr. Ross L. Riggs, Director Global Security Consulting – a subsidiary of Security Consulting Investigations, LLC your premier private investigative service internationally] 
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(*allies – defined: A country, government or people group with whom we have sworn an allegiance to share mutual protection, an allegiance which cannot be broken by any one administration; old English term as in WWII – not known in the current vernacular, see United States, history of; Revised. See: Israel, history of; Revised)

Too Stupid to Breath ?

 

January 20th, 2012 | Author: Dr. Ross Riggs
 

I am writing this blog from about 32,000 feet, soon to be back in one of the more interesting places on the face of the earth for people like us. Time to think as we cruise along at breakneck speeds, indiscernible because of our altitude and the dark night sky helps me write. (Some guys just use a study and a desk; I have to have a million dollar aircraft!) Recently a YouTube copy of a dash-cam recording of a traffic stop went viral. This was much to the dismay of the police department involved and for me personally. I know the department and the many good men and women who wear its shield. The officer’s diatribe and vicious anger toward someone eventually charged with Carrying a Concealed Weapon (failure to notify law enforcement officer of permit) was disgraceful. By now, I am fairly certain any weapons charges against him will be dropped for a number of reasons unless his Blood Alcohol Content put him under disability. First, it is amazingly apparent in the video that the subject was trying, from the time he was stopped and asked for his license that he was trying to tell the officer he had a permit and showing him the permit itself, but the officer refused to look at it or even acknowledge the driver. He had tunnel vision on the passenger.

Having spent thirteen years on the streets before moving to become a Chief, (I started to write “moving up to Chief” and I don’t necessarily subscribe to the vertical part of that statement), I think I can write intelligently about the issue, unlike many who have filled web pages with misinformation. This post would go on for pages if I were to document all of the mistakes, tactical errors, prejudicial and hate-filled comments of the officer. The same is true of the subject who was driving his car in the worst part of town, giving rides to drug dealing pimps and their prostitutes and taking payment for the ride in trade and carrying a gun, even with a state issued permit!

As the dust settles, the court cases continue and the officer has been fired from the department. I have worked with officers with short fused tempers, a couple of them very sharp, intelligent cops but their anger cost them and their partners, not to mention their departments. My concern, demonstrated so clearly in this case is the extreme tunnel vision that can occur, not just in someone who has anger issues but for any cop too focused on the collar. In this case, while the drug dealing pimp is pulled out, arrested cuffed and stuffed, the senior partner is now focused on the group on the sidewalk, mostly druggies and prostitutes. The junior, though certainly no rookie, was climbing in and out of the backseat of the suspect vehicle looking for the drugs. In and out, the driver: never removed from the car, still sitting behind the steering wheel with car keys in the ignition, and carrying a gun! Again, the senior officer walking around dealing with the persons on the curb, not watching his partner’s back even a little bit.

Then, finally, the second officer gets to the driver and as he has been since the beginning is trying to show them a card indicating he is armed. When the second officer sees it and realizes how close he came to be a “hero” by forgetting tactics completely his adrenalin goes through the roof and the driver is brought out of the car and introduced to the trunk lid. Now Officer Congeniality goes viral! Again the diatribe goes on for some time with the officer telling him that he is too stupid to be taking up oxygen needed by real people and that he should shoot him right now (by this time he is cuffed in the back of the patrol car, but while you watch, you expect to hear a gunshot at any time!)

Colleagues behind the badge, I know you work long hours. I know that court cases eat up sleep time. I know that on certain shifts in certain zones you deal with what seems to be a ‘different’ class of people. I know how dangerous it is and how trying to keep alert, (we used to use the term on ‘Yellow’) all the time ready to go to ‘Red’ can wear you down. But… too much is riding on you doing your job, doing it well, doing it safely and doing it smartly for you to be content with ‘just getting home at the end of your shift.’

Don’t get me wrong, I am a firm believer that getting home in one piece at the EOS is a priority but if it comes at a cost of doing a good job, it isn’t enough. You might have what we used to term the “I’m caught by a train” mentality. We all know officers that always seem to time their arrival on scene at the same time everything is under control. No matter their location when the call comes out, they never seem to be first through the door, unless it’s the squad room door and someone brought in donuts.

In my article “SARS)))))” published in the Counter Terrorist a couple of years ago, I remarked on the sign that stands at the entrance to the National Fusion Center. “Today is September 12, 2001” We must adopt the mentality that comes with that thinking. We have to be as sharp and alert as we were on September 12, 2001. It is great that there have been no major attacks on U.S. soil since 9-11; but many know that it is not because of the enemy’s lack of trying! It is because of the vigilance of so many and the dedication to duty by officers from all jurisdictions.

George C. Scott in the opening monologue of the classic movie “Patton” says, “I don’t want to hear about anyone of you dying for your country. You live for yours. Let some other dumb “SOB” die for his country!” Our families deserve to have us come home at the end of a shift and we’d like to retire and enjoy the fruit of our labor but everyone who dons a uniform and every family member who watches with pride their cop go off to work also knows that any shift could be their last. Make it count for something. Don’t give up your precious life because you lacked clarity of thought, were careless or you did not ‘watch the hands.’ If you are on top of your game, you are doing everything just right and your number falls, then it is what it is. If you are called upon to pay the ultimate price, make sure you bought something worthwhile with it.

Terrorists continue to threaten our homeland. The stats are overwhelming, particularly through the porous southwestern and northern borders. Follow every lead. Turn over every rock. If you are going to get angry, get a righteous anger. Be angry against those who would try to terrorize your country, your community or your family. But even in your righteous anger, allow it to motivate you to do more and to do it better. Let it motivate you to be sharper mentally and more powerful physically. Let that righteous anger drive you to the gym to work out and stay in shape and let it push you to read more, take more training and be better at communicating with your citizens in the very neighborhoods that seem to hate your presence, know that it is here that people on the street know when something is up.

I believe it is a good thing that this one vociferous, antagonizing, hot-headed out of control cop is done. That department will be better for it. Administrators and chiefs (one is cop the other isn’t – it’s my blog, my opinion not HSN’s) you have no excuse for not keeping your ranks trimmed from officers like this. I used to blame civil service or the actions of previous ‘administrations’ for the officers I knew should not be out there. But even with unions and arbitration and a sensational chasing media; you have the tools if you take the time to use them to get these folks out from behind a badge.

Keep focused. Let’s find the bad guys and put them away. Let us send a message across the globe and in our neighborhoods, “If you intend to try to harm us – we will find you and we will throw the full force of the law at you.”

Stay safe and God bless.