Something we see in every “spy” or “burglary” movie that we see the stars do, is immediately disable the surveillance cameras right?  They are the important line of defense that will alert watchful security personnel to their intrusions.

They are used by almost every store, police car and are even installed along roadways that we drive on everyday.  All of the reality “cop chase” and “dumbest burglar shows” that are aired nightly on TV, rely on these devices to capture and identify the perpetrators.

Spinning off of their effectiveness, there are dummy surveillance cameras for those that are on a tighter budget but want to achieve the same effect. They are simply an expensive surveillance camera without the camera installed inside and are impossible to distinguish from the real thing.

If you want to suppress criminal activity in an area, be it around the perimeter or entry-way of your home or the parking lot of your business and don’t want to drop a bundle of cash, then a professional looking dummy surveillance camera can achieve this for you at a very small price. They are definitely worth a look!

Continuing on the theme of securing your home from burglars, I’d like to suggest another inexpensive yet effective alarm.  Called the Slide Away Alarm for windows, doors and sliding doors. This little beauty will not only frighten off burglars and draw attention to a break-in attempt, it will also alert you if you’re inside the home as well.

It protects by using magnetic affinity.  What this means is that a small actuator strip is mounted on the edge of the door, window or sliding door and the alarm unit is mounted on the frame, directly opposite from the strip.  They have a magnetic affinity to each other and when broken, the alarm unit on the door or window frame will sound an extremely loud 105 decibel alarm.  It  will not shut off unless you disarm it, making it very effective.

It is powered by three button cell lithium batteries (which are included) and has an arm / disarm switch which makes it very cost effective in both purchase and usage prices. The alarm is about 1.5 inches wide and 2.5 inches high.  The actuator strip is .5 inches wide and just over 2 inches high.  They come in black or white and can be mounted at any height that you choose, such as near the floor, standing level or near the top of the window or door.  They over-deliver for the small price tag!

Richard Cooey was executed by lethal injection 10/14/2008 after his last minute appeal was rejected.  Cooey, and an accomplice were convicted of the brutal rape, torture and murders of two University of Akron women.  They had apparently thrown slabs of concrete onto Interstate Route 77.  The victims’ car was struck and Cooey along with his partner ran out as if to rescue them but instead, dragged them into a nearby field and for 3 1/2 hours, raped, tortured, bludgeoned and stabbed them to death. Cooey then carved an “X” on the stomach of both women. A most heinous crime indeed!

In an earlier post, we detailed Cooey’s appeal - that he could not be executed in a humane manner since prison food had led to his morbid obesity - making his veins inaccessible, humanely. His pleas fell on deaf ears as his veins were easily found and the execution went forward with Cooey being pronounced dead at 10:28 a.m. ET.

It was reported that Cooey went out showing no remorse and screaming for his lawyer and  using expletives as his execution began. His final moments were filled with vulgarity and hatred. His life was finally over and closure was realized for the families of the two murdered coeds.

We encourage those who read this post, to conduct a search on his name “Richard Cooey” and read the various newspaper reports on this crime. It is our hope that by reading more in-depth about this case, that young women and the parents of female University students become better educated regarding the safety of their loved ones.

There are many evil men who prey on young women and hang out around Colleges across the country.  It’s akin to nature programs that show how the congregation of prey species attract every sort of predator and death lies in wait for those who aren’t careful. Had these young women been armed with a good pepper spray and/or a high powered stun gun, they may have had a small chance at surviving this brutal attack.

I’m not saying such was the case in this crime, due to a lack of evidence regarding the women’s health after their car was struck with a piece of concrete. They may not have fared any better but in many other cases, where the victims are alert and able, having solid self-defense deterrents can spell the difference between life and death.

Sentenced to death by lethal injection, death row inmate Richard Cooey is slated for execution 10/14/2008. Cooey will be executed by lethal injection for the brutal rape and killing of two Akron University students in 1986.

Cooey’s lawyers filed a legal brief with the U.S. Court of appeals stating that prison food made him too fat to execute him in a humane manner, citing that his obesity was partially the blame of State food that he ate in prison.

They claimed that his obesity would make it difficult to find a suitable vein to carry out the lethal injection and further, that pills given to him for headaches, could possibly lessen the effects of the anesthetic used during his execution.

Obviously Cooey is grasping at straws now that his date with the executioner draws near. Attorneys for the State of Ohio argued that his claims were invalid since he missed an earlier deadline for the filing of appeals.

When researching this, I ran into some discussion forums and there were some strong lines drawn. Not just about Cooey, but rather, discussions on the moral and ethical system of executions in general. Many people made strong arguments for not taking a human life, regardless of the crime that was committed. The “let him take his medicine” and be executed groups far outweighed the opposition, citing that former death row murderer’s had been released and went right back out and killed again. Suggestions for alternate, humane execution methods for Cooey ran the gamete from a .45 slug in the head, the electric chair (king size model), to the guillotine!

I believe that Cooey will pay for his crimes with his life on October 14th 2008 and that will be that. I suppose we’ll know for sure in about 5 more days, if his pleas catch the attention of a lenient appellate court or not.

On the lighter side of crime information, we’d like to share some crazy crimes committed by some – not so intelligent criminals.  Some were flat out dumb and others just happened to pick the wrong day to perpetrate the wrong crime and paid for it. Who said Providence doesn’t have a sense of humor?

A man was arrested after throwing a brick into the Plexiglas window of a jewelry store.  The brick bounced right back and hit him in the head which KO’ed him until local police arrived!

 A gang of drug smugglers cleverly decided to use a propane truck to cross the border from Mexico into El Paso, Texas. They had emptied the propane and concealed about 3 tons of marijuana inside the tanker truck. As things sometimes turn out, the smugglers didn’t realize, that they had spelled the name of the gas company incorrectly on the truck! BOOM!

When arrested for stealing a car, the judge asked the suspect, “how do you plead?” Instead of pleading guilty or not guilty the man said, “Before we go any further, judge, let me explain why I stole the car.” The judge issued his ruling in record time.

Two service station attendants refused to give any cash to a drunk robber, the man threatened to call the police. The clerks still refused, so the robber called the police and was arrested.

Los Angeles police got a break out of a dumb suspect who couldn’t shut up during a lineup. The detectives asked every man in the lineup to repeat: “Give me all your money or I’ll shoot!” The suspect shouted, “That’s not what I said!” 

Oakland police spent two hours attempting to subdue a gunman who had “holed up” in his home. Finally, after police fired ten tear gas canisters into the home, officers discovered the man, standing beside them, shouting to come out and give himself up.

A 20 year old woman was arrested for robbing a Howard Johnson’s motel. She was armed with an electric chainsaw, which wasn’t even plugged in.

Two Michigan bandits entered a record shop waving revolvers. The first one shouted, “Nobody move!” When his partner moved, the startled first bandit shot him.

When his revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a robbery in Long Beach, California, the robber looked down the barrel and tried it again. This time, it worked.

A man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street. Well, he got much more than he’d hoped for it seems. Police arrived at the scene to find a man sick and curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. Police said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline and plugged his hose into the motor home’s sewage tank by mistake.

For boatloads of crazy crimes, committed by dumb criminals, visit Crazycriminals.com

In what turned out to be California’s first murder conviction for a death caused by a dog mauling, Marjorie Knoller was recently sentenced. In addition to the 3 years that she has already served, she was handed an additional 12 years to serve before she is eligible to apply for parole.

The mauling and subsequent death of neighbor / victim Dianne Whipple in 2001, played into the additional time that Knoller received. During the 10 minute attack, Knoller did nothing to assist her – not even a 911 call.  The initial involuntary manslaughter charges were handed back to the ruling judge by a higher court for this reason and also because of repeated problems and warnings that Knoller received to have the dogs trained.

We have always advocated the use of Mace Canine Pepper Spray or a Stun Baton for those who feel at risk for a dog attack.  It is so unfortunate to hear this news and know that a very inexpensive self defense product would have saved a victim from being mauled – leading to lasting physical and mental scars – not to mention in some cases from being killed.

Anyone who watches “Discovery Channel” or “Animal Planet” – two popular TV channels which feature attacks by various animals – including bears, wolves, mountain lions and more, can see that as we encroach ever further into the home ranges of wild animals, it would behoove us to prepare for these kinds of encounters.  Who hikes in Grizzly bear country without Bear Pepper Spray?  The people we see on these programs every night of the week, on “animal attack” segments. Why they do it is beyond my comprehension.

If you are at risk from vicious dogs in your neighborhood or love to hike on countryside trails that are populated by bears, wolves and mountain lions, use some common sense and purchase a deterrent that will probably save your life!

Burglar Pays for Intrusion With His Life

A Texas couple’s home was recently burglarized by a pair of armed robbers. The wife was awakened and found herself confronted by a pair of gun wielding burglars, one armed with a handgun and the other a shotgun. Warned to be quiet, she was turned into a real tigress when the man with the shotgun became distracted for a second which allowed her an opportunity to grab the muzzle and turn it away from her children’s room. Screaming for her son to grab his little brother to hide, she then began screaming for her husband (not in the room obviously) to help – never letting go of the grip that held the deadly shotgun barrel at bay.

She was then assisted by her husband who tackled the man and as they wrestled for control of the shotgun, she cracked him squarely in the head with a “jar” candle. Her husband then shot the pistol packing burglar who immediately ran away, then turned his attention to the man he had disarmed. As the burglar made a lunge for him he let fly at him with the shotgun but only temporarily stunned and injured the crook, he charged again as his wife screamed “shoot him again.” He then shot him again promptly and killed him with the second attempt.

The husband stated that he felt badly that someone had to die but expressed joy the his family was safe. Local law enforcement officials found that he had only acted in defense of his family and no charges would be filed against him for the shooting. It kind of makes you wonder why more people don’t have a firearm of their own to defend the family rather than an alarm system or pepper spray.

I kind of agree with a friend who blithely remarked: “Don’t you know that having a gun in your house is more dangerous for you than for bad guys? At least, that’s what all the anti-gun advocates keep saying. Anyway, it was nice of these bad guys to bring their own gun to the party so the homeowner could shoot them with it and not have to worry about the safety issues of having a gun of his own!”

Where’s the Best Place to Hide Valuables?

If any of you have watched the TV show “It Takes a Thief”, you have already seen expert burglars who expose the vulnerabilities of a home and clear out most of it’s valuables in less than 10 minutes.  We’re talking cash, collections, watches, rings, jewelry, laptops, paintings, vehicles and the list could go on forever. 

The theme of this show is to expose these vulnerabilities and to teach people the best ways to protect their valued possessions, including their lives, from unexpected home invasions. Key is speed and a trained eye.  The ability to work hard, fast and think like your victims, is just a little of what you see on the outside.  If you watch the program carefully, you’ll note that the burglars always zero in on the most obvious things, starting with valuables in plain sight.  They go first, followed by other goodies which begin to pile up as they methodically dump out the contents of all drawers onto a bed or the floor, for a quick look.  Another hot-spot is closets, which always seem to turn up a treasure trove of safes (never bolted down or even locked at times) and other hidden stuff, that people feel safe in securing there.

The office or den is another great place for pulling out boxes of credit cards, books of checks, bank statements and other very expensive memorabilia.  Paintings hanging on the wall are fair game too.  On to the kitchen where usually, the keys to a cool sports car or motorcycle in the garage, will be hanging there for the thieves to drive away in Dad’s prize, vintage, Corvette or other vehicle.

The two most important factors are speed “in and out” and experience. I have noticed that the burglars never waste time sifting through all of the “stuff” lying around, unless it has obvious value at first glance.  They don’t empty out the cereal boxes and other spots that could be holding the most sought after goods – like Dad’s Corvette or Harley Davidson keys or fistfuls of cash or jewels.

We have a solution for those items – cash, keys, jewels, certain medications and more.  The solution is called Diversion Safes!  They are replicas of the most common of items, like hollowed out cans of soda, spray starch, shaving cream or a jar of peanut butter and so on. They all look real, are labeled correctly and have the feel of the actual product if one is picked up and tossed out of the way.

Starting at about $10 and up to $15 for a nice diversion safe, it makes sense to own one or more.  Why leave a roll of cash or several pieces of jewelry and gemstones lying in a pretty box, on the bedroom dresser, to be taken instantly!  Get a diversion safe and your cash, your stash, spare keys, and jewelry can sit right in the kitchen cupboard or the appropriate spot and never even be noticed or tampered with in any way.

Please use the link we’ve provided and check them out.  If you don’t take advantage of one or more of these inexpensive and superb diversion safes, we’d find it hard to be sympathetic and more prone to saying “we told you so”!

Insurgents Release Prisoners From Jail

The Taliban have made a statement that they are responsible for the car bombing and rocket attacks that were used to kill police and free hundreds of prisoners from the Kandahar prison in Afghanistan.

Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said that insurgents on motor-bikes and two suicide bombers (one at the gate and one in the rear) attacked “Sarposa Prison” and set 400 Taliban members free early this morning.

Police officials said over 600 prisoners escaped. Nine policemen were killed in the attack and left another dozen wounded. Several prisoners were also killed during the attack on the prison and shops in the area were damaged.

The attack started when a tanker truck filled with explosives, was detonated at the prison’s main gate, wrecking the gate and the police guard-shack.  All of the policemen inside were killed. Almost simultaneously, a suicide bomber on foot blew a hole in the rear wall of the prison.

It has been a war against the same people who caused the former USSR to finally just give up and leave. It’s very hard to beat indigenous militia on their home turf – remember Viet Nam?  I do. They knew exactly what to do and where to go to gain an advantage over superior American troops.  This time around, the enemy mindset is the same.  They don’t stop fighting to the last man and these guys don’t mind a bit if they’re killed, insuring their place in the afterlife.  Wow!