Friday, February 19, 2010

Where you are not

Where are you? Office? Meeting? Class? Lunch? Vacation? Lots of people want to know. It’s easy these days to keep others advised of your whereabouts. A local reader of the Chief’s Corner reminded me of this yesterday. Your family can follow you, you can let colleagues know how close you are to arriving, you can keep your friends up to date on your travels, all automatically.

There’s an app for that, and lots of free ones will take advantage of your new phone’s GPS capabilities to provide a feed or your current latitude and longitude. You can publish that live if you wish, or invite friends to view it. Go ahead, put a gadget on your Facebook page so readers can see your current location on a map. Even if your phone is not GPS-enabled, if you are giving regular updates on your activities via Twitter or even uploading today’s ski slope photos to Flickr, you are providing people with near-real time information about your location.

Here’s the problem: if the whole world knows where you are, it also knows where you are not--home. And that’s where your Browning Citori, Rolex Oyster Perpetual, Sony LCD television, Nintendo Wii, and the signed album cover for Midnight Ride all reside. Hope they are still there when you tweet to let your followers know that you have returned from that ski trip. I’m sure glad you didn’t let all those uncollected newspapers pile up on your porch.

22 comments:

Steve said...

No cell phone, no problem.

ARRRRG!!!! said...

Darn it.

Anonymous said...

Chief,
A question for you: If a suspect in a crime drives a vehicle with an onboard computer etc under what circumstances can a subpoena be obtained to gather evidence from that system?

Gun Nut

Anonymous said...

In case anyone is reading this, I'm in the bushes next to my house wearing my Rolex, but I'm packing my Kahr K9, a 7 shot Remington 870, and a Chief's Special .38 as back-up. Come on over, the coast is clear.

256

Mike said...

Someone's already made an application to track the folks who say they aren't at home. It's called "Please Rob Me" and it's built on top of Twitter. :) It was apparently started to show people how silly they are for posting these things. http://pleaserobme.com/

Tom Casady said...

Mike-

You've got to start following the hyperlinks in my blog posts, buddy--I go to a lot of effort to give you some interesting side trips!

;-)

256-

You better get on godaddy right away and buy the domain name: goaheadandtrytorobme.com

Tom Casady said...

Gun nut-

You'd need a search warrant for that, which would require probable cause: facts and circumstances that would lead a reasonable person (in this case, a judge) to believe that the computer contains contraband or evidence of a crime.

Anonymous said...

It seems like common sense to not broadcast the fact that your home is unoccupied. It also seems like common sense to not leave valuables (your purse, for example) visible in your car, or to leave your detachable faceplate on your car stereo or your subwoofer and amp box in the back of your SUV, or to not leave your car unlocked, or to leave your keys in your car, or to leave any valuables unattended in an unsecure area, etc etc etc. Yet all those things seem to happen a lot.

If only 1% of Lincoln were careless (and more than 1% are careless), that's still a couple of thousand dumb ducks ready to be plucked, each and every day. There aren't even enough crooks to handle all those soft targets, but if you keep up your sloppy security habits, they'll get around to you eventually.

Truly, the best way to avoid burglary is to always have someone at home with all the doors closed and locked, because unless you're a drug dealer, the chance of being home-invaded is effectively nil. However, if your home must be unoccupied now and then, it's sheer stupidity to advertise the fact online.

Mike said...

Woops. I see where your link goes now...same place. Sorry. Lesson of day---follow the links!

Nyfty said...

Chief: Most people don't pick random items out of the air as examples. So should I deduce the following aren't random items?....Browning Citori, Rolex Oyster Perpetual, Sony LCD television, Nintendo Wii, and the signed album cover for Midnight Ride.

Tom Casady said...

Jim,

Alas, they really are random. The only one of these I'd come close to in my personal collection would be the TV. :-(

Anonymous said...

Chief-I like the way you think. The GoDaddy idea would allow me to take down the flashing sign on the corner that says "Home Invasion Special, inquire within" and I wouldn't have to hide my Crown Vic in the neighbors garage any longer.Have a great weekend.

256

Steve said...

I'll bet the Kahr K9, the 7-shot Remington 870, and the Chief's Special aren't random picks.

I'd have chosen the Kimber .45, and the S & W 500, though the 870 would make quite an impression, too.

Anonymous said...

I part company with those that seem to enjoy the use of force against a perp. For many years I packed heat. Then I started to think clear. If I make just one mistake and kill someone, it is FINAL. Even if I am right in using self defense, I would live with killing someone for the rest of my life. I have made enough poor choices in the the past and I now live with those. Adding a violent situation is not something I could deal with. So I sold the pistols and I fell much safer. I go out of my way to avoid situations. I try not to invite and hope for an encounter. Sky diving or bungi jumping is about my tops.

Anonymous said...

I think there is a big difference between enjoying the thought of "using force against a Perp" and being willing to defend themselves and family if they should happen to be in danger. I for one carry everyday, and pray to God that I will never have to pull my gun let alone pull the trigger. I can live with a self defense shooting because my family and I will still be alive and the criminal will be the one gone. I guess I would rather bury a criminal that bury a kid!

As far as home invasions go, I agree that they are extremely rare especially in Nebraska. That doesn't mean that they aren't happening and http://www.thearmedcitizen.com/ shows how often they do happen. If you believe "it won't happen here" then just remember the mall in Omaha happened in Nebraska.

Anonymous said...

Jim J,

I think what they actually enjoy is the idea of a violent career criminal being finally punished in such a way that end-runs around things like the 6-for-1 plea deal, the short sentences, the CC sentences, the insane "good time" law, the refusal to revoke probation even after repeated violations, and everything else that puts a revolving door right behind the booking process. The police arrest them, but the rest of the CJ system too often gives them a spank and they're back out in no time.

Steve said...

5:59 makes a good point, and one I can identify with, though I also agree with 5:45. Personally, I enjoy talking and thinking about "doing away with" some scumbag who thinks he (or she) can do whatever he wants and not worry about what the rest of society thinks. Still, though I hope I have the nerve to do it should it become necessary, in all honesty, I dread the day that it should come down to making the choice to pull the trigger or not.

As for Jim J, you made the choice you feel right about, and that's fine. But, don't think that means others are "thinking wrong" by making their choice just because it is different than yours. There is nothing legally or morally wrong with defending yourself and your property. Some feel it is a duty, rather than a right. We feel that by standing up for ourselves, we are also standing up for society. If I take a criminal down, I not only protect myself, but all the others this criminal would have preyed upon had I not done my duty.

Anonymous said...

JIMJ-all people should not carry weapons. I think you made a well-reasoned and thought out decision not to carry and I understand your logic. The responsibility of carrying a weapon can be overwhelming as it should be. I know some people that have some sort of false bravado about weapons who will tell you they could kill a perp and sleep like a baby. That's BS.

I don't know a single Police Officer that would look forward to shooting someone. I know a lot of them, however that have trained extensively to defend themselves or us citizens by using adequate force.

Reality for me is that I'm hard-wired somehow to defend others and I'm trained to do it. I hope I'm in the car next to you if you get carjacked by some thug. I don't know you, but I'll defend you and your family. And that's no longer my job, it's however my personal resposibility as a human.

And if the bad-guy pays in the end, and the good guys win one, great.

I wouldn't skydive or bungi jump on a bet. That stuff scares me a lot more than carrying a few lethal projectiles.

256

Anonymous said...

Chief,

This paper might have the best obit writers on the planet. This one isn't relevant to the topic, but is perhaps relevant to your line of work. He certainly wasn't short on guts. The shared Webley with a single round made me chuckle.

Tom Casady said...

2:58-

Ammunition must have been in short supply!

Tony Reinke said...

Using Facebook or Twitter could raise your insurance premiums

"Services such as Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Buzz can alert criminals when users are not home, according to Confused.com, the price comparison service. Foursquare, for example, shows that people are in a specific spot and, more importantly, that the user is definitely not at home, Confused.com added."

Anonymous said...

How about the "Chiefs perspective" on the many sexual crimes in the news. I know you had a blog about this in the past. A refresher would be nice.
Many alligations and convictions too, have been against children by those charged with protecting them. Coach, teacher, mentor and pators and the list grows as large as the national debt. One that sticks in my mind is the teacher who had shorts on and claimed he did not know his penis was in "plain view" of the students. I do not know about you, but if Oscar Mayer is on display don't ya think you would know it? And I am not talking about the 4-H show.
I have to go on my morning cat house check. Not to be confused with a brothal.
They are real cats. As my neighbor used to say:
Tanks, thats all.