Public security

Bystander mocks shooting of two LA deputies while filming enormous police response as authorities offer $100K reward for information and Trump demands death penalty for 'animal' shooter if the cops die

Footage has emerged showing the enormous police response to the shooting of two sheriffs deputies in Los Angeles and a man mocking the attack on the two officers.  

The video shows a convoy of patrol cars racing towards the scene, shortly before 7pm on Saturday night.

Crowds of people looked on as, sirens blazing, officers raced to help their wounded colleagues, who had been ambushed and shot at close range in Compton, Los Angeles.

The man narrates to the camera. 'Compton. N***** just aired the police out,' he says. That's crazy. Damn. It goes down in Compton.'

The smiling cameraman adds: 'It's going up. Somebody bust on their a**. Somebody bust on the police. Two sheriffs shot in the face. Two sheriffs shot in the face - they tripping. 

'Somebody just ran up on the corner and bust on their a**, right through the window'

He then concludes, grinning: 'It's a wrap.'

Public security

Lebanon's military finds 4 tons of ammonium nitrate near scene of Beirut port explosion

The Lebanese military discovered more than 4 tons of ammonium nitrate near Beirut's port on Thursday, a find that's a chilling reminder of the horrific explosion a month ago that killed 191 people.

According to the military, army experts were called in for an inspection and found 4.35 tons of the dangerous chemical in four containers stored near the port. There were no details on the origin of the chemicals or their owner,

The find comes almost exactly a month after nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate stored at Beirut's port for six years detonated, wreaking death and destruction.

Public security

Hollywood's Apocalypse NOW: Rich and famous are fleeing in droves as liberal politics and coronavirus turn City of Dreams into cesspit plagued by junkies and violent criminals

Gold's Gym has become synonymous with the Hollywood Dream. 

Set just a few hundred yards from the ocean in sun-kissed Venice Beach, Los Angeles, Gold's was the backdrop for Pumping Iron, the 1977 documentary which followed a young, unknown Austrian bodybuilder called Arnold Schwarzenegger as he prepared for the Mr Universe contest.

The film turned him into an overnight sensation. He would go on to become a global superstar, marry a member of the Kennedy clan, and become Governor of California.

Yet today Gold's sits amid post-apocalyptic scenes which have consumed much of LA, turning the City of Dreams into an urban nightmare from which people are fleeing in droves.

Public security

Anger Rises After Beirut Blast and Evidence Officials Knew of Risks

The blast, so powerful it could be felt more than 150 miles away in Cyprus, leveled whole sections of the city near the port of Beirut on Tuesday evening, leaving nothing but twisted metal and debris for blocks in Beirut’s downtown business district. It capsized a docked passenger ship, shattered windows miles away and registered on seismographs, shaking on the earth as strongly as a 3.3-magnitude earthquake.

The waterfront neighborhood, normally full of restaurants and nightclubs, was essentially flattened. A number of crowded residential neighborhoods in the city’s eastern and predominantly Christian half were also ravaged.

Public security

Federal agents likely permanently blinded by Portland protesters’ lasers, White House says

Three federal agents who were sent to Portland, Ore., to try to help quell the city’s  violent protests were “likely left permanently blinded” from clashes, White House officials said Friday.

“A federal agent’s hand was impaled by planted nails, another federal agent was shot with a pellet gun, leaving a wound deep to the bone, and tragically, three federal officers were likely left permanently blinded by the rioters using lasers pointed directly into their eyes,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters Friday.

All five of the injured federal agents were hurt Monday during ongoing protests at the Multnomah County Justice Center and a nearby federal courthouse in Oregon’s largest city.

Public security

Trump announces creation of ‘National Garden’ with statues of ‘greatest Americans’

President Trump concluded his Friday night Mount Rushmore speech by announcing he has signed an executive order creating a “National Garden of American Heroes.”

The president described the garden as a “vast outdoor park that will feature the statues of the greatest Americans who ever lived.”

An interagency task force will look for potential sites, and the Department of the Interior will provide funding for the garden, which should be open before July 4, 2026 — the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

The executive order reads: “The National Garden should be composed of statues, including statues of John Adams, Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Daniel Boone, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Henry Clay, Davy Crockett, Frederick Douglass, Amelia Earhart, Benjamin Franklin, Billy Graham, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Douglas MacArthur, Dolley Madison, James Madison, Christa McAuliffe, Audie Murphy, George S. Patton, Jr., Ronald Reagan, Jackie Robinson, Betsy Ross, Antonin Scalia, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, George Washington, and Orville and Wilbur Wright.”

Public security

Police detain armed militia members after man is shot at Albuquerque protest

A man was shot Monday night after someone opened fire during a protest in Albuquerque pushing for the removal of a statue of a Spanish conquistador. The victim, who has not been identified and whose condition is unclear, was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Police detained several members of a far-right militia group called the New Mexico Civil Guard, according to reporters and witnesses at the scene. Police have not released information about the suspected shooter or why they detained the armed militia members.

Video captured after the shooting shows people trying to help the man who was shot. Meanwhile, militia members in tactical gear and armed with rifles surrounded the alleged shooter to keep angry protesters away.

The New Mexico Civil Guard is a right-wing militia group that has held asylum seekers at gunpoint near the border and showed up at Black Lives Matter protests in recent weeks with guns and militarylike garb.

Public security

French police clash with anti-racism activists in Paris

French police have clashed with activists protesting in Paris against racism and alleged police brutality.

Police used tear gas against stone-throwing protesters who tried to hold a march that was banned.

The rally is part is a worldwide movement inspired by America's Black Lives Matter protests.

It was organised under the banner "Justice for Adama", after Adama Traoré, a young black man who died in French police custody in 2016.

What happened in Paris?

About 15,000 anti-racism protesters gathered on the Place de la République in central Paris early on Saturday afternoon.

They chanted slogans such as "No justice, no peace". Some climbed on the the statue of Marianne, the symbol of the French Republic.

Public security

At Large: No toilet paper? That reminds me of the compliance department . . .

In Newport, Oregon, police are asking citizens to stop calling 9-1-1 to report that they’ve run out of toilet paper. The UK’s sewage system is in danger of clogging from wet wipes and other improvised loo roll substitutes. In Paris, PQ panic has set in, as papier cul (excuse my French) has disappeared from stores everywhere.

What’s going on? And what are the lessons for compliance professionals?

1. Fear produces irrationality. There’s enough toilet paper for everyone. We know that because every day for years we’ve all had enough. But when uncertainty about Covid-19 set in, people started imagining things. Like a world without toilet paper. In our work, then, what happens if we think the future is shaky? What if we fear losing our jobs, or being demoted, or having our pay cut? Might that fear motivate us to pay a bribe? Even if a bribe may not work, is always illegal, and is likely to end in disaster for us personally, might we pay a bribe anyway? Oh ya...

Public security

Panic buying, ignoring safety measures: The social psychology of crises

Times of crisis can bring out the best in people. It can also reveal the strangest parts of human nature.

While restaurants in six states are offering free toilet paper to those in need in response to the barren toilet paper shelves in many local grocery stores, U.S. Today reports that a police department in Newport, Oregon, issued an urgent request for residents to stop calling 911 when they run out of toilet paper. "You will survive without our assistance," the department stated.

Meanwhile, as the New York Times reports young people are continuing to travel despite restrictions and state and local governments are closing businesses to prevent people from congregating in public, groups of older adults, including an enclave of retirees in Florida and the parents of one New Yorker writer, are largely resisting the very social distancing behaviors that may protect their health.

Public security

Mitholz: Swiss town faces 10-year evacuation over arms dump

A Swiss village may have to evacuate for over a decade while authorities clear a huge World War Two arms dump.

The defence ministry concluded last year that the cache posed an "unacceptable" risk to the nearby people of Mitholz.

Now, authorities say residents may have to leave while they clear the site.

"Depending on how the work develops, residents should expect the evacuation to last up to more than 10 years," the ministry said.

Residents would have to approve the plan to leave the area. A public consultation is under way to see how best to proceed.

Public security

Russian Orthodox Church Steps Up Surveillance Under Government Anti-Terrorism Orders

The Russian Orthodox Church has begun installing video surveillance cameras at its Moscow churches to comply with government anti-terrorism orders, Interfax reported Tuesday.

The Moscow Patriarchate’s move follows a September 2019 decree signed by then-Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev requiring all religious organizations to install security and surveillance systems as part of the government’s anti-terrorism campaign.

The cameras will only be installed in Church buildings with a capacity higher than 500 people, Ksenia Chernega, a nun who heads the Moscow Patriarchate’s legal department, told Interfax. They will not be placed at altars or in places of confession, she added.

Commissions led by bishops will decide to place cameras in their own churches based on whether the church’s activities warrant heightened security measures, Chernenga said.

Individual church heads can also opt for the cameras to be turned off during personal ceremonies like weddings, baptisms and funerals, she said.

Public security

WATCHING YOU 

MI5 watching 3,000 ‘active’ subjects at all times – here’s how they track terror suspects on British streets

MI5 will usually reveal after an atrocity whether the attacker was known to their investigative teams or if they were not an active subject of interest.

The agency and police teams were tailing crazed Streatham jihadi Sudesh Amman when he launched a bloody knife rampage yesterday.

Amman, 20, was put under surveillance after being released from jail just days ago for a string of terror offences.

He was among around 3,000 active subjects of interest (SOIs) being tracked by the super-secret British agency at any one time.

But with so many potential terrorists roaming Britain's streets, MI5 need a full range of techniques to keep eyes on their suspects.

Here is a list of how spooks track terror suspects according to Sky News.

Public security

Ukrainian protesters hurl stones at evacuees from China

Ukraine's effort to quarantine more than 70 people evacuated from China over the new virus outbreak plunged into chaos Thursday as local residents opposing the move hurled stones at the evacuees and engaged in violent clashes with police.

Buses carrying evacuees were finally able to reach the designated place of quarantine after hours of clashes. The masked evacuees, exhausted by the long journey, were peeking through bus windows as they drove slowly under a heavy police escort.

Protesters hurled stones at the buses and shattered a window in one of them,but the evacuees appeared unhurt.

Since the early morning, several hundred residents of the village of Novi Sanzhary in Ukraine's central Poltava region had cut the road to a sanitarium intended to host the evacuees, fearing they could become infected. Demonstrators,some of whom appeared drunk, put up road blocks, burned tires and clashed with riot police who moved to clear access.One protester tried to ram into police lines with his car.

Nine police and one civilian were hospitalized, the regional police said in a statement.

More than 10 protesters were detained, and Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov personally visited the site of the protests to try to calm the crowd down.

Public security

SCIENTISTS SCANNED BRAINS OF BULLIES AND FOUND SOMETHING GRIM

An international team of neuroscientists scanned the brains of lifelong bullies and found something grim: Bullies’ brains appear to be physically smaller than other brains.

“Our findings support the idea that, for the small proportion of individuals with life-course-persistent antisocial behaviour, there may be differences in their brain structure that make it difficult for them to develop social skills that prevent them from engaging in antisocial behaviour,” said lead author Christina Carlisi, a researcher at the University College London.

For the study, published in prestigious journal The Lancet, the team used an MRI machine to examine the brains of 652 participants.

The study found that the brains of people with lifelong patterns of “stealing, aggression and violence, bullying, lying, or repeated failure to take care of work or school responsibilities” were different, physically, from those of the other participants.

Public security


Top 10 Deadliest European Cities

When compared to U.S. data, European cities can be considered much safer in terms of murder rates. Europe does not contain any of the top 50 cities in the world with the highest murder rate. The "deadliest” city in Europe has less than one tenth of the homicides per 100,000 than the U.S. city with the highest homicide rate.

Here are the 10 European cities with the highest homicide rates, according to a report UN Office on Drugs and Crime released in 2019:

3. Klaipeda, Lithuania

Lithuania's cities hold the top three slots of the highest murder rates in Europe. Klaipeda had a murder rate of 3.9 per 100,000 in 2017. That same year, Lithuania's crime rate shot up after the country tightened laws against drunk driving. In 2017 this city had a population of 172,272.

2. Vilnius, Lithuania

Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania and its largest city. Most crimes are reported in Old Town Vilnius, due to the confluence of tourists there, but pickpocketing and thefts of unattended belongings are the most common threat. Vilnius also had a murder rate of 3.9 per 100,000 in 2017. It had a population of about 697,691 that same year.


1. Kaunas, Lithuania

Kaunas is the deadliest city in Europe with a significantly higher murder rate of 5.4 per 100,000 as of 2017. Kaunas is the second largest city in Lithuania, with a population of about 383,764 that same year. This is less than one tenth of the deadliest U.S. city's murder rate: St. Louis, Mo., had a murder rate of 60.9 per 100,000 in 2018.

Public security

Thank the Second Amendment: Texas church shooting stopped in its tracks by armed hero

Many Democrats and liberal media figures sneer at the “good guy with a gun” narrative when it comes to the debate over gun control, dismissing it as a myth clung to by Bible-thumping rednecks. Yet, if there was ever a single incident to remind us just how wrong they are, it’s the tragic church shooting that was thankfully stopped in its tracks on Sunday.

An armed intruder interrupted a morning service at West Freeway Church of Christ near Fort Worth, Texas, disrupting the ceremony and shooting several worshiping Christians. At least two people are dead as a result, including the suspect, and one injured.

But things could have been much, much worse. Two armed people attending the service intervened and shot the attacker in his tracks after just seconds, undoubtedly saving many lives.

Public security

Shorn of Prejudices, the Lubyanka Shooting Is a Familiar Story

The Lubyanka is not a fortress. As anyone who has walked past its façade knows, the Lubyanka is distinctly light on armed guards at the doors, gates and secure perimeters. There are the by now ubiquitous blocks there to prevent the building being rammed by a vehicle, and always a distinct density of DPS traffic police who might not be traffic police after all, but otherwise there is nothing to prevent anyone entering. Even when artist and political activist Petr Pavlensky set light to one of the Lubyanka’s doors one night in 2015, all they did was fit a new door. In this respect it is more like MI5’s Thames House headquarters than MI6’s rather more showy Vauxhall Cross building, enclosed as it is within a cage of bars, gates, cameras and armed guards.

Of course, go beyond the doors and the anteroom within is where the real perimeter security begins, as Manyurov apparently discovered. Whether because it can rely on its formidable reputation — this was a building in which, back in the darkest Soviet days, “enemies of the people” were tortured to death in its basements, or gunned down in its courtyard – or to make a point about being part of the nation, the FSB, like the KGB, does not hide from view.

Public security

London Bridge attack: Darryn Frost on using a narwhal tusk to stop knifeman

A man has described how he fought off the London Bridge knifeman with a narwhal tusk before pinning him to the ground to help end the attack.

Darryn Frost, 38, was seen in pictures confronting Usman Khan, 28, who was armed with two knives.

The civil servant has spoken of his "deep hurt" at not being able to save Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones who were killed by Khan on 29 November.

Khan, who was wearing a fake suicide vest, was shot dead by police.

Mr Frost, who works in communications at the Ministry of Justice, told how he grabbed the narwhal tusk from the wall in Fishmongers' Hall as Khan launched his attack during a prisoner rehabilitation event near London Bridge.

The South African-born Londoner then chased Khan onto the bridge, where footage captured him and fellow members of the public fending off the attacker.

Public security

Moscow shooting: Deadly attack on FSB security headquarters

At least one person has been killed and five wounded in a shooting at the headquarters of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in central Moscow, Russian media say.

A gunman who opened fire with an automatic weapon at the entrance of the building was killed by an armed officer, Interfax news agency reports.

Security forces cordoned off the area and moved bystanders into buildings.

The shooting came hours after President Putin's annual press conference.

Details of the incident, which began shortly after 18:00 (15:00 GMT), remain unclear.

The FSB denied earlier reports suggesting there were three gunmen in the attack on its headquarters. The unconfirmed reports said two had been killed in the lobby while the third ran off to a nearby building where he was later killed in a shootout with police.

Among the injured were two seriously hurt officers, the Health Ministry told Russian media. Shortly afterwards, the intelligence agency itself confirmed the death of one FSB officer - though it is not clear if he is one of the two reported injured in the earlier report.