Lies are always – well, nearly always – something we want to avoid, and find out if someone is applying one to us. While this is possible, it’s rarely easy if the person lying is fairly good at it, but detecting and deterring lies, as well as making someone tell the truth is far from impossible.

We’ve written up a short guide to how the pros find out if people are lying or not – click this link to go to our dedicated page.

We have to warn you, though – applying the techniques in here may lead to you finding out things that you would rather have been oblivious about. We’re just saying.

Having the ability to detect and deter lies is a powerful thing. you will need to study it and train it, but when you have it down, it will enable you to gain insight into other people’s minds, and use the information there to your own advantage. It may sound shady, but it’s not. These are techniques that are being used every day, everywhere, by police officers, intelligence agencies and security people – it wouldn’t be a surprise if the security people at your company have this kind of training, and use it every day.

Lies, and detecting such, have three parts to them – the body language (this is the most important part), the spoken words, and the counter responses – i.e. what you need to do and say in order to make them screw things up. It’s not as hard as it may seem.

Take a look at our page, and see for yourself.

Batons are, and probably always will be, a controversial subject. Use them, not use them, show them when you wear’em or

hide them somewhere at the cost of speed when you need it. Whatever your position on the subject, here’s the view from our test subject, who has used the Monadnock PR-24

expandable control baton for a year, on duty.

Let’s start like we always do; the specs (Just to be clear; we’re reviewing the so-called “Control Device 24).

• Conceived out of Monadnock’s commitment to the “Protect and Restrain” option, these batons are excellent in defensive techniques
• Gain control of a subject without excessive use of force
• Two-stage positive lock baton
• Trumble stop side handle fastened to a 1″ diameter aluminum frame
• Black anodized finish
• Expanding epoxy reinforced shaft is positively locked into position, ensuring that the baton will not inadvertently close
• Baton’s smaller dimensions enhance subject control and makes baton even more comfortable to wear
• Shaft: Epoxy shaft
• Length Opened: 24″
• Length Closed: 14″
• Weight: 18 ounces
• Short Handle: Monpac
• Handle Type: Trumbull stop handle
• Short Portion: SuperGrip
• Quality Control Program:
  • In-process inspection at every operation plus 100% inspect and testing prior to shipment
  • In-process inspection consistent with US Department of Defense MIL-STD-105E and United Kingdom Defense Ministry Specification DEF-131-A
• Warranty: All Monadnock expandable police batons have a lifetime repair or replacement guarantee, under normal field use, against breaking, bending, torn grip, and if rust or corrosion prevents the baton from functioning
• Litigation Support: Monadnock has provided expert testimony on behalf of police officers and agencies for more than 25 years
• Frame:
  • Material: 6061-T6 aluminum tube; 1″ outside diameter (0.125″ wall thickness)A.S.T.M.-B-429
  • Length: 12.375″
  • Coating: Black anodized finish (MIL-A-8625 type III)
• Shaft:
  • Material: ¾” diameter epoxy reinforced shaft
  • Length: 13.25″
  • Coating: Black
• End Cap:
  • Material: 6061-T6 aluminum
  • Coating: Black anodized finish

Read on for our review…

The Monadnock PR-24 Control Device is a nice little gadget, handy because of its closed size (14 inches) and very effective due to its length when expanded (24 inches). The handle fits nicely in your hand, and due to the fact that it’s a “control device”, the PR-24 is effective in more situations than a simple baton. Let’s get this clear – this isn’t something you have just to bash in someone’s head – the PR-24 is a serious tool for law enforcement officers to safely control subjects that are aggressive or otherwise out of control.

Material choices for the PR-24 are good, aluminium, epoxy and rubbers that can withstand weather and blows, scrapes and regular wear and tear. There’s not much more to say about that – it’s materials are solid and feels sturdy during use and in situations where they’re being put to the test.

There are a few draw-backs to this “Control Device”, however.

• The fact that it’s expandable necessitates some mechanics and movable parts, which makes the PR-24 less tolerant of dirt and sand. In environments with these elements, it would perhaps be wise to choose a rigid control device.
• The rubber o-ring and plastic seal that holds the PR-24 together is worn quickly, especially if you’re in an environment with a lot of dirt/dust/sand.
• The PR-24′s black coating is prone to bubbling and flaking off if used in very cold weather, as well as in combination with moisture. E.g. wearing the baton outside, and subjecting it to violent temperature changes.
• When the plastic ring that keeps the expandable portion of the PR-24 sliding smoothly breaks, it’s not with any clear warning or visible signs – it will simply make sure that the PR-24 will not expand, making it essentially useless in a situation where you might depend on it to work properly.

Using the PR-24 effectively also demands a lot of training, and refresher courses if it’s not regularly used. This might take a toll on your training budget, but this is not restricted to the expandable PR-24 – it goes for any “control device”.

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The PR-24 is a good choice if your workplace demands discretion, but has strict security requirements and elevated risk. It is not suitable for extended outdoors duty, and it is not suited for environments that is dominated by dust, sand and dirt. Although the PR-24 has its limitations, demands regular maintenance and checks, it can not be doubted that it is a very versatile and useful tool for any security professional.

Spending time reading sources on the internet is something that we do a lot. Even though experience, years of training and more training in between jobs, pr on the job training produces a thick layer of basics on which to draw, there are always new things to learn out there, and no knowledge is useless knowledge.

Reading through a trusted source the other day, it dawned on me that there are things out there that may look interesting at first glance, and may look like it has something to offer, but then, after spending valuable time reading this dribble from a so-called “mystery player” at casinos, discovering that all that time had been wasted. Granted, the article doesn’t take more than ten minutes to read, tops, but that’s ten minutes I’ll never get back so I can spend it reading something that will actually add to the pool of security knowledge. 
Right now, lets’s mention that if you want to know about casino security, you’ll be better off going here, here or here. Much better off here too.

Let’s quickly recap what this article actually says.

For those who are unfamiliar with the “mystery player” expression – it’s an “operative” (article writer’s expression) that poses as a regular player at casinos, in order to reveal cheating at the tables, and employees not adhering to casino rules and regulations. Mostly that last one, actually. In fact, this so-called “operative’s” main task is to conduct surveillance on the casino’s employees.

In any case, the “mystery player” has a role to play – that much is obvious. Now, undercover security is an interesting sector of the business, and I thought that this article might bring something that I didn’t know before, but I was sorely disappointed. It points out things that are obvious – stay in character, don’t draw attention to yourself, don’t get drunk on the job, and so on and so forth.

In the “Preparatory Training” section of the article, the writer lists things such as having pictures of casino staff, reading up on casino rules and regulations (seriously – how is the “operative” supposed to know if staff is following those without reading them beforehand?), knowing if slot machines pay cash or print paper receipts, etc.

Anyway. Doug Kelly, the writer of this article, calls the “mystery players” either “operatives” or “agents” in his text. They’re really nothing but undercover security officers, and that’s what they should be called. They’re not James Bond, Kelly. They’re not Modesty Blaise or Batman for that matter. They’re just security people, nothing more and nothing less either.

Doug Kelly is president of “Kelly Security International Inc.” – a very domestic (not international) security company that specializes in loss prevention services. Feel free to check out their website here. And Doug, if you read this – since your site claims you stay on top of all things new and shiny; Facebook is one word, not “Face Book”.

Chicago:

“Chicago taxpayers spent more than $2 million policing lakefront festivals last year — $1.5 million of it for Taste of Chicago alone — underscoring Mayor Daley’s desire to privatize the events and the difficulty he may have in doing so.”

Chicago Montage

Event security doesn’t come cheap, and that’s why many festival’s around the world rely more and more on private security companies, releasing the police assets they’ve been tying up, and also increasing stability in the security situation, with dedicated people, there to do one job only. Also, it’s always impossible to know when the police officers might be called away to something more serious, so to speak.

More;

“As many as 293 police officers a day provided security for Taste of Chicago 2009 at a daily cost of up to $111,572. Similar costs were incurred for nine days: June 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 and July 1, 2, 4 and 5 for a grand total of $873,533.”

“Policing costs for the city’s other lakefront festivals totaled $537,732 in 2009, the internal document shows. That includes: Gospel Fest ($11,909); Blues Fest ($142,898); the now-cancelled Venetian Night ($65,234); Air & Water Show ($117,816); Viva Chicago Latin Music Fest ($41,858); Jazz Fest ($89,717); Celtic Fest ($19,701) and Country Music Fest ($48,596).”

For once, something genuinely cool.

A team of scientists have discovered a way to make stuff invisible. Now, that’s actually something that both cool and apt to scare the cr*p out of anyone who dares to go down the road of thinking a little too long about this.

Invisible cameras, invisible tanks, invisible houses… invisible humans, for cryin’ out loud. It puts everything both at risk, and it simultaneously gives us a massive boost in security opportunities. So maybe the pros and the cons cancel each other out.

“They describe developing a nonmetallic cloak that uses identical glass resonators made of chalcogenide glass, a type of dielectric material (one that does not conduct electricity). In computer simulations, the cloak made objects hit by infrared waves — approximately one micron or one-millionth of a meter long — disappear from view.“

It needs to be said again; pretty cool. And massively scary.

It would be interesting to see if these scientists can find a conference call that doesn’t have someone pulling one lie or another in it.

Anyway, this uses known interrogation techniques in order to analyse the level of deception in corporate conference calls. If you’ve ever worked for a company that uses conference calls as a tool, then you know what we’re on about.

Apparently, the big shocker here is that there’s a lot of deception in conference calls relating to earnings, accounting and problems with such. Sorry, that should be “shocker“.

In any case, this is pretty interesting, actually. It does give some insight into how you’re going to be caught in that lie if you ever try one with the cops. Or with your accounting department, possibly. 

Wikileaks has made sure its servers are bulletproof. Strike that. They’re now nuclear strike proof, literally.

Wikileaks.org

Wikileaks boss Assange is apparently not taking any chances with the wealth of documents that the site is sitting on. Their servers have been moved to the “Pionen”, a bunker in Stockholm, Sweden, built to withstand a nuclear strike.

Wikileaks is now also sharing rackspace with the “Pirate Party”, the political party that sprung from thepiratebay.org, and the “Pirate Party” has declared that any attempt on Wikileaks’ servers will be the same as attacking a Swedish political party – i.e. anyone who attempts it is risking an international incident. Nice way to double up on protection.

Recent leaks haven’t done anything to calm authorities – US authorities, that is, either. Latest is a CIA “Red Cell” document outlining through analysis what would happen if US citizens participate in terrorist acts outside US borders – i.e. what will happen if the US is seen as an exporter of terrorism.

The location of the servers, nuclear strike-proof “Pionen” is operated by Bahnhof, who guarantees operational security with UPS systems and a diesel backup generator. The vault itself is behind 50cm of steel, and inside a mountain. 10Gbs direct line to the outside world maintains the connectivity of the websites they host, and it’s said to have “full coverage” in regards to burglary- and fire protection.

The latest leak is confirmed to be real by the CIA, but spokesman Little says to CNN;
“These sorts of analytic products — clearly identified as coming from the agency’s ‘Red Cell’ — are designed to simply provoke thought and present different points of view.”

Also according to CNN:
“A U.S. intelligence official said, “it’s always disturbing when classified information is inappropriately disclosed.” However the official added, “this is not a blockbuster paper.”

Oh well. The server location is cool. That’s the main point. Oh, and security is tight. It’s all about security.

The so-called “hands-on pat-downs” that the TSA are introducing (much ado about this, as usual) are old news. Very old news, in fact.

Most countries use a standardized version of this technique, though extensive testing has revealed that the hand first, wand following is ineffective, and should be flipped around – wand first, hand after, that is.

"Enhanced" pat-down

In the case of “wanding”, it has been thoroughly established that a metal detector wand is just not enough when trying to detect illegal items on someone’s person. Glass knives, ceramics and explosives for that matter will not at all be detected by either a hand held metal detector or a portal device.

Coming across as groundbreaking is the TSA’s preferred method, but this? This is just plain silly. Not to mention the fact that people are actually upset about it. There’s been no “outcry” of any sort in the European countries that do this.

By the way, the TSA calls this “enhanced pat-downs”. Very… catchy?

(Also, the DSS does this when they search people for embassy entry…)

This is mildly interesting, although there seem to be more than a few pitfalls in the theory.

Government agencies want to be able to identify skeletons (those in living humans, that is) from a distance of 50 meters (a meter is about the same as a yard, by the way), but that is proving to be a problem.

View of a Skull

Then there’s the trouble of the skeleton not being something that is static – as opposed to our fingerprints, our skeletons don’t stay the same all our lives, they change.

Oh well. Here’s the article.

Wright State researchers developing skeletal scans to recognize terrorists

Here’s a classic;

Family wakes up in the middle of the night from what they believe to be thunder. The dad runs around downstairs, doing whatever, and the children are pulled out of their beds, with a panicky dad telling them they have to get out of the house due to a landslide.

The paper goes on to explain that they hid in the garage. From a landslide. So, to summarize, they left a sturdy structure to take shelter in a less sturdy structure from a landslide, something that could easily wipe out both these structures, and crush them all under the debris.

Luckily, this ended well, but it is still a prime example of what not to do in such a situation. If you hear or see a landslide coming, get out of its way. There is no hope that your house will survive if the landslide is coming for it, and the slide is big enough. The only thing you might save is yourself, and that’s only if you can get away from things that will drown, crush, bury or maim you in other interesting ways.

So, we’re happy the family made it, but we’re not really that impressed.

Meanwhile, interesting news for those following the trial after the much more impressive Swedish heist.