Calibre Press

I’m going to share a pet peeve of mine regarding policing. It affects every agency, regardless of size, and every rank. In fact, I bet once you read this, you’ll find yourself nodding in agreement. It’s not an incredibly dire situation. There is no substantial danger involved. Still, it riles the heck out of me and it has for some time. I bet you are no different. There’s a race…and it’s “post time” This might indicate th... Full Article »

If you knew that the news media was manipulating your mind, would that concern you? It should. And they are. The news media decides what to report, and - more importantly - how to report it. The media controls what the public sees, hears, and ultimately believes. This should concern every police officer in every department. When viewers repeatedly see and hear on the news that cops are shooting unarmed African American males, the subc... Full Article »

Several years ago, Northern California law enforcement was rocked by horrific news when one of our police departments suffered the tragic loss of a sergeant who was shot and killed in the line of duty. As we see time and again across the country, news like this breaks on Twitter and other social media platforms first and is then carried by the mainstream media. It was no different for this case. Unfortunately, sometimes we in law enforcement a... Full Article »

When people watch critical police incidents on video, it is important to remember that they undergo the same perceptual processes as they would if they were experiencing the event directly. That is, they (1) take in what they see and hear; (2) compare that input against the databanks in their minds pertaining to what they know or believe about the world; and (3) form their interpretations of the experience. This, along with normal emotional react... Full Article »

One of the most fascinating turn of events in this year’s political campaign has been the use of information warfare and hacking to try and influence this year’s presidential election. This has marked a sudden, shocking development in a lot of ways, and not the least of which is the extreme interest the Russian government seems to be taking in our election this year. A couple of things are happening before our very eyes right now, and we mig... Full Article »

Distracted driving is a common term today. It's also a common practice. Despite laws regulating cell phone use while driving, we all see it everywhere we go. Driver’s texting, reading, talking—even playing games—on their phones, all while driving. We get frustrated behind them when the light turns green and they're not paying attention. We try to get around them as they weave down the road 10 mph under the speed limit. We laugh at them try... Full Article »

Anyone who’s been to five minutes of an interviewing or investigator’s school, or who has taken a shoplifting call, knows the power of asking the right questions. “Yes or no: Did you steal?” vs. “So tell me what happened today” are two different ways to phrase the same question, which will each probably yield totally different answers. The same is true online. In 2014 the FBI put out a document warning about advanced search techniqu... Full Article »

Do you know why at least twice in the last month, the Islamic State (ISIS) has posted the home addresses of various officers from multiple departments? Have you considered why in the last several years numerous Department of Defense (DoD) members have had their personal details posted online by these guys? One of the more interesting and unsung stories going on in our world at the moment has been the ISIS’s ability to identify, convert, and r... Full Article »

Last time around, we talked about how to organize financial data for an investigation. Let’s take those techniques and apply them to a specific type of investigation: embezzlement. Embezzlement: How It Works For our purposes, we are going to refer to embezzlement as a financial crime where somebody internal to an organization misappropriates money or goods that are entrusted in their care. That trust is what makes it such a unique monster. W... Full Article »

The idea of “trolling” is nothing new. It’s something we’ve all done, and those of you with children are especially familiar with the idea of someone trying to push your buttons just to see what you’ll do. Pretty entertaining, right? The idea of trolling is to draw out the fool by saying or doing something so outlandish, it’s blatantly obvious to any sane, level-headed observer that the statement or act is not serious. The point is t... Full Article »

It seems that almost every day you turn on the news there is another police incident caught on video. The videos, captured from police equipment such as dash- and bodycams are released by agencies attempting to appear transparent. Is releasing police videos helping or hurting community relations and the officers’ due process? In a recent article Jim Glennon, owner of Calibre Press, discussed the bias surrounding the use of video of a fatal pol... Full Article »

A "hacktivist" group Anonymous Anon Verdict announced in a video Sunday that it had released personal information of 52 Cincinnati Police Department employees, from Chief Eliot Isaac to rank-and-file officers. Cincinnati police Lt. Steve Saunders said that the department is investigating the situation to assess the risk to officers, establish if there has been a breach of their systems and find who is responsible. He said that it appears all... Full Article »

License plate reader (LPR) technology has definitely been a game-changer for law enforcement, proving invaluable in both patrol and investigative efforts. When combined with effective analytics, LPR is capable of ferreting out suspects in crime series and closing previously unworkable cases. However, as noted in a previous article on LPR, the technology has been in the crosshairs of civil liberty advocates who claim LPR is unnecessarily invasive ... Full Article »

I’m about to cheat. Yes, I’m a terrible cheater. I just told right up front I’m going to cheat. But just watch, I’m going to break an inherent rule you trust, right in front of you. Out of a regular set of 52 cards, pick your favorite card. Go ahead, say it to yourself. How impressed would you be if your card popped up on screen when you click the button down here? You’d buy me a drink? Deal. Ok, let’s call the bet. Click here ... Full Article »

Thomas White has recently taken to posting some more information about the FOP Breach. Mainly taking quotes from FOP President Chuck Canterbury and using them against Mr. Canterbury. Mr. White has posted some of these quotes, along with responses, and these are leading us to some early clues as to how the breach may have happened. I’ve pulled a number of them from his site, and he refers to them as “myths.” “Myth 4: A 0-day was used” ... Full Article »

[Author’s Note: I am in no way, shape, or form affiliated with this investigation. Any discussion of time frames or investigative procedure is based purely on openly available information.] Here's what we know. On January 28, 2016, an online actor known as TheCthulhu posted what he claimed was the initial data set of a large amount of data from the national Fraternal Order of Police website. According to Cthulhu, this is just the beginning. ... Full Article »

As the nation begins to look seriously at ways to gain transparency into the actions of its police and hold them accountable, officer-worn video (or “bodycams”) have become really tempting. After all, we’ve all seen in countless videos on YouTube the raw power of being the fly on the wall. All of us already have video cameras today—on our phones. These cameras can be applied in a truly revolutionary way to help answer lots of questions. A... Full Article »

Video is ubiquitous--from citizen smartphones to CCTV to the body- and dashcams your own agency may deploy--it's everywhere, and police are investing in it in a big way. Calibre Press is interested in identifying how law enforcement officers are able to use video technology to their greatest advantage and reduce liability. We’re seeking input as we create curriculum and training that will drive this discussion, and profession, forward. Thre... Full Article »

Ever taken a report for a stolen iPad/iPhone/any electronic device? (If the answer is no, what planet do you live on?!) We all have. And what’s the first thing we ask our victim? “Do you have a serial number for the device?” And what does the victim always say? “Well … no.” And the sad part is, unless that device gets sold to a pawn shop or somewhere that actually does keep track of the serial number and there is some way ... Full Article »