My Washington Times Piece On Why Police Body-Worn Cameras Protect Both Officers And The Public

The Washington Times ran my piece on police body-worn cameras.

Cop haters were no doubt disappointed when a police video showed clearly that the man shot and killed by police officers last month in Chicago was reaching for a gun.

Protesters in Chicago organized swiftly after the fatal shooting, and hit the street and demonstrated against evil cops shooting unharmed black men. Rocks and bottles were thrown, and the police stepped in to quell the violence.

The Chicago police superintendent released the police body-worn camera video in response to cries that the man, Harith Augustus, was unarmed. The police footage shows that he had a semi-automatic handgun in a holster on his hip and that he turned toward the pursuing officers with his hand on his waist. He was shot multiple times by the officers.

The released police footage pauses and zooms in on the handgun, which a police spokesperson said documents that the gun was seen clearly by the officers on the scene. Initial reports indicate that Harith Augustus did not have a permit to carry a concealed handgun.

This past May in Texas a woman accused a Texas state trooper of sexually assaulting her after the trooper pulled her over. The woman, Sherita Dixon-Cole, failed a field sobriety test and she later claimed the trooper told her she could avoid arrest by granting him sexual favors. She said she refused and then the trooper forced several sexual acts upon her. Her complaint was quite detailed and graphic.

But then the Texas Department released the video from the trooper’s body-worn camera, which conflicts drastically with her false and vivid account. The footage shows the trooper being totally professional with the inebriated woman. 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/aug/7/why-cops-wearing-body-worn-cameras-protect-both-of/ 

The Navy Is Moving Its Aircraft Carriers To Ready Them For A Potential Fight With China and Russia — Here's Where They're Headed

Christopher Woody at the Business Insider offers a piece on the U.S. Navy's new movement of aircraft carriers.

You can read the rest of the piece and view photos of the carrier force via the below link:

https://www.businessinsider.com/navy-moves-carriers-to-ready-for-possible-fight-with-china-russia-2018-8

Bancroft: Despite his thorny place in culture, Raymond Chandler remains a great love

Colette Bancroft, the Tampa Bay Times book editor, offers a column on the late, great crime novelist Raymond Chandler’s continuing influence.

Some writers you enjoy, some writers you admire.

A handful of writers you love, and one of my handful is Raymond Chandler.

His seven novels, published between 1939 and 1958, were transformational for me when I first read them in the 1970s. They sparked my enduring fascination with crime fiction and led to my unfinished doctoral dissertation about his work that has long been tucked away in a desk drawer. 

My crush on Chandler endures: My dog is named Marlowe, after his great character, gallant, wisecracking Los Angeles private detective Philip Marlowe.

I’m just one of a legion of fans and followers. Chandler died in 1959, but his style and substance have deeply influenced countless writers in the mystery genre and beyond. The early generations of his successors included Ross Macdonald, John D. MacDonald and Robert B. Parker. How many contemporary crime fiction writers follow in his footsteps? Let’s name a few alphabetically: Megan Abbott, Ace Atkins, Benjamin Black, Lawrence Block, James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, James Ellroy ... you get the idea.

The 130th anniversary of Chandler’s birth came around on July 23, and it was marked by the publication of two books: The Annotated Big Sleep, a new edition of Chandler’s first novel, edited by Owen Hill, Pamela Jackson and Anthony Dean Rizzuto; and Only to Sleep: A Philip Marlowe Novel by Lawrence Osborne, the third author commissioned by the Chandler estate to write new novels about the private detective. (The others were Parker and Black.)

The anniversary was also noted in "The Big Seep: Reading Raymond Chandler in the Age of #MeToo," an essay published in Slate by bestselling author Megan Abbott, whose own new novel, Give Me Your Hand, gives one of Chandler’s recurring themes a radical twist.

You can read the rest of the column via the below link:

https://www.tampabay.com/features/books/Bancroft-Despite-his-thorny-place-in-culture-Raymond-Chandler-remains-a-great-love_170359256

You can also read my Crime Beat column on Raymond Chandler via the below link:

www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2009/11/on-raymond-chandlers-influence-on-crime.html 

Protecting Americans From Violent Offenders

Thomas T. Cullen, the U.S. Attorney for the U.S. District Court, Western District of Virginia, offers a piece in the Washington Times.

As we enter the 2018 midterm season and the attendant legislative interregnum, Congress can and should take bipartisan action to protect us from repeat violent offenders.

In 1984, President Reagan signed into law the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). Under the ACCA, felons convicted of unlawfully possessing a firearm face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years if they had three or more prior convictions for a “serious drug offense” or a “violent felony.”

This federal statute, along with other criminal-justice initiatives, including parole abolition, bail reform, and the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, were passed to address an alarming two-decade increase in violent crime.

As Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently noted, between 1964 and 1980, the number of robberies and rapes tripled, aggravated assaults nearly tripled, and murders doubled.

The ACCA and these other reforms were a resounding success. Between 1991 and 2014, the murder and aggravated-assault rates decreased by half. Robberies decreased by two-thirds and rapes by more than a third.

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 dealt a severe blow to the ACCA and violent-crime reduction efforts. In Johnson v. United States, the Court considered whether Samuel Johnson, an avowed white supremacist who had confessed to planning multiple acts of domestic terrorism, should be subject to the mandatory 15-year sentence under the ACCA after pleading guilty to the possession of an AK-47 rifle, several other firearms, and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition as a previously convicted felon.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/aug/2/why-congress-should-take-action-on-the-armed-caree/ 

Hemingway Story From 1956 Published For First Time

The Sioux City Journal offers a piece on the publication of a Ernest Hemingway short story that had not been published before.

NEW YORK (AP) — The themes and trappings are familiar for an Ernest Hemingway narrative: Paris, wartime, talk of books and wine and the scars of battle.

But the story itself has been little known beyond the scholarly community for decades: "A Room on the Garden Side," written in 1956, is being published for the first time. The brief, World War II-era fiction appears this week in the summer edition of The Strand Magazine, a literary quarterly which has released obscure works by Raymond Chandler, John Steinbeck and others.

"Hemingway's deep love for his favorite city as it is just emerging from Nazi occupation is on full display, as are the hallmarks of his prose," Strand Managing Editor Andrew F. Gulli wrote in an editorial note.

Kirk Curnutt, a board member of The Hemingway Society, contributed an afterword for the Strand, saying that "the story contains all the trademark elements readers love in Hemingway."

"Steeped in talk of Marcel Proust, Victor Hugo, and Alexandre Dumas, and featuring a long excerpt in French from Charles Baudelaire's 'Les Fleurs du Mal,' the story implicitly wonders whether the heritage of Parisian culture can recover from the dark taint of fascism," Curnutt wrote.

War was a longtime muse for Hemingway. He served as an ambulance driver during World War I, drawing upon his experiences for his classic novel "A Farewell to Arms." The Spanish Civil War inspired his novel "For Whom the Bell Tolls." He was both soldier and correspondent during World War II and was on hand in Paris in August 1944 for the liberation from Nazi occupation, described by the author in reports published soon after by Collier's magazine.

"A Room on the Garden Side" takes place in the Ritz hotel (Hemingway liked to say that he liberated the Ritz bar) and is narrated by a Hemingway stand-in called Robert who shares the author's own nickname — Papa. Robert and his entourage drink wine, quote from Baudelaire and debate "the dirty trade of war."

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://siouxcityjournal.com/entertainment/hemingway-story-from-published-for-first-time/article_0d3a455a-83d3-5771-b5a4-d774f453a219.html

You can also read my Washington Times review of Hemingway’s short stories via the below link:

www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2017/09/my-washington-times-review-of-short.html 

Photos Of Returning American Korean War Dead

In the above photo the honor guard assigned to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) move a flag-draped case from a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft during an honorable carry ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018. The United Nations Command recently repatriated 55 transfer cases from North Korea that contain what are believed to be the remains of American service members lost in the Korean War. The U.S. Air Force photo was taken by Senior Airman Apryl Hall.

In the above photo the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command conduct an honorable carry ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018. Carry teams will move fifty-five transfer cases, containing what are believed to be the remains of American service members lost in the Korean War, to the DPAA facility at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for identification. North Korea recently turned over the remains to the U.S. and is the first mass turnover of remains since the early '90s. The U.S. Air Force photo was taken by Senior Airman Apryl Hall.

In the above photo an honor guard detail of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) personnel conducts an honorable carry ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Aug. 1, 2018. Carry teams will move 55 flag-draped transfer cases, containing what are believed to be the remains of American service members lost in the Korean War to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for identification. The U.S. Air Force photo was taken by Staff Sgt. Mikaley Kline.

In the above photo Korean War veterans pay respects after an honorable carry ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018. The United Nations Command recently repatriated 55 transfer cases from North Korea to the U.S. that contain what are believed to be the remains of American service members lost in the Korean War. The U.S. Air Force photo was taken by Senior Airman Apryl Hall.

Note: You can click on the above photos to enlarge

Three Members of Notorious International Cybercrime Group “Fin7” In Custody For Role In Attacking Over 100 U.S. companies

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information:

Three high-ranking members of a sophisticated international cybercrime group operating out of Eastern Europe have been arrested and are currently in custody facing charges filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, announced Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes for the Western District of Washington and Special Agent in Charge Jay S. Tabb Jr. of the FBI Seattle Field Office.

According to three federal indictments unsealed today, Ukrainian nationals Dmytro Fedorov, 44, Fedir Hladyr, 33, and Andrii Kopakov, 30, are members of a prolific hacking group widely known as FIN7 (also referred to as the Carbanak Group and the Navigator Group, among other names).  Since at least 2015, FIN7 members engaged in a highly sophisticated malware campaign targeting more than 100 U.S. companies, predominantly in the restaurant, gaming, and hospitality industries.  As set forth in indictments, FIN7 hacked into thousands of computer systems and stole millions of customer credit and debit card numbers, which the group used or sold for profit. 

In the United States alone, FIN7 successfully breached the computer networks of companies in 47 states and the District of Columbia, stealing more than 15 million customer card records from over 6,500 individual point-of-sale terminals at more than 3,600 separate business locations.  Additional intrusions occurred abroad, including in the United Kingdom, Australia, and France.  Companies that have publicly disclosed hacks attributable to FIN7 include such familiar chains as Chipotle Mexican Grill, Chili’s, Arby’s, Red Robin and Jason’s Deli.  Additionally in Western Washington, FIN7 targeted other local businesses. 

“The three Ukrainian nationals indicted today allegedly were part of a prolific hacking group that targeted American companies and citizens by stealing valuable consumer data, including personal credit card information, that they then sold on the Darknet,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski.  “Because hackers are committed to finding new ways to harm the American public and our economy, the Department of Justice remains steadfast in its commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to identify, interdict, and prosecute those responsible for these threats.”

“Protecting consumers and companies who use the internet to conduct business – both large chains and small ‘mom and pop’ stores -- is a top priority for all of us in the Department of Justice,” said U.S. Attorney Hayes.  “Cyber criminals who believe that they can hide in faraway countries and operate from behind keyboards without getting caught are just plain wrong.  We will continue our longstanding work with partners around the world to ensure cyber criminals are identified and held to account for the harm that they do – both to our pocketbooks and our ability to rely on the cyber networks we use.”

“The naming of these FIN7 leaders marks a major step towards dismantling this sophisticated criminal enterprise,” said Special Agent in Charge Tabb.  “As the lead federal agency for cyber-attack investigations, the FBI will continue to work with its law enforcement partners worldwide to pursue the members of this devious group, and hold them accountable for stealing from American businesses and individuals.”

Each of the three FIN7 conspirators is charged with 26 felony counts alleging conspiracy, wire fraud, computer hacking, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft. 

In January 2018, at the request of U.S. officials, foreign authorities separately arrested Ukrainian Fedir Hladyr and a second FIN7 member, Dmytro Fedorov.  Hladyr was arrested in Dresden, Germany, and is currently detained in Seattle pending trial.  Hladyr allegedly served as FIN7’s systems administrator who, among other things, maintained servers and communication channels used by the organization and held a managerial role by delegating tasks and by providing instruction to other members of the scheme.  Hladyr’s trial is currently scheduled for Oct. 22.

Fedorov, a high-level hacker and manager who allegedly supervised other hackers tasked with breaching the security of victims’ computer systems, was arrested in Bielsko-Biala, Poland.  Fedorov remains detained in Poland pending his extradition to the United States.

In late June 2018, foreign authorities arrested a third FIN7 member, Ukrainian Andrii Kolpakov in Lepe, Spain.  Kolpakov, also alleged to be a supervisor of a group of hackers, remains detained in Spain pending the United States’ request for extradition.

According to the indictments, FIN7, through its dozens of members, launched numerous waves of malicious cyberattacks on numerous businesses operating in the United States and abroad.  FIN7 carefully crafted email messages that would appear legitimate to a business’ employee, and accompanied emails with telephone calls intended to further legitimize the email. Once an attached file was opened and activated, FIN7 would use an adapted version of the notorious Carbanak malware in addition to an arsenal of other tools to ultimately access and steal payment card data for the business’ customers. Since 2015, FIN7 sold the data in online underground marketplaces. (Supplemental document “How FIN7 Attacked and Stole Data” explains the scheme in greater detail.)

FIN7 used a front company, Combi Security, purportedly headquartered in Russia and Israel, to provide a guise of legitimacy and to recruit hackers to join the criminal enterprise.  Combi Security’s website indicated that it provided a number of security services such as penetration testing.  Ironically, the sham company’s website listed multiple U.S. victims among its purported clients. 

The charges in the indictments are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The indictments are the result of an investigation conducted by the Seattle Cyber Task Force of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, with the assistance of the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Office of International Affairs, the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance, numerous computer security firms and financial institutions, FBI offices across the nation and globe, as well as numerous international agencies. Arrests overseas were executed in Poland by the “Shadow Hunters” from CBŚP (Polish Central Bureau of Investigation); in Germany by the LKA Sachsen - Dezernat 33, (German State Criminal Police Office) and the Polizeidirektion Dresden (Dresden Police); and in Spain the Grupo de Seguridad Logica within the Unidad de Investigación Technologica of the Cuerpo Nacional de Policía (Spanish National Police)..

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Francis Franze-Nakamura and Steven Masada of the Western District of Washington with assistance from Trial Attorney Anthony Teelucksingh of the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.