Gun sales surge as uncertainties stoke fears
By ALLISON ROSS
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 01, 2008
DELRAY BEACH — Consumers may be cutting back on going out to eat and buying new clothes, but at the Delray Shooting Center off Linton Boulevard, guns remain good as gold.
“Business has gone up dramatically in the past year – the last couple months especially,” owner Mike Caruso said. “I’m selling 15 guns a day. … Let’s just say business has been rocking.”

Although Florida does not keep records of gun sales, federal data show background checks needed to purchase a firearm are up sharply in the first nine months of this year. In Florida, concealed weapon permit applications in September jumped 52 percent compared with September 2007.
And it’s not just any gun. Handguns and semiautomatic weapons, not hunting rifles, appear to be leading the way.
The reasons: a sour economy that some fear will increase crime, and worries about gun regulations if Sen. Barack Obama wins the White House.
“There are so many uncertainties right now in the country,” said Susan Lipschultz, co-owner of Liberty Guns Inc. in West Palm Beach. “It’s the economy, the politics, the concern of an anti-gun Congress and president.”
Jeff Lovering, 52, was at the Self Defense Shooting Center in Port St. Lucie on a recent morning, having bought his first gun three months ago.
“I figured I better buy it now,” Lovering said of his .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun. “Obama – he’s up there in the polls. He’s looking like he might win.”
Gun sales are up about 10 percent this year, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which analyzed federal excise taxes on firearms sales and the number of checks that went through the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
In Florida, there were 405,738 such FBI checks in the first nine months of the year, a 30 percent hike. While those checks don’t always translate into gun sales, it’s one of the best indicators available, said Kristen Perezluha, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Further, 22,249 Floridians applied for a concealed weapon permit in September, a 52 percent increase from September 2007, according to the Division of Licensing in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
“You look at September last year and September this year, and it’s pretty amazing,” said Connie Crawford, division director.
The recent Florida Gun & Knife Show at the South Florida Fairgrounds reflects the trend. According to an employee, sales of ammunition were up about 20 percent, while handgun sales were up 11 percent.
Handguns and semiautomatic weapons in particular are flying off shelves.
Gunmaker Smith & Wesson, in its latest quarterly report, revealed similar trends: Specialty rifles and shotguns in the hunting division fell, while sales of other products rose.
Similarly, Lipschultz said the economy has forced some recreational hunters and shooters to cut down on buying new guns, but sales of handguns are up.
And Joe Fordham, owner of Palm Beach Trap & Skeet Pro Shop in Wellington, said he fields daily calls about where to buy handguns, which his store does not carry.
Economy down, crimes up
People often buy guns during periods of uncertainty, said Gary Kleck, a professor at Florida State University’s College of Criminology and Criminal Justice.
Lovering, for instance, may have purchased his first handgun in advance of the presidential election, but he plans to teach his 21-year-old daughter to shoot it as a means of self-defense.
“We’re facing an economic crisis, and there’s this background assumption that crime will go up,” which may lead people to buy more guns for personal safety, Kleck said.
While the economy may or may not be a contributing factor, certain crimes are up in Palm Beach County.
After two straight years of decline, robberies and larcenies in the county grew last year by 3 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Statewide, property crimes are up by more than 3 percent in the first six months of this year.
At the Delray Shooting Center, “we lost a portion of our client base because the economy is weaker, but we gained some in our firearms for the exact same reason,” said Caruso, who gets 50 to 60 people each week in his concealed weapon classes.
“Our economy’s garbage,” summed up Jacob, a West Palm Beach resident shopping at Liberty Guns on Monday. Jacob declined to give his last name for fear of being burglarized and having his guns stolen: “Robberies could occur because of desperate people.”
‘Don’t Believe Obama!’
Politics is another concern. WhileObama has said he supports the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment, he also favors tighter state restrictions.
“He’s not exactly friendly to gun rights, to say the least,” Lipschultz said.
A poster reading, “On the Second Amendment, Don’t Believe Obama!” is taped to the counter in her store.
Lipschultz is not a huge fan of Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s stance on gun control either, but his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, really “understands the importance of the Second Amendment,” she said.
Nelson Waite, owner of Gator Guns & Archery Center in West Palm Beach, also reports sales are up because of concerns about Obama’s gun policies.
“Every time we get an anti-gun president, people get nervous and start buying guns,” Waite said, adding that people worry about the impact of a shifting political climate.
Florida State University’s Kleck has seen it before.
“During the Clinton administration in 1993, when it became clear they were likely to pass an assault weapons ban, gun sales went up tremendously,” Kleck said. “Most guns people bought had nothing to do with the ban, but people didn’t know it at the time.”
At Gator Guns & Archery, Waite said, “When (Bill) Clinton got ready to go into office, gun sales just quadrupled at my store.”
Joe Rice, manager at Delray Shooting Center, said he is not panicked about the possibility of Obama’s becoming president, but he is preparing.
When the Clinton-backed 1994 Semi-Auto Gun Ban went into effect, the price of certain semiautomatic guns skyrocketed.
“All Clinton’s crime bill did was create a commodity,” Rice said. “It turned a $700 rifle into a $3,400 rifle.”
So Rice has stocked up on weapons such as the AK-47 assault rifle and the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle – two firearms he believes would be subject to new regulations.
If that happens, he said, “the prices will go up, and I’ll quadruple my cash.”

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Aired May 4, 2007 – 13:00 ET
LEMON: All right, it’s no secret. Secret service agents are a new and visible presence around Barack Obama. Now here he is in New York today at a fundraiser. He was at the Metropolitan Club. An agency spokesman says he isn’t aware of threats against the Democratic presidential hopeful, but fellow Senator Dick Durbin says disturbing information of a racial bent triggered yesterday’s action by the Department of Homeland Security. Joining us now from Miami, a former secret service agent, Joseph Lasorsa. Talk to me about this. They said there was no threat that they could think of. There was some chatter on the internet, possibly, maybe among hate groups, some hate mail sent to his campaign. What distinguishes a threat or someone just on a blog, you know, writing something nasty? What makes a threat a threat in that respect?

JOSEPH LASORSA, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Well, essentially any type statement indicating an intent to inflict physical harm or a plan to disrupt or create a situation that could inflict some physical harm.

LEMON: So that’s what — we’re not, again, not sure if there was a threat but they did say that there was chatter and that type of thing. Having chatter of this sort of bent — especially of a racial bent, unusual in a campaign? I would imagine it may have happened when Jesse Jackson ran back in the ’80s.

LASORSA: Probably did as well, yes.

LEMON: He was protected early on as well. Talk to me about that.

LASORSA: His protection began a lot earlier than usual, but, again, it’s not unusual to establish protective coverage if there’s any heightened level of threats being articulated.

LEMON: You served with several administrations, I would like to know how, now, might the candidates, Barack Obama’s life change, the security detail around him. The number of people around him coming and going. I’m sure it will make it a little bit more difficult. How might his life change now.

LASORSA: Essentially it’s going to make it a little less private, but on the other side, it’s going to probably lend towards some — some additional smoother logistics in planning. LEMON: How many people are we talking about around him?

LASORSA: There’s usually a standard detail that they apply in presidential candidates. Specific numbers, they could vary. But I wouldn’t be able to get into the specific numbers on it.

LEMON: All right, well we thank you for joining us and helping us to clarify some of this information.

LASORSA: No problem Don, my pleasure.

LEMON: Have a great day, thank you.

LASORSA: You too, take care.

Unarmed Security
Either arm us all or take the gun from the village idiot

Posted: Monday, May 26, 2008
Updated: May 25th, 2008 09:27 PM PDT

Most Read Most E-mailed E-mail Article Print Article

KEITH R. LAVERY
Security Strategies Contributor

True Story #1
A friend of mine is a security director for a large institution that serves a special population in a metropolitan area of Ohio. He started his protective services career nearly 40 years ago as a young military policeman in Vietnam. Since that time he has developed his security career to include obtaining numerous Director positions within the private security sector, mostly at vast hospital complexes. He is truly a professional. Nobody knows more about protecting people in his venue then he does.

Over the period of several years in his current position, he noticed several lapses in his organizations security posture. He drafted a plan of action, documented it, and approached his boss, who was the VP of Facilities, while seeking the approval to fix those issues. Of the recommendations offered by my friend, some of them were in the category of either pay now or really, really, pay later. The VP of facilities is an expert at planning for HVAC installation and roofing repairs, but clueless about the dynamics affecting the health, welfare and safety of human beings. Regardless, someone in authority still appointed the facilities VP to be in-charge over the security director as the division leader. In the end, when the security director made his boss aware of glaring security problems, what do you think the VP did? If you guessed Nothing, you were right.

Months later, disaster struck when a deranged criminal entered the facility, took advantage of the security lapses and committed an untold number of felonious crimes against persons. As a result, the institution was nearly shut down and thousands of people would have been negatively affected, from employees losing their jobs to patients not receiving medical services they needed. It was a close call. The doors almost closed due to facing a potential loss of accreditation.

True Story #2
Three weeks ago, my wife gave birth to our son. After spending 4 days and nights at the Akron General Medical Center I knew my way around the hospital pretty well. In my travels, I noticed their security staff and was duly impressed. Their uniforms looked good, shoes polished, and whenever I approached them, they would always initiate the conversation by saying, “Sir, can I help you?” It was obvious to me that they had mastered the public relations skill set of being an ambassador of their organization. However, I also noticed something else. None of the officers possessed firearms.

Given the current status of the world that we live in, it is absolutely inexcusable that security officers tasked with protecting staff, patients, visitors, and property are unarmed. When any homicidal/suicidal maniac, not to mention desperate dope addict, could wander into an emergency room with a .22 caliber handgun they purchased on the street for $80 and force a violent encounter, how come security can’t at least have the minimum capacity to immediately counter a deadly force threat?
Here are the Top 5 faulty reasons that I have found over the years for the administrative position of not arming security officers:

1. “We don’t need them here”. That’s like saying Kansas does not need tornado shelters, because they do not have tornados. The organizational administrators that I have met who have made this ridiculous statement just do not live in reality. Either watch TV, choose to believe what you read the newspaper, or better yet, listen to the person you hired to be your security director and let the trained professional who knows how to save lives make the correct strategic decision. If you don’t trust their judgment, don’t hire them.

2. “Visitors and patrons might feel intimidated if an officer is armed”. I don’t know about you, but I have never been intimidated by a police or security officer carrying a firearm. Why? Because I am not the criminal. Wake up! We live in the USA! There are more guns here per capita then coffee beans in Africa! Oh, and by the way, security officers do not have to carry firearms visibly if you are really that image sensitive. Just ask the security operatives for Israeli El-Al Airlines. Chances are the flight attendant handing you your pop and pretzels on that overseas flight is also highly skilled in Krav Maga and packing a pistol. Maybe that’s a reason why their aircraft has never been successfully hijacked.

3. “The crime rate around here isn’t bad”, or “It’s never happened here before”. Both of these living in a dream-world statements go hand-in-hand. Generally, workplace shooting incidents don’t happen more than once at the same location. It’s usually a “there’s a first time for everything” type event. Victims and witnesses all say the same thing after the carnage stops, “I never thought something like this could happen here”. Think again, we live in a dangerous world.

4. “Our local police response is about 3 to 4 minutes”. How many times can you pull a trigger in that time span? History tragically reminds us that each trigger pull can represent a human life being lost while waiting for law enforcement to arrive.

5. “By arming officers we are implying it is dangerous to be here”. An attorney said this to me once. You don’t want this lawyer representing you. Fundamentally, common law stipulates that even if you do not have security at all, you still have a duty – to some extent – to protect or else risk negligence charges. When I can prove to a jury that hospitals, colleges, universities, shopping malls, etc attract criminals just as easily as they attract law abiding citizens, and you have done nothing to ensure an appropriate, or reasonable, level of protection then your bank account is wide open for civil litigation. It’s actually pretty easy for me to detail to a jury that you should have known, not because I am that good or highly experienced. I don’t have to be. The world is just that bad and getting worse. I just have to paint the picture using visions they understand.

In closing, please keep my email address handy and feel free to notify me if you or an attorney you know needs an expert witness to testify on behalf of the plaintiff in a case where security was not properly trained or equipped. I say this not because I am greedy and seek to contribute to our overly litigious society, but because I am tired of the wrong people being placed in-charge of security functions making bad decisions. Apparently the only way to get them to change is to get them to pay. Nothing captures an administrator’s attention more than losing a couple million dollars. I will be happy to make that happen.

Keith R. Lavery, M.A., is a full-time criminal justice educator teaching secondary education and having taught law enforcement, criminal justice and security courses at the post-secondary level. Keith had a very diverse police career for over 17 years, working in urban and rural law enforcement settings with assignments ranging from patrol to specialized functions, and to stay current in the field, works part-time as a patrol officer in Northeastern Ohio. Keith is currently the Law Enforcement Liaison for the Cleveland, Ohio, Chapter of ASIS International.

By DAVID DISHNEAU and BEN NUCKOLS Associated Press Writers

HAGERSTOWN – In the nine years before Arthur Bremer shot George Wallace, assassins killed a U.S. president, a presidential contender and the nation’s leading civil rights activist. In the 35 years since, attempts on two presidents’ lives have failed.

As Bremer was released Friday from prison after serving two-thirds of his 53-year sentence, a former Secret Service agent said the attack on the Alabama governor during a presidential campaign stop in Laurel, Md., prompted lifesaving changes in security strategies.

“Every attempt triggers the implementation of additional countermeasures,” said Joseph A. LaSorsa, who retired in 1996 and runs a security firm in Pompano Beach, Fla.

Bremer, 57, left the Maryland Correctional Institution near Hagerstown before dawn Friday after serving 35 years for attempted murder. He didn’t speak to reporters and doesn’t want to, state prison officials said.

“He’s kept a decidedly low profile,” state Parole Commission Chairman David R. Blumberg said. “He’s turned down all requests for notoriety and interviews, including some that had money attached to them.”

Bremer earned his mandatory release through good behavior and by working in prison.

The Division of Parole and Probation will supervise him until his sentence ends in 2025, the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services said.

The agency didn’t say where in the state Bremer has gone to live, except that it wasn’t in Washington County, where the prison is located. Privacy will allow Bremer “to become acclimated to today’s world at his own pace and with as much anonymity as possible,” an agency statement read.

Under the conditions of his release, Bremer must stay away from elected officials and candidates. He must undergo a mental health evaluation and receive treatment if the state deems it necessary, and he can’t leave Maryland without written permission from the parole commission. The conditions also require Bremer to submit to electronic monitoring.

Wallace and three others were wounded May 15, 1972, in the shooting outside a busy shopping center.

Bremer, then 21, grew up in Milwaukee during an era of remarkable violence against national public figures. President Kennedy’s murder in 1963 was followed by the assassinations in 1968 of the Rev. Martin Luther King and, two months later, Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.

Bremer likened himself in his diary to President Lincoln’s killer, John Wilkes Booth.

LaSorsa said armored vehicles were put into use for presidential motorcades after President Kennedy’s assassination. He said the Secret Service started offering protection to presidential candidates after Robert Kennedy was slain. Since the Bremer attack, agents have scouted campaign stops much more thoroughly before candidates arrive.

“Protection today is much more proactive than it ever has been,” LaSorsa said.

Nick J. Zarvos, who was shot in the neck as a member of Wallace’s Secret Service detail, said audiences at today’s political events are often screened by metal detectors – something unheard of in 1972.

“You just try to stay ahead of the game,” he said.

Today, many candidates eschew appearances in wide-open areas such as mall parking lots, and limit interaction with ordinary voters. Rudy Giuliani travels with a private security, and his crew has been known to whisk him away quickly from events.

Secret Service details travel with Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, but other candidates say that level of protection would cramp their style.

“I’ve never done it. After we won New Hampshire in 2000, they really tried to get us, but we said no,” John McCain said Friday in Concord, N.H. “It’s an invasion of your ability to have contact with voters.”

Security consultant Ned Timmons, a former FBI agent in Walled Lake, Mich., said the assassination attempts and, more recently, school shootings, have made citizens more willing to tell police about threat signals – and officers more eager to act on them. Treating dangerous behavior early may prevent assassination attempts, he said.

“I think that if a person has a tendency to rely on deadly force or think about deadly force, if that’s not treated, it could escalate,” Timmons said.

Modern electronics enable authorities to eavesdrop on suspects’ conversations more easily than in the 1960s, Timmons said.

Bremer case quick facts

·Arthur Bremer was not paroled. In fact, the Maryland Parole Commission denied him parole 10 years ago.

· The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) did not “let Bremer out early.” Bremer is getting out now because of state law that allows inmates to earn credits to shorten their time spent behind bars. This is state law, not DPSCS policy.

· These credits are awarded for work assignments, educational programming and special projects, in addition to good conduct. Bremer’s work and behavior in prison earned him many such credits.

· Those released from sentences affected by credits are mandatory releasees, because, by law, they must be freed from prison.

· Mandatory releasees like Bremer are required to be under the supervision of Parole and Probation agents until the end of their original sentences. In Bremer’s case, his entire 53-year sentence expires in 2025, meaning he will be required to report to his agent regularly until 2025. If he violates this, or any special condition of his release, he is subject to arrest and reincarceration.

Source: Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services

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Security Expert: Former Secret Service Agent, Presidential Protection

Virginia Tech Campus Shooting Incident: The Aftermath

A college campus, by nature is an open environment, where students and visitors can come and go freely, almost without restriction. There is no absolute blueprint for school, campus or facility security. Each site and environment usually has their own specific individual idiosyncrasies and issues.

Security experts attempt to develop and seek security solutions with minimal impact and inconvenience, with as minimal an impact to the social environment as possible. Their focus is to enhance security efforts, attempting to balance openness and free access with the need for monitoring and with reasonable limits on access.

Many comments have been made and many fingers have been pointed. Some questions sweeping across the nation and fueled by the media are:

• Should guns be banned and outlawed?

• Was this senseless massacre foreseeable and preventable?
• Did the Campus Security and Police react appropriately?
• What can we do to prevent this incident from occurring in the future?

• How can we protect ourselves from similar threats?Vital and instrumental government agencies in Virginia, the school medical department at Virginia Tech were prevented from sharing information by legal restrictions, while others who could have helped, just failed to do so, resulting in critical information deficits within agencies who could have intervened.

Law enforcement and security professionals have developed matrices for identifying potential violent behavior for several years. Unfortunately predicting violent behavior is not an absolute science. The media did a great job informing all of us of Cho Seung-Hui’s past unusual and bizarre behavior. Monday morning quarterbacking is easy. The question is this; did the critical decision makers have sufficient information relating to Cho-Seung-Hui’s behavior prior to the shooting incident? Obviously not! Given the facts which have emerged after the fact, most individuals, professional or not, would have no difficulty in concluding he was a potential threat and a time bomb waiting to explode.

The warning signs, red flags and clues were there. This occurrence is unfortunately, all too similar. As in 9-1-1, in almost every past school violence incident, as well as in this incident at Virginia Tech, there were social, governmental and institutional failures and restrictions which allowed this incident to play out. Once again, privacy issues and bureaucratic restrictions prevented agencies, entities and persons who had bits of relevant information, to assemble, compare, and examine for patterns and indications of potential violence and to implement an intervention and possibly preventing Cho Seung-Hui from murdering the 32 Virginia Tech students and professors before taking his own life. Unfortunately, there were and are no sufficient mechanisms in place and the problem is compounded by the fact many large organizations, institutions, schools, governmental entities, and corporations, lack the training and experience with which to handle this type of situation. These incidents will continue to occur and plague us until we do something about it. Creating “gun free zones” and adding armed Police and Security officials to the equation are not the answer. Preventing “honest” and “good” people from owning and possessing guns is not the answer. If we do that, the only the “criminals” will possess guns – and then where will we be?

In conclusion, “the signs were there, but no one saw them” – is an all too familiar occurrence. The truth is usually there were too many people looking. Unfortunately, they are usually people not trained to identify the aberrant behavior and escalate it. In addition, security policies announcing more stringent measures and posture without mechanisms to support and ensure the successful execution of that security posture are senseless and non-effective.

Despite the fact we live in a overly litigious society, the solution to the issue of school violence must eventually come down to, we, our school administrators and officials, must do all that we can to solicit our legislators to change laws that specifically restrict and prevent our schools and society to establish and implement measures which will allow our school administrators, relevant agencies and individuals, the ability to collect, coordinate and evaluate the available information concerning an individual student’s “behavior” in its totality. We must give our school faculty, administrators and relevant agencies the ability to pro-actively act in the best interest of the school society and our society as a whole and not prohibit their actions due to fears of legal reprisals and consequences. The system as it current exists is self-defeating.

By:

Joseph A. LaSorsa, CPP

(U.S. Secret Service – ret.)

Security Expert and Consultant

J.A. LaSorsa & Associates

www.lasorsa.com

1645 SE 3rd Ct., Suite 102

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Tel: 954-783-5020

Police: Delivery man robs billionaire, making off with several hundred dollars

The Associated Press

Published: February 7, 2007

SAN DIEGO: A phony delivery man forced his way into the house of a billionaire, and bound him, his wife and a housekeeper with duct tape before making off with only a few hundred dollars, police said Wednesday.

Investigators say the intruder specifically targeted Ernest Rady, a financier ranked No. 140 last year on Forbes magazine’s list of the 400 richest Americans.

Rady, 69, was not home when the suspect arrived at the La Jolla residence Tuesday afternoon, said San Diego police Capt. Mary Cornicelli.

The intruder buzzed the intercom and asked for “Mrs. Rady” to sign some documents, Cornicelli said. After Rady’s wife, Evelyn, and a housekeeper opened the door, the suspect pulled out a handgun and stun gun and forced his way in, police said.

The women were marched through the house at gunpoint as the robber demanded cash, then were taken to the master bedroom and bound with duct tape, Cornicelli said.

Less than two hours later, Rady arrived and was stunned and bound by the intruder.

The man left the house with less than $1,000 (€770) in cash about five hours after arriving, police said. The Radys freed themselves and called police; Ernest Rady was briefly hospitalized with minor injuries.

Police were searching for the man Wednesday. Rady declined to comment on the ordeal when reached by telephone.

Rady, a former part-owner of the San Diego Padres, made a $2.1 billion (€1.62 billion) fortune by establishing Westcorp, one of the country’s largest auto finance companies. It was sold to Wachovia Corp. in 2005 for $3.42 billion (€2.63 billion).

“People may think that because they’re not high profile they don’t need protection, but they’re totally wrong,” said Joseph LaSorsa, a security expert. “Anyone who does their homework can find out where high-net-worth people live.”

Despite not-so-nice finger gestures from some fellow motorists who noticed the campaign stickers on his car, retired U.S. Secret Service agent Joseph LaSorsa won’t let anyone make him feel less than proud of being a McCain-Palin supporter.

So, when someone stole a pair of campaign signs displayed on his front lawn in Lighthouse Point, he went after them.

“I wasn’t going to let them get away with it,” he said.

LaSorsa, 54, ran out of his house and jumped into his car, following a pickup truck down his street just after 1 a.m. on Oct. 25 and then blocking it at an intersection. He borrowed a cell phone and called 911.

Police showed up minutes later, charged five teenagers that were in the truck with theft and recovered a pile of loot from inside the vehicle: more than 100 other McCain-Palin signs allegedly snatched off front lawns.

That’s just some of the shenanigans tied to this fierce election season.

Across Broward County, authorities say they have received countless reports of campaign sign thefts, sign uprootings and sign vandalism. Republicans and Democrats have been targeted.

“It’s sort of an election-season tradition,” said Broward Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jim Leljedal, though he added that things have been mostly quiet. Elsewhere, police and residents share stories of how chats among friends have boiled over into shoving matches. Glances exchanged between drivers with opposing political stickers have sparked road rage.

Some local political figures think the animosity is rooted in the intense passion surrounding the presidential campaign.

“It’s getting out of hand,” said Broward Republican Party Chairman Chip LaMarca, who earlier this month reported to police that someone had broken a window on his Lighthouse Point home.

Police officials, though, say the incidents and sign thefts aren’t all that unusual.

Said Lighthouse Point police Cmdr. Michael Oh: “Every election, we have the same problem.”

Staff Writer Anthony Man contributed to this report.

With the downturn of the economy, the rising unemployment, the weakening dollar, the crash of the credit market, the mortgage crisis, the major Federal bailouts of greedy corporate America – we now are witness to the latest phenomenon – the increase in crime.

Look at the latest Broward County Crime statistics for 2008. Crimes against the persons are up 4.7 % as opposed to 2007. The interesting piece is violent crimes are down slightly.

There is no doubt as people who can’t afford to deed their children and pay their bills get more desparate – we will see a continued crime. Assualts, robberies, rapes, muggings, etc.

J.A. LaSorsa & Associates

1645 SE 3rd Ct., Suite 102

Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

(U.S. SECRET SERVICE – RET.)

954-783-5020 (24 hour contact)

www.lasorsa.com

e-mail: jal@lasorsa.com

Providing Global services: Security Expert Witness, Anti-Wiretap and Audio Countermeasures, Consulting, Investigative, Polygraph, Executive Protection Estate & Yacht Security Systems & Consulting, Workplace Violence Training & Intervention and Executive Protection Training.

Specializing in Europe, Central and South America.

Security Expert: Former Secret Service Agent, Presidential Protection, International, South Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Palm Beach) Negligent Security, Executive Protection, Security Expert Witness, Debugging, Anti Wiretapping, Private Investigator, Private Detective, Security Consultant.

We provide both domestic andinternational services, to include: Antigua, Anguilla, Aruba, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, St. John, St. Thomas, St. Croix, Grenada, Montserrat, Netherland Antilles, Nevis, St. Vincent, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Turks & Caicos and Trinidad &Tobago, Bermuda, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, New York, Los Angeles, U.S. and British Virgin Islands, Cayman, Trinidad, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize, Mexico, El Salvador,Venezuela and South America, Europe, Italy, Rome, Milan, Paris, Geneva, Zurich, Asia, China, the Far East, India, etc.

As Seen and Featured: CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Daily Business Journal; Millionaires, Robb Report, DuPont Registry Magazines

Security Expert: Former Secret Service Agent, Presidential Protection

Case Study

Surveillance System

Surveillance cameras come in all shapes and sizes; Joe selected an IP-based system and emphasized image quality over frame rate.

July 21, 2008 — With the spring of a new workday in his step, Joe passes through the front doors (after some prodding from the marketing department, he refrained from installing a mantrap at the main entrance) and greets the receptionist in the lobby.

His arrival is captured by IP-based surveillance cameras. Most surveillance cameras in use today remain analog—about 85 percent, estimates Fredrik Nilsson, General Manager, North America, of Axis Communications, which sells both analog and digital cameras. However, Joe’s office was already wired with Cat-5 cabling, so an IP system made sense and, of course, offers Joe’s company the possibility of using full-featured video analytics should Joe desire it at some point down the road. Analog cameras can also feed into IP networks but require the use of additional equipment: encoders and decoders.

JOE’S OFFICE

Joe needs to protect his proprietary research. You’re looking at just one of his defenses. Click HERE to see a diagram of the office or click on any of Joe’s other security measures.

• Fence
• Gatehouse
• Bollards
• Briefcase
• Surveillance
• Visitor management
• Prox cards
• Printer
• Windows
• Biometrics
• Filing cabinet
• Whiteboard
• Shredder
• Laptop

The building features a variety of cameras, some overt—to deter illicit acts as much as to record them—and others more discreet. On the discreet side, a camera the size of a Phillips-head screw can go for less than $80. Cameras dummied up to look like utility boxes start at about $315. Prices for more high-powered pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras can run upwards of $2,000. And as a practical consideration, unlike a low-voltage still camera, a PTZ camera needs more power than it can get through the Cat-5 cable.

Happily, Joe isn’t running a casino; he doesn’t want to record and replay fine details to try to detect sleight of hand. His main interest is to be able to get a look at the face of anyone who’s in the wrong part of the building at the wrong time. So his cameras capture images of decent resolution but not a high frame rate, which reduces his bandwidth and storage requirements. He also decided to skip the miniature and concealed cameras as he wants the deterrent effect of larger, more obvious models.

By Daintry Duffy