Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: FEBRUARY 2017 25 Note to thief from the Marietta, Georgia Police Department (posted on Facebook) A request to the gentleman who shoplifted from one of our lo- cal pawn shops today: Sir, you must have forgot that you gave the clerk your driver’s license with ALL of your personal information as well as providing him with your fingerprint when completing the pawn ticket be- fore you stole from him which, by the way was also all on camera. Please at least try to hide. The judge has already signed the warrant. When you make it this easy it takes all the fun out of chasing bad guys! – Regards, Marietta Police Evening Watch Department trolls absent- minded thief on social media D D irectly to the right, you can read an article about a law enforcement agency using social media very effectively. On the other hand, cops and social media frequently produce results that are . . . well . . . not good. There was some em- barrassment recently after members of the NYPD posted pictures of a hand- cuffed family on social media with the caption, “Merry Christmas, it’s the NYPD.” This is of course further evidence that police hu- mor does not travel well in cyberspace outside of law enforcement circles. The photos posted to Snapchat feature Kimberly Santiago, 28, and her fam- ily handcuffed as officers executed a search warrant. The NYPD confirmed that a warrant was executed at the address, but would not say what or who they were looking for, citing an ongoing investigation. “Oh my God. When I saw that, I just said, man, this whole time this guy was recording this, like we were a joke?” Santiago told The New York Daily News. Therewereseveralphotos posted by officers on Snap- chat as officers searched the residence slowly. Another snapshot of the handcuffed family read, “Warrant sweeps Its still a party smh,” using an acronym for “shaking my head.” The NYPD would not identify the officer who posted the photos and the commentary but the De- partment did say the officer worked out of the 73rd Precinct, has since been suspended and that Internal Affairs Bureau is investigat- ing. Posting pics to web in real time creates problems Situational awareness does not include the use of Snapchat while serving warrants In the old days we used to tell kids if you want to be rich and successful the best way to go about it is to work hard in school and become a lawyer or a doctor. But these days it seems crazy not to include “federal drug informant” on the list of occupations where people can expect to see huge pay- checks. According to FOX News, a recent audit of the DEA’s controversial Confidential Source Program found “sig- nificant concerns.” The one that really has people talking is the fact that the DEA paid out $237 mil- lion to informants between Oct. 1, 2010, and Sept. 30, 2015. At least some congres- sional leaders think that’s a bit much – especially when we’re constantly being told the government is broke. “There are people getting more money from the fed- eral government to inform on their coworkers than they are in their regular job, which is kind of outlandish,” U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Glenbeulah, told the Wis- consin Watchdog. U.S. Department of Justice Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz and DEA Chief of Inspections Rob Patterson recently testified in Con- gress. They outlined some of the mismanagement issues with the DEA’s network of 18,000 confidential sources. Some 9,000 of those infor- mants were paid a combined $237 million for information or services they provided to DEA. Informants are cashing in www.digitalallyinc.com | 800.440.4947 HD Video Evidence Now Available In Your Car! DVM-800HD