by Micheal Delamere | Feb 15, 2015 | Surveillance & Security
BOGOTA, Colombia — Their names he never knew, but their faces he could never forget. At the end of every month, men using aliases such as “Smelly Feet” and “Grandpa” casually slipped into the backseat of his unlicensed taxi, a rusting 1985 Chevette, to demand their payment.
For years, drivers of pirate cabs in the sprawling slum of Usme, on the southern outskirts of Bogota, had no choice but to pay up. Either that or risk watching extorters set ablaze their cars or hurt their loved ones.
“Whenever I left my house I looked behind my back,” said the driver, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear for his safety. Eventually, he mustered the courage to denounce the racket to police who, months later, launched an armed sweep.
“They were so sure of themselves,” he said, recalling with fright the terror he lived with. “They never thought they’d be caught.”
For many Colombians, the threat of such shakedowns remains.
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by Micheal Delamere | Feb 10, 2015 | Related Local Business
Some tech boardrooms go to expensive lengths to protect the top brass, authorizing company funds for cars, drivers, bodyguards, and home security systems to keep the CEO safe.
The cost is high, but proponents view safeguarding the CEO as a necessary business expense. The CEO is among a company’s most valuable assets, and protecting that asset can minimize corporate risk and align with shareholder interests.
Network World analyzed pay packages at 49 tech companies and found seven that itemized security-related perks received by the CEO. One of the most expensive programs is at Oracle, which paid $1.5 million to secure CEO Larry Ellison’s primary residence.
“We require these security measures for Oracle’s benefit because of Mr. Ellison’s importance to Oracle, and we believe these security costs and expenses are appropriate and necessary,” Oracle wrote in its proxy statement. Ellison paid for the procurement and installation of the security equipment, Protection, and he’s responsible for maintaining the system. Oracle pays for the annual costs of security personnel.
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by Micheal Delamere | Dec 22, 2014 | Crime
Illegal armed groups in Colombia make approximately $14 billion a year in drug trafficking and illegal mining activities, said the country’s top financial intelligence official Tuesday.
According to Luis Edmundo Suarez, director of the financial crimes unit FIAU money, Colombia’s drug trafficking groups launder some $10 billion annually, a figure corresponding to about 3% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
The FIAU estimates that illegal mining generates around $4 billion annually for organizations like rebel group FARC and neo-paramilitary group Urabeños .
“These resources enter the Colombian economy and are washed in the same economy or through international mechanisms used by criminals for money laundering purposes,” said Suarez.
The official explained that illegal money enters the economy by two channels: through financial schemes or traditional cash-driven companies.
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by Micheal Delamere | Dec 9, 2014 | Surveillance & Security
Conducting safety & security for special events can be time-consuming. From assessing external threats to internal threats, logistics, VIP and talent security, asset protection, emergency medical response, and doing all this while balancing a fun & festive environment for show attendees can be a challenge in the best of times.
However, it can also be very rewarding to see the end result once the program has completed with zero loss, zero injuries, and happy, smiling faces walking away during the load-out phase. Here is to another successful completion of a client’s special event security by PRS!
by Micheal Delamere | Dec 3, 2014 | Crime
Mexico’s declining murder rate counts as a major accomplishment for President Enrique Peña Nieto, but the nation’s annual victimization survey indicates that the country remains beset by violent crime.
Mexico’s demographic and statistical agency recently published the results of its latest victimization survey, known as Envipe. The survey paints a picture of a population that has suffered at the hands of criminals at a steadily increasing rate: 22.4 million Mexicans told the Envipe pollsters that they had been victims of a crime in the past year, up from 21.6 million in 2012. This is the third straight year of increases. The total number of crimes has also spiked in recent years: Envipe registered 33.1 million total, a roughly 50 percent increase from the 22.4 million registered in 2011.
The most common crimes were robbery, extortion, and car theft, all of which increased significantly. The four states showing the highest rate of victimization were Mexico City, Mexico State, Baja California, and Jalisco. The states showing the largest increases — and thus those largely responsible for driving the national increase –were Coahuila, Chiapas, Mexico State, Tlaxcala, and Oaxaca.
