Riding, with interludes for poor spelling and the police.

[gridlore]

Another short one, this time to get some Cokes. This was an experiment to see how well the new Coke 12-packs fit in my backpack (not well at all, I'm afraid) and to see how I did riding with weight. (Pretty good.)

Distance: .821 miles
Maximum Speed: 14.7 mph
Average Speed: 10.5 mph
Time: 4m, 41s

While at Rite Aid, I noticed a sign in the liquor section:

SMILE YOUR ON CAMERA

I think they need to see how much their sign maker has been drinking.

What was really odd is the number of police about. Heading out on Via Monte, there was a cop checking out a car. Coming back down Almaden from the store, there were two cruisers, one with lights on, parked about a block from our place. I had heard any sirens, wonder what's up?

Now that it's starting to warm up a little, I'm going to try for longer rides. Getting up to two miles a day consistently is a good near-term goal.

Comments

[murphymom.livejournal.com]

Somebody stole a car in Los Gatos last night that turned out to have belonged to an FBI agent - the car was founded abandoned and torched, but the two weapons (one standard FBI-issue sidearm and some sort of assault weapon) were missing. Methinks the police are on high alert.

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

And this is why real agencies have rules about having issue weapons in unsecure vehicles.

[murphymom.livejournal.com]

The car was stolen *after* the car thief removed the keys from a locker at the fitness center while the agent was working out.

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

That's even worse. Yes, I'm being nit-picky, but we're talking about Federal agents here, not yahoos like Redwood City or Irvine PD. These are people who are going up against sharp operators who'd love to lay hands on an undercover portable radio set or wire a block of C4 to the agent's ignition.

1) Lockers are meant to be locked. Admittedly the lockers at 24 Hour Fitness etc. ain't worth much, but it's a start.

2) Keys and clickers should be generic. Too many luxury cars have clickers and electronic keys that scream "I own a BMW series XXXX and I'm rich." Also, the car can be ID'd by someone walking down the row of cars hitting a clicker to see which one lights up.

3) There should be nothing left out to reveal that the vehicle is somehow official. But if you leave a portable radio plugged in, a dashboard takedown light in the front passenger seat well, and a big black attache case in the back seat, it's pretty friggin' obvious that here is a car worth clouting. I have seen many off-duty cops commit this particular sin, some of them special tactics team.

3) Given that the local alarm pager is probably in the locker (even though you can get a waterproof one), this leaves only two fallbacks. Fuel pump switch is one. Lojack is the other. The first strands the car just far enough down the street that the carjacker doesn't walk back and kill you. The other guarantees that the car is retrieved before someone has time to borrow a bolt cutter.

4) Any weapons stored in a vehicle should be bolted, padlocked, and/or chained to the frame. This means the MP-5 should be in a bracket installed across the upper trunk lid or along one side -- not in a convenient easy-to-steal Galls Duty Gear Bag made of black nylon.

Did I mention the utter lack of situational awareness? If they're working out, they can pick a machine with a line of sight on their vehicle. If they're in the shower, they can pick a locker nearby and keep the shower short. In any case, the bandit either clouted the agent's car at total random -- or successfully surveilled someone with fairly good training in countersurveillance techniques.

I foresee much ribbing in this FBI agent's future.

Also, I wish I were monitoring the FBI's local radio frequencies, because I'd get to hear the classic begging call you always hear when a portable gets stolen. "Hi, sir, we'd just like our radio back. We'll pay cash for it, no questions asked. Wait a second, we're the experts in how to trap kidnappers who want ransom ... but we promise we won't do anything like that to you. Promise. Really. Trust us?"

Oh, and a cheery wave "Hi!" to my friends over at Echelon. I don't know anything about the robbery, I'm just talking out of my you-know-what.

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

I stand corrected. Two handguns, no MP-5. This means that the agent was working out and left their duty handgun in the vehicle instead of the locker. Good agent, you get a double shot of latte. Also, the car was government issue, so we can't blame the agent for the features not typically installed. Your taxpayer dollars at work. Last but not least, the car was broken into rather than keys stolen -- and didn't get that far. Fuel pump switch and a panicked thief. Purr.

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