This story sounds like a bad Lifetime movie – a suspense/drama thriller that goes beyond the norm of what “normal” people will do. I can’t imagine how this poor woman has lived out such a real nightmare for so many years.

A Seattle-area man was given a 26 1/2-year prison term for waging a 17-year campaign of harassment against a former classmate he met in middle school. Prosecutors are calling this the longest sentence for stalking in memory.

Shawn Moul, 31, passively accepted the sentence last week which came about six months after being convicted on two felony counts of stalking and 19 counts of violating anti-harassment orders.

Moul began stalking classmate Tracy Lundeen in 1994, shortly after Lundeen saw him at the school library struggling with his homework and offered to help him. Lundeen said Moul began following her and wrote her more than 100 letters, alternately threatening her and vowing to kill himself. He also contacted Lundeen’s family members, demanding that she contact him.

Moul has already served prison time for repeatedly violating a no-contact order, having been sentenced to eight years in prison in 2001. Apparently, eight years wasn’t enough to teach him a lesson because after his release, he again initiated contact through Lundeen’s sister.

In court, Lundeen spoke of the long nightmare Moul has made her and her family endure. “We never asked for this,” Lundeen said. “We have, from the beginning, asked for one thing, and that’s to be left alone.”

She also addressed her stalker directly in court, saying: “Mr. Moul , please listen to me. I don’t love you. I don’t like you. I don’t intend to ever be with you. Please quit trying to contact me or my other family members.”

Lundeen added she believes that until Mr. Moul is dead, “nothing changes,” the Seattle Times reported.

Moul also spoke at his sentencing and did not oppose the lengthy prison term. “I don’t mind being in custody for the rest of my life,” he said.

Maybe now Tracy and her family can find some peace. Mr. Moul could use some psychiatric help.

The prosecutor’s office has taken steps to ensure Moul is unable to send Lundeen letters from prison.                                               

I know of a woman who was stalked for one year. It was difficult to collect evidence. For example, she would see his car parked in the front of her house, but when she ran out to take a picture or video, he would drive away.

If you need help building a case, you can contact MSI Detective Services. You should also try to take as many protective measures as possible such as carrying pepper spray and a personal alarm. Some states will allow you to purchase a stun gun. Our U-Spy website, under “Personal Defense/Stun Guns,” has a list of states where we cannot ship stun guns and a link for laws in your area.

Always let someone know where you are going. Stalking is being taken much more seriously than it has in the past. Do not be embarrassed to ask people for help. 
Read story@ msnbc

Other Source: mynorthwest.com

New street lights called “Intellistreets” are coming to Chicago. These are not your average street lights. These lights also double as surveillance monitors. They can play music, direct traffic, monitor conversations, take pictures, and send emergency signals. The lights include “Homeland Security” applications and are being installed in a few cities, including Chicago, Pittsburgh and Detroit, with the aid of government funding. The first concept installation of the system was launched in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

Some say these lights should be called, “Spying Street Lights.”

The system detects movement and can identify whether the movement is a car, person or animal. If too much movement is detected, the police are notified.

As you can imagine, some view this as an invasion of privacy, “creepy” and the feeling that Big Brother is watching. Others see the system as a way to keep their neighborhoods safer. One example is that some believe such a system could have prevented a deadly shooting that took place in the Uptown area of Charlotte, NC, last May. The shooting is believed to have been gang related.

The Deputy of Charlotte, North Carolina Homeland Security chief was quoted as saying, “If the City installed street lights with surveillance abilities…you would never know.”

The founder of the system, Ron Harwood, said he came up with the idea after 911 and Hurricane Katrina. He is the president of the company that manufactures these lights – Illuminating Concepts. In an interview with Fox News, Harwood said that if speakers are installed in the poles, authorities could speak to people to tell them what to do if there is an emergency. He also said that access to pictures/images would not be available to just anyone. He said that a police officer, city official or city employee would have to “ask” to retrieve an image from a pole and that image would be in the form of a “picture.” It was after Harwood’s development that he began discussions with Homeland Security.

It seems to me that law enforcement or investigators would need more than a picture if they were trying to analyze a crime – who did what and when, etc. It would seem you would need active surveillance to determine what took place during a crime. When people don’t feel they are being told everything, they aren’t going to trust the system. If the system is capable of surveillance and monitoring conversations, why would one believe that only a picture would be released to authorities?

Using street lights as surveillance tools has already been advanced by several European countries. In 2007, leaked documents out of the UK Home Office revealed that British authorities were working on proposals to fit lamp posts with CCTV cameras that would X-ray scan passers-by and “undress them” in order to “trap terror suspects.”

Dutch police also announced last year that they are developing a mobile scanner that will “see through people’s clothing and look for concealed weapons.”

So-called ‘talking surveillance cameras’ that use a speaker system similar to the Intellistreets model are already being used in UK cities like Middlesborough to bark orders and reprimand people for dropping litter and other minor offenses.

According to reports, one of the most common phrases used to shame people into obeying instructions is to broadcast the message, “We are watching you.”

At $3,000 a piece, Intellistreets luminaries have the potential of lowering energy costs by adjusting brightness to match the appropriate atmosphere and location. Additionally, the company says it has an endless number of entertainment options and can serve as a public address system of sorts and offer advertisements up to passersby. That’s right — it records video, counts heads and spews propaganda! When you put it that way, it’s no wonder that Harwood is in cahoots with Homeland Security.

The transformation of street lights into surveillance tools for Homeland Security purposes will only serve to heighten concerns that the United States is fast on the way to becoming a high-tech police state, with TSA agents being empowered to oversee that control grid, most recently with the announcement that TSA screeners would be manning highway checkpoints, a further indication that security measures we currently see in airports are rapidly spilling out onto the streets.

According to the Illuminating Concepts Website, the Intellistreets system comprises of a wireless digital infrastructure that allows street lights to be controlled remotely by means of a ubiquitous wi-fi link and a miniature computer housed inside each street light, allowing for “security, energy management, data harvesting, and digital media.”

After the first installments took place in Michigan, a backlash began to hit Intellistreets and the company removed a YouTube video that offered an eerie insight into the surveillance capabilities. The video was also quick to once again note the Homeland Security features which have the potential to link up to government agencies. Infowars responded by asking, “If Intellistreets is such a cutting-edge concept that presents an array of wonderful benefits, as the promo video claims, then why remove it from You Tube?”  “Now that the company has tried to hide the video, it will only generate more suspicion about the true purpose behind Intellistreets and the level of involvement on behalf of Homeland Security,” read a blog post on the site.

Sources: Fox News, nowtheendbegins.com, forbiddenknowledgetv.com, rt.com, infowars.com

Here is one company’s promise on its website to anyone who wants to eavesdrop on someone else’s cellphone: “You could now listen in 100% completely undetected.”

The average person now has easy access to spy technology allowing them to gather cellphone information, read private emails, and track someone’s location using GPS. Experts say that the technologies are being used by spouses and partners to track, harass and stalk. “Technology has just exploded. It’s so sophisticated now and it’s very easy to utilize these different technologies to keep tabs on a person and find out where they’re going,” said Gina Pfund, chief assistant prosecutor of the Domestic Violence Unit in Passaic County.

This is very scary stuff when this type of technology gets into the wrong hands or is abused. I know of one woman who was being stalked by her ex-boyfriend and eventually learned he was tracking her whereabouts via her cellphone.

Experts say the person watching or listening is often a family member and frequently a suspicious or controlling partner. They have scanned Facebook pages, viewed online web-browsing histories, and exam­ined cellphone records for proof. However, some take it a step further, planting spyware on smart phones and computers.

Spyware is being aggressively marketed online as a means to find out if a spouse is cheating. It can be in­stalled on computers to monitor keystrokes, emails and passwords and to take screen snapshots. Spy software can also be installed on a smart phone to allow a third party to monitor calls, view text messages and photos, and track a person’s location and movement via GPS. A built-in microphone can also be remotely activated and used as a listening device, even when a phone is turned off. Technology experts say the phone user has no idea they are being spied on.

Richard Drobnick, director of the Teaneck ­based Mars & Venus Counseling Center, said some forms of snooping can be justified because “people need to know the truth.” For people who fear a partner is cheating, technology may be used as a way to put that suspicion to rest or to gain proof. “Try to talk about it, but if you still have very strong doubts and you find one of these other methods, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that,” Drobnick said.

For those who are victims of abuse or stalking, here are some tips:

Recommendations to protect a smart phone from spyware:

• Use passwords for access to the phone and its SIM card
• Restrict access to the phone by others
• Never download suspicious software
• Know how to remotely erase all stored information should the phone be lost or stolen
• Shop around for a phone that can support a full range of security options

For victims of stalking and domestic violence:

• Use a “safe” computer, such as one at a library or a friend’s house. Also, change phone passwords often and use new or disposable cellphones not within a family plan.
• For more safety tips on Inter­net and phone security, visit the Network for Surviving Stalking at nssadvice.org or the National Network to End Domestic Vio­lence at nnedv.org

MSI Detective Services provides Degugging Services. We can detect and remove spyware from computers and phones. In addition, we conduct professional investigations involving cheating and infidelity.

Read full story@ northjersey

According to a report made by a local news station in Denver, CO, a teacher was fatally shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend outside her Denver apartment on December 16. A GPS tracking device that would have been able to warn the victim that the suspect was nearby was not requested by the Denver District Attorney’s Office.

If the suspect, Ryan Miller, had still been wearing the GPS tracker, it would have alerted Andrea Roan that he was just outside her apartment; however, it was removed after a previous domestic violence case involving Miller and Roan was taken over by the Denver District Attorney. Upon taking on the case, the District Attorney decided they did not need to track the suspected killer.

Without being privy to the details of this case, I would still have to surmise that this man was considered a dangerous character for the court to have required him to wear a GPS tracker. I wonder what changed, if anything, that led to the decision of the District Attorney to have the GPS tracker removed. This is a tragic death that could have been avoided.

“We don’t ask for it [GPS tracking devices] in every case, just those cases where we think it would be appropriate and necessary,” says Vince DeCroce. Although he was unable to talk about any specific cases, he did explain that authorities often request GPS tracking devices when they believe the victim’s life could be in danger.

Apparently, Andrea Roan’s life was in danger because she lost her life as a result of this decision.

“First and foremost is victim safety,” DeCroce says. “The tracking device sends an alert to the monitoring company if the suspect gets near the victim’s home or workplace. The company then immediately warns the victim.”

It doesn’t sound like “victim safety” was a priority here.

According to law enforcement authorities, Miller waited outside Roan’s apartment last Friday morning and then shot her in the head as she drove away.

GPS Device Could Have Prevented Tragic Murder

Miller’s case files had been handed over to the Denver District Attorney’s Office, and they did not ask for a GPS tracker.

“It appears in this particular case, we did not ask for a GPS to be a condition of Mr. Miller’s bond,” says Denver DA spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough. “In looking at the file folder, some of the things that the prosecutor would have looked for that would have triggered a request for GPS (tracking), he simply didn’t see them in the case file at that time.”

The DA apparently was unaware the City Attorney’s Office had requested one for Miller. “This is a tragedy that has been felt by everyone in our office,” Kimbrough says.

Court documents also reveal that Denver Police arrested 27-year-old Richard Leavitt as an alleged accessory after-the-fact.

According to the arrest warrant, Miller asked Leavitt to drive him to Roan’s apartment that Friday morning. Leavitt told law enforcement officials that he heard a gunshot while waiting in the car and then saw Miller running back to the car.

He told police they went back to Miller’s apartment and Miller asked him to carry out a backpack. When police stopped Leavitt as he was leaving the apartment, they say they found a gun and ammunition in the backpack.

Read entire story@ landairsea