Helicopters and financial crimes:
10/16/2003
It was the class I was looking forward to. Turned out to be a good time, I got some ribbing in on the helicopter crews as they told us it was the quietest copter they could buy. Sure, sure I said, have you ever been startled by the windows rattling, bright lights in the back yard and barking dogs in the middle of the night?
Ok so there is a reason for the racket. They sometimes want to alert the neighborhood there is something going on. Ok so you all wake me up just to be sure I know there is a bad guy loose. Believe me, with all the dogs in this neighborhood, if they guys on the ground can’t figure out where the bad guy ran to, they must be deaf. There was also some interesting chase video, all with the heat tracking camera, the images just look distorted, all the cars look the same, you can’t tell the make or color, humans look like blobs with arms and legs. Just weird to watch, One chase looked like a drunk driver out of control. He was weaving in and out of traffic, in the wrong lane of the highway for miles. When he finally came to a stop, it turned out he was having a diabetic attack. No alcohol, just low blood sugar.
Financial crimes was also interesting, not quite as exciting but non the less I learned a few things. Most of the night was talking about Identity Theft. Check you medical plan ID card and if it has your Social Security Number on it, take it out of your wallet. This was the one item I got caught on. I know not to carry my Social Security Card, I know not to leave my purse/wallet in a car but that little ID card could cause major problems. I was guilty of carrying it until I got home. I will write the plan number on a piece of paper and leave it in my wallet in case I ever need it, but I will no longer carry the card, I will take it out only when I need to use it. It can take years to clear up your credit if you get caught up in this. You will end up with a part time job, dealing with all the hassles.
