BEWARE OF SWARTHY MEN CARRYING CAMERAS (FBI Getting "a lot" of Reports)

October 11, 2001 | be-baw

[MississippiMan]

I called the FBI National Hotline.

Bravo for you, be-baw. I also like the suggestion that others have put forth about arming yourself with a camera. A digital camera would be ideal and many can be easily tucked comfortably in a pocket.

MM

[AndrewC]

Something like this?

No. He is not an example of a swarthy man you shoot on sight(although deserving of such). He is an example of a swarthy man at whose nose one tosses seating objects.

[EugeneConservative]

I don't mean any disrespect, but when are we going to start taking these situations into our own hands? Due to the potential scale of the situation, we can't always expect our already short-handed police or some disinterested government employee to take care of the problem. It is our lives and these people are trying to kill us! I hope that if I was in a situation where some middle-easterners were asking suspicious questions or were trying to get maps of a sensitive nature that I would do something about it. Of course, be smart - act like you are not suspicious but maybe follow them. See what kind of car they are driving, get the license. Maybe follow them and see where they live. Do some of your own detective work… If you live near a reservoir or a critical aquifer which is part of the water system, keep an eye on it - drive by it regularly if you can.

Of course we need to inform law enforcement agencies, but what else can we do besides just that? Suggestions?

[RaceBannon]

I have NEVER seen an Arab looking person at Barkhampstead!!!

Fortunately, they would need a BIG bomb to take it out.

Did you hear of the dead dog in Nepaug Res? Some oil slick around it?

I have a fear, but I wont post it online, but it scares the string-beans out of me, so I hope the terrorists don't think of fit.

[Straight Vermonter]

IMHO, these are not specific attempts on targets but rather a far reaching probe of our local defenses. Having said that, I understand that Americans personel stationed in Moscow used to drive the KGB crazy just doing what came naturally to them. Namely driving around clicking their Kodak at anything they thought was interesting.

[Endeavor]

Call the local police dept.

then, call the local news outlets/tv. stations. Now.

It's ridiculous that the Detroit Bureau of the FBI acted in this way. Did you have a chance to ask him WHY he wouldn't give you his name?

WE are going to have to be the eyes and ears.

[soccermom]

Interesting story. Maybe I'm overly sensitive, but I was in a grocery store shortly after the attack and several middle eastern men were there in soccer uniforms, speaking in native tongue. The only thing odd was that one of them was taking pictures of the grocery store, but his friends weren't in the pictures. I thought it was odd, but didn't know if I was overreacting.

[newslady]

Is the FBI now in the same situation as the CIA and NSA... overloaded/oversaturated with data to the point where they are becoming paralyzed?

Perhaps the FBI is overloaded. But if they are, they need to beef up their staff as soon as possible, since, according to reports that I have heard, they are dependent for the most part on tips from citizens. If they have to ignore tips because they are overloaded, then we are in big trouble.

[be-baw]

Did you have a chance to ask him WHY he wouldn't give you his name?

He said something to the effect of "we don't do that." When I called the FBI National Hotline and asked for a name, the woman told me, "Operator 63."

[Octavius]

It's time all GS-14 and above positions are opened up to competition--too many lowsy leaders in our government.

[be-baw]

If they have to ignore tips because they are overloaded, then we are in big trouble.

I would hope that the FBI and other national security organizations are recruiting big time. I fear we may have been caught with our pants down. I'm inclined to believe that hiring on to the FBI requires a lengthy screening process.

[Vince Ferrer]

Does anyone here have any suggestions on -very- small digital cameras, like "Minox-size" or smaller?

I recently bought a Nikon Coolpix 775, and am very happy with it so far. It is small and light enough to carry in my pocket, takes good pictures, and it was a pretty good price. I have better quality film cameras, but they are large, so I got this one for times when I want to carry around a camera without the effort of my large cameras.

[KingKongCobra]

After lurking for about a decade I decided to join tonight so I could tell my story on this thread. Saturday night I kept seeing a spammer posting hundreds of messages on many newsgroups. The messages were disjointed phrases making no real sentences. They contained many references to 'FBI' 'CIA' 'DEA' 'president' 'kill' 'black bags' 'nuclear' 'virulent' 'trains' 'crytography' ,etc. etc. After reading them for several hours I made the call to the FBI hotline. I had first tracked down the posters' ISP, IP, name and location.

I got the same kind of detached, mellow response from the FBI operator. BUT!! Within an hour the posts stopped. This was nearly MIDNIGHT on Saturday. Sunday morning all the posts had been pulled from the ISP. The poster has not been heard from in the last four days. Take heart, the FBI is following up and very quickly!

[aruanan]

Gee, government employees not talking their job very seriously...gee what a suprise. I have had similar problems..once I tried to call the FBI for a unrelated problem..tried at least 3 different numbers and let each ring probably 30 times and no answer...guess I should have tried to get ahold of anyone 3PM on a Friday.

I know. I tried to contact them about an instance of fraud using the internet. It was, "Leave your number and we'll get back with you."

[A CA Guy]

Better safe than sorry. This topic has me thinking I should get a digital camera to carry around with me in case I see strange people and activities. Wouldn't be the worst thing to do at all at this time.

[Fixit]

Forget the camera, arm yourself with a pistol.

Michigan just went to a shall-issue system for CCW's.

Get yourself a carry permit, get trained and start carrying. All the time. Unless your workplace makes you go through a metal detector there are numerous small pistols that you can carry 24/7 without anyone knowing.

[ASTM366]

You should have escorted them back to the water intake pipes and pushed em' into the strong currents to give them a real close look at the inner workings of the plant cooling system.

[Criminal Number 18F]

Cameras? There's nothing in the USA that's minox size. try the small Nikon. 2.11 megapixel, palm sized, fits in a pocket.

There is a photo attachment that fits a Palm. However I use what I think is the smallest Palm there is (Handspring Visor Edge) and it's still not as compact as a Minox.

The problem with Minox is getting the film developed. I say, get the little Nikon and throw it in a desk drawer or jacket pocket.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[Bad~Rodeo]

SWARTHY MEN~...LOL~

[dglang]

looks more like slimy to me