Cable TV Workers Trained To Spy On Citizens

reply to post by Rams59lb

It is a fact that Realtors are being trained in class rooms every other week, tested with questioniers

I am a licensed REALTOR in two states, I have been to 3 different schools, plus C.E. and I have never heard of this before. You are taught to be aware of "illegal" activity, not suspicious activity. Illegal would affect your job, and your ability to serve your clients, and your own safety, so that makes perfect sense.

What you have in Real Estate is a bunch of older, bored housewives or busy bodies not making a living from this 'hobby', and they like to have a little snoop while they are in your homes!!

This is not a requirement of REALTORS, this is a symptom of the type of people that get into Real Estate. Hire a good, full-time, professional Realtor and you will get good results, and good candor!

Council properties in Glasgow, Scotland are currently undergoing upgrading (I think it could be all council properties in the UK but i'm not sure). We had the internal works completed last year which included electrical rewiring. The electrician who done our flat was a right character (wouldn't have been surprised if he was a member of ATS given his views)

I had sweet pepper, chili and aubergine plants on my window ledges waiting to be transfered to my greenhouse and he was really interested in 'grow your own' and got to telling us about some less legal 'grow your own' plants he had come across while working in our area and said that he was supposed to report stuff like that, that all the contractors were instructed to report back any ilegal activities they came across.

I didn't have any reason to doubt what he told me, he seemed very genuine, I just wish now i'd asked him what other "stuff" he would have been expected to report back to the council.

reply to post by getreadyalready


Hmm, it gets frustrating when somebody says i.e. realitors and people ASSUME all but here is the link to support my claim. www.infowars.com...

Again, if I came to a home that had drugs in it, I would not feel the need to call the police, even if these are parents with children in the house. Now if I SAW the parent giving the child drugs and was using the drugs in front of me that is a different story. The problem here is right to privacy. If I had a plant that looked like pot/weed, ask me first before running down the street to call authorities to break down my door and possably shotting me because I was growing a legal plant. Their are to many Snoops and busy body's that could really get somebody killed fast with these kinds of things. That's all.

reply to post by cazzy2211


"Cazzy" great post and addition to the discusion. That is a great example of the kinds of things that can go wrong with this Snooping. Thank you for your point of view.

Reply to Rams59lb post


First of all, allow me to thank you for your years of service, and that is not sarcasm.

My resume is a prescription of poison to most ATS'ers. Police, EMT, Communications Supervisor,Tactical Medic, and SWAT Operator. Those positions alone, not to mention my avatar, lead most people to jump to conclusions about me, who I am, what I represent, and how I conduct myself.

Quite often the site of my avatar alone is enough to derail what point it is I am trying to make.

Ive come to terms with that and understand it. I lead the charge to point out that there are good people and good cops out there even though it is vastly overshadowed by criminals with badges who call themselves protectors of the public. I support the Cambridge Sgt over the recent racial incident, and condemn the officers who tazed and threatened sodomy to kids in a group home. (Both posted here on ATS)

The reason I mention you're not knowing how things work was this.....you jumped from a cable guy phoning in a report to the SWAT team showing up. It doesnt happen this way and while you want to stand by your post and got a little heated (nothing wrong with that) I would tend to believe that you too know that things dont escalate in that manner. Hostage situation is something different but if someone calls in "drugs" then an armed response is the worst idea. Reconnaissance, gather info, find witnesses, corroborate the original claim, so many steps involved before a SWAT response is initiated.

You point out that no matter the training civilians receive that there are still mistakes made. Well, if proper procedure and follow up are done mistakes should be minimal or zero. During times like now with budgets being tightened and municipalities and cities watching every penny the last thing police need to be doing is wasting resources on frivolous complaints.

Do I think that training cable guys to report stupid, insignificant accusations to the police is a good thing...no. Do I think that reporting OBVIOUS criminal behavior especially when it could lead to someone being hurt....absolutely.

When you allow someone in your home you open yourself up to an invasion of privacy of sorts if you leave things out in the open. Anyone in your home could just as easily snap photos of your belongings, post what magazines you are reading on the internet, or godforbid...be casing your house for a future robbery.

I understand that something like this frustrates you when you think about how it can be taken to the extreme and you are right. If this becomes "I-Spy" on everyone then the program has certainly gone awry and is not being used for its intended use.

As far as people being "afraid of me" well, your are entitled to your opinion. I am hardly offended by your original report because I look at it as a means to helping rather than hurting.....although after further review I will admit as I said above....that if used improperly it could be a bad idea. I defend the idea that cops cant do it all and people do need to get more involved in certain situtations.

Your father sounds like he was the kind of cop we need more of and the respect and honor he deservedly earned was because there are still others out there like him and who are hopefully honoring his memory.

[edit on 23-7-2009 by SwatMedic]

[edit on 23-7-2009 by SwatMedic]

reply to post by SwatMedic


Swat, I believe you, and I appreciate what you guys do! My house was raided by some kind of tactical team last year. Turns out my parents had a warrant for "Theft of a Historical Document" related to a lawsuit they were in. An overzealous DA, inflated the dollar amount and an interstate warrant was issued, so the guys here took it very seriously!

Long story short (the whole story is up in one of my posts), my Pitbull started growling at the back door, my mother let him out the back door, a lot of scuffling and shouting occured, my father grabbed my shotgun, a knock at the front door, and a very polite sheriff DE-Escalated the situation quickly!

Nobody shot my dog, nobody tazed my mother, they did take them to jail, but they took very good care of them and released them the next morning when all the attorneys finally started returning calls!!

Turns out from the neighbors that the police had parked blocks away, a helicopter was overhead, and the house was surrounded. When the dog went out, the officers retreated over and outside the fence instead of just shooting!

Very enlightening experience to say the least! And, it could have been tragedy, but the terrific training and restraint of the officer's kept it from going that way!

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by SwatMedic

 

Swat, I believe you, and I appreciate what you guys do! My house was raided by some kind of tactical team last year. Turns out my parents had a warrant for "Theft of a Historical Document" related to a lawsuit they were in. An overzealous DA, inflated the dollar amount and an interstate warrant was issued, so the guys here took it very seriously!

Long story short (the whole story is up in one of my posts), my Pitbull started growling at the back door, my mother let him out the back door, a lot of scuffling and shouting occured, my father grabbed my shotgun, a knock at the front door, and a very polite sheriff DE-Escalated the situation quickly!

Nobody shot my dog, nobody tazed my mother, they did take them to jail, but they took very good care of them and released them the next morning when all the attorneys finally started returning calls!!

Turns out from the neighbors that the police had parked blocks away, a helicopter was overhead, and the house was surrounded. When the dog went out, the officers retreated over and outside the fence instead of just shooting!

Very enlightening experience to say the least! And, it could have been tragedy, but the terrific training and restraint of the officer's kept it from going that way!

What an experience.

I too would put this in the category of overzealous but its good to hear that proper procedure and tactics resulted in no one (or animal) getting hurt.

I dont want to derail the OP but glad everyone came out ok.

And thank you.

reply to post by SwatMedic


Yes, I don't want to derail either, but I thought I would add that I was away on business, my pregnant wife was at home, and left alone and thoroughly distraught afterwards!

My parent's really, really want to sue the other county (the other DA has already been dismissed), but they can't do so without affecting this county, and they were so impressed by the actions here, that it is stopping them from filing anything!

We are one of those redneck families that ATSers either love or hate. I had 3 AK-47's in a safe in the house, and my shotgun next to the bed is "riot" equipped. Double pistol grip, xenon light, etc. There were many handguns put away around the house, and a ton of ammo! None of it was seized, and no extraordinary searches were done on the premises.

If shooting would have started, especially if I had been home, it would have been a large-scale tragedy!

There was a lot of training, experience, and most of all RESTRAINT shown on everyone's parts!


[edit on 23-7-2009 by getreadyalready]

reply to post by SwatMedic


I think it is clear then that we agree mostly then we disagree. We may not agree with the thread of the cops "accused" of tasering and threatening sodomy on children as I am waiting for all the facts in the case to come out. I believe a kick in the A** could have been the statement and the shelter is making more of it then may be but I also believe that it is "Likely" possible and that is the info that I pay attention to. I appreciate our discusion "Honestly" and I respect your service as well.

I believe and know for a fact that their are great officers out there supporting the public and doing their jobs the best way they can and I'll even give you the swat team comment as I understand how people would take that as being parinod but I have followed to many court cases where the DEA/SWAT Team/Multipule armored units have been called to a case over a false citizen report and then the lies start to come out in the real investigations that law enforcement handle things wrong and people are now killed. It just sucks is all!

[edit on 06/03/2009 by Rams59lb]

Originally posted by Rams59lb
reply to post by SwatMedic

 

I think it is clear then that we agree mostly then we disagree. We may not agree with the thread of the cops "accused" of tasering and threatening sodomy on children as I am waiting for all the facts in the case to come out. I believe a kick in the A** could have been the statement and the shelter is making more of it then may be but I also believe that it is "Likely" possible and that is the info that I pay attention to. I appreciate our discusion "Honestly" and I respect our service as well.

I believe and know for a fact that their are great officers out there supporting the public and doing their jobs the best way they can and I'll even give you the swat team comment as I understand how people would take that as being parinod but I have followed to many court cases where the DEA/SWAT Team/Multipule armored units have been called to a case over a false citizen report and then the lies start to come out in the real investigations that law enforcement handle things wrong and people are now killed. It just sucks is all!

Again, we agree on more than you think. Most of my posts regarding the group home incident were prefaced with things like "we need to hear the other side of the story, and if they did indeed do as accused." So I just didnt jump on the bandwagon of hate. I just wanted to relate that I can praise as well as condemn if the situation calls for it. I dont blindly defend cops at every turn for sure.

When I read some of the posts here I try to look at them in a positive light. Lots of doom and gloom here on ATS, so when I saw yours I immediately thought of how this could actually help but like most things, its a double edged sword and there are ways that it can hurt which you pointed out and I gladly accept.

I too accept that there are overzeolous cops and SWAT teams out there yet for every 1 gone bad there are thousands that go right. That doesnt excuse the bad ones and that number should be 0 but we as humans are emotional imperfect beings.

Overall, a good exchange of ideas and I am able to clearly see your point of view and understand it even though we see it from different angles.

[edit on 23-7-2009 by SwatMedic]

reply to post by Rams59lb


I work for the largest cable company in the US and I'm involved with training. We have had police officers come in and meet with our technicians about reporting behavior but its not because you have a Ron Paul bumper sticker. They are told how to identify a possible meth lab for their safety and the neighborhoods.

In the cable industry you come across bongs and pot a large amount of the time and nobody really cares ( not even the police). The situations that they are reporting would be the same ones anyone would report if they saw it in their neighborhood. If a guy is beating his wife they would report it, if somebody was stealing a car they would also.

Don't believe everything you read, cable is just another business made up of regular people. This would be no different then how any other person would react at any type of business.

Originally posted by whoshotJR
reply to post by Rams59lb

 

The situations that they are reporting would be the same ones anyone would report if they saw it in their neighborhood. If a guy is beating his wife they would report it, if somebody was stealing a car they would also.

Then why the police training employees of businesses to report crimes, how to spot crimes, etc.? You just pointed out that we all already would do that anyway.

No, there IS something more to this.

reply to post by whoshotJR


No offense taken by your post let me start by saying... And again, that is not what the thread is about! I posted how realitors are getting the same training that you mentioned in your post and if you read the attached thread which is posted on this thread then you will understand my concern.

This is not about witnessing a crime like a methlab, or seing a car being broken into. The CSR's are being trained to also listen in the background of the call for things like i.e. babies crying, arguements between couples or adult to child, irate behavior by the customer that might mean they are a danger to themselves or society.

Just install my cable, fix my problem or concern and bill me for my service but stay out of peoples business unless you actually see harm to another as a normal practice throughtout life. But one's view point of harm is another false report because they think a tomato plant is a pot of weed growing on the shelf.

reply to post by Hazelnut

Then why the police training employees of businesses to report crimes, how to spot crimes, etc.? You just pointed out that we all already would do that anyway.

No, there IS something more to this.

There is nothing more than training. Nothing sinister. Police do training in banks, convenient stores, and liquor stores. They run "citizen police academies." They run women's education courses. They are doing the community a service by giving us a peak across the badge, and engaging the public, and hopefully making some friends!!

Not all citizens know why someone would have camping fuel, ammonia, and cold medicine! Not all citizens know that it is ok to report those things. Some may think that whatever they encounter through their jobs is confidential!

reply to post by Hazelnut


Exactly "Hazelnut", people should report crimes as a civic duty but this story/thread/article is shedding light on the real concerns of giving powers to business that should be left to law enforcement. If a cop is following me for miles speeding then please give me a ticket but if he is sitting behind a billboard and happens to clock me above the limit as I am passing somebody or something like that then I'm sorry ticket nule and void!

I do understand that isn't reality but I don't accept it as being right!

OK..this is odd, but good in a way. Why a cable tv place is sponsoring this is odd. When i was a kid in the 1980s, in my neighborhood, we had signs posted up, kinda like a spy looking at you as a picture. Neighborhood watch. It was a joint team effort with the neighborhood, to watch out for eachother. I think it was a damn good idea. NO one does it today...the sings have long since been taken down since about 1991.
Now regarding the cable company. A freind of mine used ot live enar me 10 years ago. His older brother, ex military(saw actin in panama in 1988) toldus one time..around 1989/1990 a car was drving around thier neighborhood and it had a HUGE radio antenna on it. EVERYTIME it dorve by, it would cause the tv to show white noise. Their nieghbors reported smae thing. They all started to notice this everytime this guy drove around thier. SO one night, him, his mom, and 5 other neighbors came outside as he was jsut sitting thier. they grabebd him outta the car,a nd discovered he worked for CABLEVISION, as he had the work cloths on. HE admitted, cablevision was paying hm to cheat the customers with that atenna. He never came back after that. Cablevision was caught red handed at least to them. SO! thats why i find it odd...for a cableplace to sponsor a neighborhood crime watch. maybe thier promoting spying on eachother for no reason? the media is bad and everyone knows that.

reply to post by ziggy1706

HE admitted, cablevision was paying hm to cheat the customers with that atenna.

So he was scrambling the "free air" TV, so more customer's would get frustrated and subscribe to cable??

That is pretty crazy, but plausible I guess!

I think Neighborhood Watches are a great thing! I think there are still a lot of active ones. My neighborhood has an unofficial one! Last weekend a teenager was hotrodding around on a new motorcycle. Going way way too fast where kids were playing. As my father and I cut him off and started to lecture him, a guy from around the block walked up and said he had followed him back to his house and showed us where he lived. Now the poor kid had 3 grown men threatening him and telling him we know where he lives!! If it happened again, he would find his motorcycle in all its glorious parts on the front porch! He hasn't sped through anymore, he goes nice and slow and nods to us as he passes!

Having worked in catv for 20plus yrs I'll call this bunk. Not to say it doesnt happen but not anywhere I've worked. I'll also direct you to the largest catv forum I know of where you can look under the personals forum and see how much support was given too the last law enforcement seeking info.bar.cabl.com...
If your really curious join up and ask them or I could post a thread over there and may do so with a link to this one.

Originally posted by getreadyalready

So he was scrambling the "free air" TV, so more customer's would get frustrated and subscribe to cable??

That is balogna as well. When cable used to be overhead in the area where I worked all the maintenance tecks were supplied with what they called "sniffers." They were used to detect signal leakage and would let them know where houses were hooked up illegally. That equipment did not cause people to get a snowy signal, but disconecting them if they were illegally hooked up did!