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COPYRIGHT 2017

The Most Costly Death a City and Police Department Will Ever Face!

In-Custody Deaths - Excited Delirium, It Not Only Kills, 

It Can Be Financial Ruin For a Department and a City.

By Nicholas Ashton, CEO/CIO, CommSmart Global Group

Being caught off guard as a police officer is not the situation we want to walk into.  It is hoped, that the 9/11 dispatcher has gleaned enough information from the caller to prepare us for the type of service call it is that we are attending.  

We then can source analytic based information, through Digital Policing methods where the officer can pull more direct information from the database to more prepare. 

Sometimes though, we have to fly by the seat of our pants and be ready for any eventuality.

Arriving on the scene and observing a crazed individual running among traffic or inside a house being violent and deranged is not a pretty sight.  Then, when they take no heed to your commands whatsoever, what are you going to do to subdue and control? 

Now you must eliminate the risks to all, including the culprit.  Training has taught us to control with the best methods at hand including tasering, fighting and a good old dog pile on the rabbit.  

All applications that are used in the field have their successes, but we have seen the failures and really never knew why.

Excited Delirium or Bell’s Mania is contributing to in-custody deaths worldwide.  Last year alone we saw some 360 deaths that are connected in some way to this dire event. It is not just the death, it is the legal costs that follow. 

One of the things that can cause excited delirium is stimulant abuse, particularly PCP, cocaine, or methamphetamine. 

However, people can have excited delirium with no drug use.

The symptoms of excited delirium include:

· Paranoia

· Disorientation

· Hyper-aggression

· Tachycardia

· Hallucination

· Incoherent speech or shouting

· Superhuman strength when trying to be restrained

· Hyperthermia

Hypothermia would explain why some of these people tear off their clothes and attack others whilst running naked through the streets, disregarding all commands. 

There are many descriptions to be found in medical journals and the Internet.

Excited (or agitated) delirium is characterized by agitation, aggression, acute distress and sudden death, often in the pre-hospital care setting. It is typically associated with the use of drugs that alter dopamine processing, hypothermia and, most notably, sometimes with the death of the affected person in the custody of law enforcement. Subjects typically die from cardiopulmonary arrest, although the cause is debated. Unfortunately, an adequate treatment plan has yet to be established, in part due to the fact that most patients die before hospital arrival. While there is still much to be discovered about the pathophysiology and treatment, it is hoped that this extensive review will provide both police and medical personnel with the information necessary to recognize and respond appropriately to excited delirium.

Excited Delirium (EXD), first described in the mid-1800’s, has been referred to by many other names – Bell’s mania, lethal catatonia, acute exhaustive mania and agitated delirium. Regardless of the label used, all accounts describe almost the exact same sequence of events: delirium with agitation (fear, panic, shouting, violence and hyperactivity), sudden cessation of struggle, respiratory arrest, and death. In the majority of cases, unexpected strength and signs of hypothermia are described as well. While the incidence of EXD is not known, the purpose of this review is to identify what is known or suspected about the pathophysiology, outcomes and management options associated with EXD to assist medical professionals in the future.

EXD has gained increasing public attention recently due to the number of post-mortem explanations offered by medical examiners regarding the death of individuals being restrained by police or being taken into custody. This diagnosis has caused concern because EXD is not a currently recognized medical or psychiatric diagnosis according to either the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IVTR) of the American Psychiatric Association or the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9) of the World Health Organization. 

Likewise, the authors of one review article found enough evidence in the literature to suggest that excited delirium, rhabdomyolysis, and neuroleptic malignant syndrome might represent the clinical spectrum of a single disease. Although more research is needed to elucidate cause and effect, it is important to note that a lack of recognition of the condition in the context of law enforcement activities does not negate the significance of the behavioral and physical signs referred to as EXD. For instance, one important study found that only 18 of 214 individuals identified as having EXD died while being restrained or taken into custody. If anything, the possible association with other life-threatening syndromes only gives impetus to the need for critical emergency medical intervention when encountering a person thought to be in a state of excited delirium.

Although reports of patients with similar symptoms first appeared in the 19th century, the first modern mention of EXD was in 1985. The presentation of excited delirium occurs with a sudden onset, with symptoms of bizarre and/or aggressive behavior, shouting, paranoia, panic, violence toward others, unexpected physical strength and hypothermia  An extensive review of reported case series reveals that in a majority of cases EXD was precipitated by stimulant drug use and in much fewer cases psychiatric illness (such as mania, depression, or schizophrenia) or systemic illness. Methamphetamine, PCP, and LSD have been reported in a few series, but by far the most prevalent drug of abuse found on toxicology screening was cocaine. 

Since the victims frequently die while being restrained or in the custody of law enforcement, there has been speculation over the years of police brutality being the underlying cause. However, it is important to note that the vast majority of deaths occur suddenly prior to capture, in the emergency department (ED), or unwitnessed at home.

Prior to 1985 most reported cases of sudden death from cocaine intoxication involved “body stuffers” who died secondary to massively high exposure to the drug after packets they were carrying burst. 

A report published by Wetli and Fishbain in 1985 was one of the first case series to examine recreational cocaine users who died following episodes of excited delirium. They noticed that these deaths differed in both presentation and average blood cocaine concentrations from typical cocaine overdose fatalities. In fact, cases of agitated delirium were often associated with lower blood levels of cocaine. Explorations by Pollanen et al and Ruttenber et al showed blood levels of cocaine in EXD cases to be similar to levels found in recreational cocaine users and much lower than levels found in people who died from cocaine-associated intoxication. Moreover, the reports found that the blood levels of benzoylecgonine, the primary metabolite of cocaine, in the cocaine-associated EXD cases were higher than in recreational users, suggesting the cocaine use prior to death was consistent with recent “binge” use. More recently, Stephens et al., in an analysis of the significance of cocaine upon a specific death, confirmed that a pattern of chronic cocaine use characterized by repeated binges is associated with the development of fatal EXD.

In 2013 forward, especially today, we are seeing more and more cases where Zombie drugs are being cited as the cause. This includes “Bath Salts”, readily being sold over the counter and through the Internet by retail sites such as Amazon.com.

No one likes death, especially an in-custody death on your watch and it is becoming more common in the last three years and now is nearly a daily occurrence.

It has reached a point where we cannot ignore the problem any longer.  We must take responsibility for the monetary liabilities being placed on departments and municipalities in the form of civil lawsuits.

The action that is required is one of pure understanding of what we have walked into.  It is recognizing the scene that is unraveling in front of our eyes and how will handle the situation.  It is all tied to a chain of events of which, you were not present at the onset and you will only have to guess the story line.

Training assists on handling all the steps that will protect the individual, the officer, and the city or municipality.  It is the documentation and the reports that will assist your attorneys in the following civil court cases.

You must afford to have all preventive steps to be taken.

Shoring up your Standard Operating Procedures and having team strategy in protecting your citizens, police officers, medics, emergency room doctors, medical examiners, city, county or state lawyers is of the utmost importance.  Civil lawsuits when an in-custody death occurs are expensive to defend and if you lose, even bankrupt a city.

Training your whole operation in how to handle this in-custody death phenomenon which is costing us all dearly, most be a priority.  Budget cuts have reduced your resources, so why risk this situation?

WE are in the NOW and

KEEP YOU; in the KNOW…

www.commsmartglobalgroup.com

Call: +1 (515) 300.6130

Email: ed@commsmartglobalgroup.com

Copyright 2017

Be Good So They Can't Ignore You...

Be Good So They Can't Ignore You...

by Nicholas Ashton, CEO/CIO, CommSmart Global Group

It is a fact that in this fast pace environment, trust in anything has been diminished. Even Einstein is questioned or Madam Curie dissected to the point of mistrust in all they are to supposed to have said or achieved.

The bomb, bullet, beheadings and political correctness have captured center stage.  Not a headline goes by without the spillage of blood somewhere.  In this instant information age, which in some cases are not the real facts, we live and breath on deceptive and erroneous, false information.  Who do you believe anymore?

So-called religious factions tell you that their God is better than your God and GM states that their cars and trucks are better than Fords!  Well, my washing powder gets my clothes whiter than yours, so there!

Demands are made for us all to be as completely honest in all we do. There are those that do not like that we market our wares and have an ulterior motive in statements we make. Of course, we do, it is a marketing world with half truths abounding like "fly balls" at a baseball game. It seems that anything to do with marketing is not to be trusted. Does that go for political wannabes too?


Steve Martin, that wild and crazy guy, is quoted as saying "Be good so they can't ignore you".  Well, I am that kind guy!  Not perfect, rough around the edges and have certainly changed over the years.  I have, like us all, evolved, learned lessons and evoke that knowledge on a daily basis for the common good of us all.  

Grumpy, argumentative and stubborn can also be adjectives you can loosely attach to my persona.  Pedantic, but not perfect is an understatement!  I do not make statements that cannot be backed up or verified.  Today I am proud to be part of a team that can lay it on the line when it comes to getting it right. Especially on the security of information or all data in motion.

Having cut my teeth in counter-terrorism and seeing the horror of man, I fully understand that the human race is a sadistic, grotesque group of conniving bastards, to say the least. 

Entering the world of computers, in 1976, bringing that terroristic mindset to the world of noughts and zeros, has made me fully understand both worlds and even more so today.

Some twenty-five later, being called back to share my counter-terrorism expertise in the Iraq conflict changed my thinking.  Internet communications were in its infancy and what we term "normal" communication was changing right under our noses.  

The initial attack on Baghdad was controlled from the back of a truck on the outskirts of the city with two laptops and the Internet.  Truly a major attack through what we now call the Internet of Things (IoT)! 

The other real factor was creating the ability to hear the "chatter of the streets" or Atmospherics, as we call it.  Mashed old fashion listening by humans with disruptive technology to enhance our overall success.  For instance, the digital pen and paper.  Who would question someone writing notes in a cafe on a notepad?  Ah, if the pen is digital and everything that is being written is transmitted via the cell phone to another source a world away.  With pinpoint GPS accuracy or location and solid information.  That is the mindset we have created for use in these cyber terroristic times.

Cyber terrorists cost more worldwide that physical blood-curdling terrorism and are ignored by all. 

Financial hackers affect billions annually and cost every single one of our time, money and aggravation, which we can ill-afford.

Why then do you individually download APPS to your Smartphones, knowing full well that the APP is spying on you and can copy all your personal information?

Why do corporations, who demand you give them freely all your financial information and I.D. Numbers never protect you from the hacker?

Is it that we are risk takers, gamblers or just plain stupid?

Corporate Board members, Chief Executive Officers are employees and can be fired or dismissed at will.  Their failure is obvious and Shareholders and Customers alike should screaming Blue Bloody Murder over these daily cyber thefts!

Then again as individuals, YOU must understand how to protect your own information too!

If you won't WE will!

Our Red Tagged Division was formed from a successful group of "like-minded" corporate individuals who are far from the "norm".  Collectively we know our cyber security business inside out and from both sides of the cyber fence. Approaching with candor previously unknown in the "geek and nerd" world of computers.

No one and we mean no one has the mind or tool set to combat this aggressive and progressive dire issue.  Hacking, Phishing, and Man in the Middle Brutal Attacks are not slowing down and corporately the public is being compromised with extreme cost.

Who we are?

• Origin in Counter Terrorism from 1976
• Global organization with offices in Europe and US
• Trusted Partnerships with specialists
• Cyber Forensic Archaeologists
• Specialized in Cyber Security
• Hands-On Security Consultants
• Security Innovators

Importantly we can talk one on one. Red Tagged is not there to slap or embarrass you or your Information Technology Department. 

Red Tagged is here to show you your issues, recommend security changes and importantly, leave you with on-going security measures in "real time" to protect all your daily and future needs.  Importantly your shareholders, customers, and clients.
It is all about Duty of Care and Corporate Governance!

So in true Red Tagged style, Do Not Ignore Us!

We Are Not Going To Ignore The Cyber Terroristic Issues!

copyright 1976 - 2017

Proactivity Is The Demanded Requirement From This Day Forward

Proactivity Is The Demanded Requirement in Global Security,
Both Physical Terrorism and Cyber Crime.

by Nicholas Ashton, CEO/CIO, CommSmart Global Group

Having a foot in both camps of both physical counter and cyber terrorism for thirty-nine (39) years or more, means we have seen and been involved in the worst situations this world has seen.

Information gathering in this digital age is seen by most as the ultimate defense as long as it is not just stored in a data silo.  

There are not enough intelligence eyes, ears and algorithms to be on top of the morons of terror.  For both physical and cyber terror it has to be a mixture of human and digital searching.  It takes a special commitment with a working knowledge.  Knowing it is all time sensitive.

Atmospherics, the collection of street chatter is just as important.  

Most will have never heard of Atmospherics, it has saved our rear ends in a war against the Irish Republican Army, the Red Brigade (Baader-Meinhof), Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest of the world's terror spots. 

It is all about chatter, humans cannot keep their mouths shut and discuss their plans and successes in great detail.  Just like the local burglar, he would spend his ill-gotten gains at the local pub and we all know that with a few beers, the mouth runs and information flows.  That is where used Atmospherics in the old days.

It is the same for cyber hackers, they want recognition for their success and discuss on social media and in Internet cafes.  Things have not really changed in how we must gather information.

That is why the formation of IRATC (International Repository of Analysis for Terrorism/Cyber Crimes) was formed.

The software is proven and working internationally and in over 650 law enforcement departments.  It has proven its worth in event predictability for the US D.O.D.  It is not just for internal use, it has a public information capability for all to see the crimes and their locations.

It is a solid bridge for communications of crime issues between all nations and simply links all, with solid facts.

Knowing both sides of these actions, you understand that the terrorist wants to instill FEAR in all, whether physical attacks or cyber, it is all about FEAR!

It is returning to the COMFORT ZONE that is all important...

Let us take this short journey together...

www.commsmartglobalgroup.com

copyright 2016

COMMUNITY CRIME MAPPING

COMMUNITY CRIME MAPPING

Reduce crime and improve public safety. CommSmart Global Group, a LexisNexis Risk Solutions Partner’s public crime map, Community Crime Map, connects law enforcement with the community to reduce crime and improve public safety. Crime mapping helps the public get a better idea of the crime activity in their area so they can make more informed decisions about how to stay safe.

Community Crime Map goes beyond crime mapping by automatically alerting the public about recent crime activity and by improving communication between the public and law enforcement through anonymous tips. Community Crime Map empowers the public to make better decisions about crime by putting the same technology used by law enforcement to analyze and interpret crime activity into the hands of the public.

Sources of information

Community Crime Map compiles crime data and other information from law enforcement agencies to make it easier for the public to stay informed about crime. Data in Community Crime Map is provided directly from each law enforcement agency. Because Community Crime Map is just the public side of a much more robust crime data sharing and analysis system for law enforcement, we take every step to ensure that the data is of the highest quality and accuracy. To uphold these quality standards, LexisNexis works with each agency to set up an automated feed of the data from their crime database into the database. Receiving the data directly from each law enforcement agency ensures that the data is always up to date, accurate and complete.

You can see the source of the crime data for any incident by clicking on the incident on the map. The information window lists the "Agency" that provided the information. The Metadata tab also lists the source and links to each source's web page for the incidents that are currently in view.

How does it work?

Law enforcement agencies keep detailed records about each incident that occurs in their jurisdiction. When an incident happens, the officer that responded to the incident writes a detailed report with information about the event including the location, people involved, related vehicles and other useful information. This information is stored in large, secure databases within each law enforcement agency. Between departments, these databases can vary in structure and complexity, and even the data itself can follow different standards to describe the event. This can make it difficult for two neighboring cities to share crime data and benefit from being able to analyze events and offenders that cross city boundaries. CommSmart Global Group's regional data sharing products help centralize and standardize this information into a national database of crime to improve regional data sharing and analysis. Community Crime Map takes this data, cleans it to protect victim privacy, and displays it to the public so citizens can be aware of the events that occur in their area and take action to stay safe.

How can your city participate?

CommSmart Global Group with LexisNexis offers Community Crime Map as a way to give back to the community. As former (and current) analysts and officers, CommSmart Global Group hopes to help law enforcement and defense use cutting edge analytics to protect and serve the community. Providing crime mapping and tips to the community help law enforcement keep the public aware of the crime, it builds trust with their citizens and it improves communication between the public and law enforcement. By allowing law enforcement to provide these services to the public at no cost through Community Crime Map, LexisNexis reduces any barriers for law enforcement to use public crime mapping as a crime reduction strategy.

Email: communitycrimemapping@commsmartglobalgroup.com

Telephone: (515) 300.6130

copyright 2017

Relying on Statistical Information Is Like Driving Your Car by Focusing on the Rear-View Mirror, Reacting Only to Past Events

Relying on Statistical Information

Is Like Driving Your Car by Focusing on the

Rear-View Mirror, Reacting Only to Past Events

By Nicholas Ashton, CEO/CIO, CommSmart Global Group

To some, reversing a car is a nightmare!  Trying to drive to your destination in that manner is a doomed consideration.

Think about statistical data, it has been collected through various means and placed in some sort of storage facility.  Today, it is a data silo, being piled and crammed inside, without being viewed, sorted or even really seeing a flash of the light of day.  Until that is, some analytic computation hits the database and it gets shuffled around months and years later.

There is always a time delay between an event’s occurrence and its perception.  Sometimes the delay maybe milliseconds.  Other times this delay may be a matter of months, years, or even longer.  Further, all observations, no matter how thorough, always to some degree contain errors, inaccuracies, and misrepresentations about what ‘really happened’.

Thus, public managers and policymakers attempt to control the future and tomorrow by making decisions in the present, today that is, based on error-ridden information about yesterday.

It is like driving a car while focusing only on the rear-view mirror, reacting only to past events.

That is what is happening globally with collected data that if it had been passed through precise analytic software with algorithmic computations, which were designed specifically for concise extractions, then it would be a whole different world of information and solutions

Importantly it is, by those using CommSmart Global Group, a LexisNexis Risk Solutions Partner.

Our analytical and predictive capabilities are second to none when combining local, national, global and massive public data.

Crime fighting is the perfect example.  All those daily incidents on which the information is within an RMS or CAD system can be placed in the direct hands of officers, detectives and administration staff with immediacy.  

Not sitting in some data silo waiting months and years to see the flickering light of day.  It will be working to reduce crime, catch criminals and protect the community of which law enforcement and public safety serves.

States, counties, and cities will have information at hand to improve revenues, especially taxation.  Dept. of Human Services or Division of Family Services, even Probation Services can understand all information in the palm of their hand on a Smartphone, Tablet or their Desktop. Current up-to-the-minute information that will save lives and make staff productive in their over complexed lives.

This is not some pipedream, it is the pure reality that is staring you right in the face.

We totally understand communications and how to enhance lives without being complex and speaking gobbledygook!  Yes, plain conversational English or whatever global language you understand.

CommSmart Global Group’s team are ‘real people' who understand life and all its failings, we are one of you.

Combine our Social media Interaction and you have a combined communications world at your fingertips.  Never has there been such a precise and concise capability available to government and corporate entities, until now.

CommSmart Global Group has harnessed the data for dissemination to those that securely can have access to improve the status of all.

It is productivity personified!

WE ARE IN THE NOW AND KEEP YOU; IN THE KNOW…

For more information, please converse with us via telephone or an email. 

copyright 1996- 2017

The Occurrence Book - Time to Move Into the Digital Age

The Occurrence Book 

Time to Move Into the Digital Age

by Nicholas Ashton, CEO/CIO, CommSmart Global Group

In modern usage, an occurrence book is a notebook or station book used by police, security guards and watchmen to document anything that happened during the hours they're on active duty (on patrol).

Still in use today in many countries.  Pen and paper at work in a ubiquitous manner. 

It is now the digital age, stop the resistance, the computer and proven programs are not your enemies.  In fact, you are your own worst enemy in progression and too many excuses why you should or shouldn't move forward.

Procrastination is a diabolical excuse and is like a viral illness.  I know you think that the computer is not safe in any shape or form.  It is when you have installed the appropriate security and maintain those standards and never take short cuts.

Ok, in the old days of a file room, one person had the key to the room and each filing cabinet. Hang on, how many times did you enter the room and found cabinets open?  Nothing has changed, we are dealing in a human world and we are terrible in making mistakes, leaving lights on, water running, windows and doors wide open.

This a new age and is about change and adaptability, which we at CommSmart Global Group, a LexisNexis Risk Solution Partner accomplish each and every day.

 

WE are in the NOW and 
KEEP YOU; in the KNOW…

Call: +1 (330) 366.6860

www.commsmartglobalgroup.com

Email: change@commsmartglobalgroup.com

Copyright 2017