Ramesh NybergHeroes and Villains A recent online news article bears the headline, “Why You Shouldn’t Shoot Down a Drone.” Isn’t it astonishing that people have to be informed that shooting at objects in the sky is dangerous? I’m seriously thinking of this for the plot of a novel: A man is found dead in his backyard with a bullet wound to the head. He was outside smoking because he and his wife had agreed there was no smoking in the…
RAMESH NYBERG Finding the Strength to Laugh I’m writing this just a few days before Election Tuesday, so it’s a given that all of us – regardless of what side of the aisle you might be on – could use a laugh about something nonpolitical, couldn’t we? It’s no secret that cops need laughter to alleviate the stress of our work. Laughter is the “best medicine,” they say, and that is for everyone – law enforcement or not. Dr. Elizabeth…
Ramesh Nyberg Standing Tall(er) While the rest of the world seems to be losing their sense of decency and decorum – even competence – there’s one aspect of our society which is actually getting better. What might that be? It’s us…the police. Allow me to explain. At the risk of sounding like an old grouch, I submit to you, reader, that in almost every area of society, we are seeing decline. I’m not talking about your favorite stocks or the…
RAMESH NYBERG Guardians of the Deep Blue There is a place where crime goes largely unnoticed. What’s more, it’s a huge place – you can’t go in any direction and not find it. Rampant criminal acts, such as fraud, widespread theft, false imprisonment, rape, and even murder occur with impunity, because these serious violations are both unreported and hidden from public view. Astonishingly, this “place” is the largest geographic entity on the planet: our oceans. I’ve always had an interest…
Ramesh Nyberg A Hungry Dog Hunts Best The book my generation learned to read in the first grade went something like this: “This is Spot. See Spot run. Run, Spot, run!” Then, there would be a big picture of the dog and the question, “Do you see Spot?” The “book” is quite different now. It is compacted into an invisible computer code which goes, “Run, Spot! Now, go into the building with this geolocator, Spot. Once inside, send us back…
Ramesh Nyberg Five Reasons Why You Should Write (Yes, You) Photo by Etienne Girardet/Unsplash It’s no secret: Most of us cops hate to write. We hate it because we have to do it and the majority of us have little or no training – let alone interest – in the writing process. This installment hopes to change your mind or, at the very least, present you with options which might benefit you in ways you never considered. If I come…
Ramesh Nyberg An Unredacted Story, aka “It’s a Small World” Back in the late 1980s, our government decided that military records and other government documents which become 50 years old can be “declassified.” In this spirit, I thought this New Year would be an appropriate time to tell you a story which has just turned 50 years old. It is a police story – and a rather typical one – which may be similar to many of the stories many…
Ramesh Nyberg The “perfect murder” is an imperfect idea. The notion that one can “get away” with a major crime – murder is the favorite example – is disappearing with every day that the world of forensic analysis gets better. The downfall of most criminals usually falls within a couple of parameters. Either the offender is arrogant and narcissistic to the point that he/she brags about his/her crime to other people, or he/she simply believes that he/she has done such…
Ramesh Nyberg “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”– Albert Einstein For the last several days, our sisters and brothers in blue have joined with various rescue task forces in Maui in the grim task of recovering human remains in the wake of the devastating wildfires and hurricane there. Some of those people will be found drowned and many more burned beyond recognition. From the last estimate I read, some 800 people are still missing. This will…
Ramesh Nyberg The Criminal Justice Revolution – Were You There? Perhaps the more appropriate title for this column should be, “Will You Be There?” because there is sure to be another one. The revolution I’m talking about occurred in the mid to late 1980s and is marked by sudden growth in the fields of forensics and computer technology. I’m lucky enough to have worked in law enforcement before this explosion and the reason I want to write about it in…