Escape Artist Extraordinaire

One might say Richard McNair is a bit of a flight risk. He certainly doesn't seem to care much for hanging around in the prison cell where he belongs. McNair, 48, was convicted in 1987 of killing a man during a robbery in North Dakota, during which another man was also shot three times but survived. His first attempt at escape came in 1988, when he greased up a hand with lip balm and slipped out of handcuffs. He was captured shortly thereafter when he jumped from the third floor of a building during the ensuing chase.

Another escape attempt was foiled while he sat in the Ward County jail awaiting trial; McNair had chipped away two cinder blocks and tied some bed sheets together, but officers caught his handiwork before he took action. After his guilty plea and sentencing, he went to state prison in North Dakota. There, he managed to achieve freedom through a ventilation duct, and this time he was pretty successful; he remained on the loose for ten months before being captured. After this, the "problem child" was sent to the federal prison system.

At the federal prison in Pollock, Louisiana, McNair devised a scheme using his work duties to mail himself to freedom. He managed to devise a way to conceal himself in a pallet of repaired mailbags that was shrink wrapped and shipped out, using a makeshift breathing apparatus to survive in the enclosed space. This occurred on April 5, 2006. McNair remained on the run until finally, on October 25, 2007, a rookie with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police named Stephane Gagnon nabbed him when he was spotted in a stolen van in Campbellton, New Brunswick. McNair fled the vehicle on foot but was soon tackled by Gagnon.

Hopefully, this will be the final chapter in the escape sagas of this violent criminal, and he will remain securely behind bars without any more of his plots coming to fruition.

Safer Shopping With Code Adam

As the Christmas season approaches, most of us will be spending more time at malls and large retail outlets searching for the perfect gifts for everyone on the list. Many of us will be accompanied by young children. The stores are busy, the parents stressed out, and the children get restless; unfortunately, these are factors that can lead to tragedy.

In 1981, six-year-old Adam Walsh was abducted from a department store and later found murdered. He was the son of John Walsh, the television personality and crime fighting advocate best known for his show "America's Most Wanted". In 1994, a system for handling missing child situations in public buildings was named for him. Code Adam was first developed by Wal-Mart Stores and has gone on to be implemented in many thousands of other establishments. Employees at these stores are trained to implement the following six steps upon being advised of a child missing within the store:

1) Obtain a detailed description of the child and what he/she is wearing.
2) Page an announcement over the loudspeaker that there is a Code Adam, and give the description of the child's physical features and clothing. Designated employees monitor the entrances of the store and others will begin searching through the store.
3) If the child is not found within 10 minutes, law enforcement is called.
4) If the child is found and appears to have been lost and is unharmed, he/she will be reunited with the family member.
5) If the child is found accompanied by someone other than a parent or legal guardian, reasonable efforts to delay their departure will be used without putting the child, staff, or visitors at risk. Law enforcement will be notified and given details about the person accompanying the child.
6) The Code Adam page will be cancelled after the child is found or law enforcement arrives.

So the next time you are out shopping, look for the blue and white Code Adam decal that is often placed on the front doors of participating retailers. If you don't see it, ask the managers at your favorite stores if they participate in the program, and if they don't, consider contacting the corporate offices to encourage participation.

A Safe Halloween For All

It seems these days that Halloween gets a lot of bad press as a holiday that is fraught with dangers for children. Indeed, in many aspects it does seem like a recipe for disaster: costumed children in an excited state, running the streets in the dark and knocking on the doors of strangers, asking for candy. However, most of us remember the Halloweens of our youths with special fondness and want to pass on the tradition to our own children, without the fears of child predators, bullies, and poisoned candy getting in the way. A little common sense safety advice can make Halloween as fun as always for kids and adults alike.

First, the costume should be something that won't impede a child walking at night; face paint is usually a better idea than masks, which can impair vision. If you do opt for a mask, make sure the eyeholes are large enough not to block peripheral vision. Reflective tape can be added to dark costumes to increase visibility to passing motorists, who of course should be driving with extreme caution on Halloween night. Any accessories carried with the costume such as fake knives and axes should be checked for any rough or sharp edges and for flexibility in case a child falls on it. A good flashlight is a great tool to have as well, and the heavier duty ones can double as weapons in a worst-case scenario.

Basic safety precautions should be reviewed with kids; no getting into cars with strangers and look both ways before crossing the street. Treating your kids to a special dinner before they set out trick or treating may ward off the temptation for them to start snacking on their candy before parents have a chance to look it over for evidence of tampering. Finally, trick-or-treating kids should be accompanied by an adult or a responsible older teenager.

This advice and other available tips out there should ensure that Halloween is fun and safe for everyone.

Tough Calls on Torture

The use of torture by military and other government officials is thought to be an inhumane and abhorrent means to an end in nearly all circumstances. Certainly in the course of ordinary criminal investigations it would not be tolerated by the general public. But in times of war, when operatives are threatening terrorist strikes, are there ever instances when torture is acceptable in the interest of saving human lives?

The Geneva Conventions provide protections for people who fall into enemy hands. They state that "persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of the armed forces who have laid down their arms...shall in all circumstances be treated humanely." Civilians are protected in most situations, as are prisoners of war. Article 17 states that "no physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted or exposed to unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind."

There is an important exemption, however: if "an individual protected person is definitely suspected of or engaged in activities hostile to the security of the State, such individual person shall not be entitled to claim such rights and privileges under the present Convention as would...be prejudicial to the security of such State." In other words, there's some wiggle room written in for preventing imminent death and destruction.

The most recent and highly visible instance of the misuse of torture techniques came when the controversy at Abu Ghraib was revealed. Most of the instances involved humiliation and psychological torture of the prisoners, and was widely reviled. It almost seemed to be done "for sport"; there was no apparent goal of national safety or security in mind. After the September 11th attacks, there was much back and forth between government agencies regarding the U.S. policy on torture and treatment of detainees. A high premium was placed on the ability to quickly obtain information in hopes of preventing future attacks on American civilians. However, human rights activists were quick to decry the use of torture as a violation of the Geneva Convention.

There are no easy answers when it comes to the issue of human rights vs. national security. While no one would argue that beating with whips and chains, or medieval torture devices like "the rack" are out of the question for a modern civilized society, there are countless gray areas to be worked through.