It was the crime of the year; $7.4 million in stolen government computers from a heavily alarmed Tampa warehouse.  The burglary was committed by disabling the alarm system and cameras, cutting a hole in the roof, and rappelling 20 feet into the warehouse.  The laptops were loaded onto two semitrailer trucks.  There were, however, a few slip-ups in the well choreographed crime.  The burglars missed two of the cameras and a distinct vehicle was recorded at the crime scene.   The police investigators used their intuition and surveyed recordings from neighboring businesses – they were rewarded with a breakthrough piece of evidence.

Exposure to the elements for any length of time can lead to devastating consequences. Skin unprotected from the sun may result in serious sunburn. Extended exposure to freezing temperatures, human tissue may be susceptible to frostbite. A body in cold water succumbs to hypothermia. All of these conditions of exposure are risk factors to tragic outcomes. Exposure to violent crime relates directly relates to serious injury and death.

The number of Americans using cocaine while at work has declined sharply in the last few years, falling from 29% to just .29% is good news. The bad news is that since the federal government tightened testing requirements last October for drug testing employees like pilots, airplane mechanics, and train operators, the random tests have revealed that twice as many employees as previously thought are using prescription painkillers and heroin on the job. There are frequent news reports of police closing down “pain clinics” and arresting culpable doctors for providing vast amounts of unlawful prescriptions for extremely potent medications.

The 2010 Marquet Report on Embezzlement was released recently. It’s an annual study on major embezzlement cases in the United States over $100,000. In what has been described as a banner year, 485 such cases were studied. An assumption can be easily made that in this bad economy the thefts were triggered by deep financial problems. The study found however, that the most major embezzlers were driven by greed or a need to live a more lavish lifestyle that could not afford otherwise.