Officer Safety Item
Cell Phone Gun
The below link is a short .mpg movie of a gun disguised as a cellular phone. You will need Real Player in order to view the video.
RF Detectors
According to reports from law enforcement agencies in the eastern part of
the United States, Pep Boys automotive stores are selling an air freshener that is also capable of detecting RF from a cellular phone. When activated by RF, a set of lights on the air freshener illuminates. The danger is that suspects can use them to see if undercover personnel are wired with a body transmitter. For example, in Atlanta, offenders are reportedly using them to detect law enforcement personnel.Apparently the air fresheners are being marketed to persons who listen to
loud music in their cars and, consequently, cannot detect when their cellular phone is ringing. One version of the air freshener is in the shape of a small airplane on a glass globe. These devices also come in shape of blimps, helicopters, and planes, and are very inexpensive.The device seems to detect all RF radiation in its immediate area,
INCLUDING law enforcement frequencies. (Low wattage radio transmitters and newer digital body wires have not yet been tested, but will be soon.)The State Liaison Office at the INTERPOL USNCB has opened a file on this;
their case number 20010100128.Here is some additional information:
more than one brand. One was a clear plastic airplane air freshener from a Georgia company (no further information) that was advertised as an air freshener and cellular telephone notification device, good for 1.5 meters.
An officer stopped at a Pep Boys recently and discovered that there is
The other was the "Celi-Teli" Buddy Duck air freshener and cellular
notification device that looked like a Duck. It is made in Taiwan and distributed to Pep Boys and Keystone automotive parts stores in the U.S., with a part number of ED 8081. It is distributed by American Auto Accessories, Inc. of 112-01 Northern Blvd., Corona, NY 11368, telephone 718-458-6200. The company has a website address of www.americanautoacc.com. However, the product is not shown on the website as of January 8, 2001. Their e-mail address is aaanyusa@aol.com. Retail on these products was $5.99. The product from Georgia was an airplane and you could plainly see the small circuit board and LED inside. It, like the duck, alerts you to an incoming cell phone call.Additional information comes from the INTERPOL State Liaison office in
Massachusetts:We have come across two variations of this device. The first device
is a cigarette lighter holder. It is made by RATEX Ltd. in Hong Kong and distributed in the USA by Tai Seng Video Marketing 170 South Spruce Ave. Suite 200 San Francisco, California. When we first discovered these devices, they were being given away by a video store in the Chinatown section of Boston.at a Biotech trade show in Boston. This device is called a "Handy-Light" and was being given away by a German company called DEVOFERM. The manufacturer of this device is unknown.
The second device is a key chain that was being given away this past summer
