PI Newswire

Workplace violence typically falls into one of four categories, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Specific workplaces are at risk for different types of violence, so identifying the type your company is most at risk for can help with planning.

Type I: Criminal intent. In this kind of violent incident, the perpetrator has no legitimate relationship to the business or its employee(s). Rather, the violence is incidental to another crime, such as robbery, shoplifting, or trespassing. Acts of terrorism also fall into this category.

The vast majority of workplace homicides (85 percent) are Type I violence. Your workplace may be at higher risk of Type I violence if your business handles cash or drugs or could be a target for terrorists.

Type II: Customer/client. When the violent person has a legitimate relationship with the business—for example, the person is a customer, client, patient, student, or inmate—and becomes violent while being served by the business, violence falls into this category.

A large portion of customer/client incidents occur in the healthcare industry, in settings such as nursing homes or psychiatric facilities; the victims are often patient caregivers. Police officers, prison staff, flight attendants, and teachers can also become victims of this kind of violence.

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She has spent her adult life hunting criminals and bringing them to justice.

But now Lyssa Chapman, daughter of Duane Chapman, aka Dog The Bounty Hunter, has found herself on the otehr side of the fence after she was arrested for harassment and criminal property damage.

The 23-year-old, who has starred on the last five seasons of the hit A&E network TV show in the U.S., was taken into custody by police on Tuesday night in Honolulu, Hawaii and remains in jail.

Chapman, herself a licensed bounty hunter, is currently in a holding cell at a Honolulu police station, according to webiste Radar Online.

Just today, Chapman’s stepmother Beth tweeted about the incident saying: ‘Remember one thing people who don’t immediately bail their kids out of jail… Generally they know more than you do.’

Chapman currently works for her father’s company, Da Kine Bail Bonds, as a bail bondsman and bounty hunter alongside several other members of her family including two half brothers and her step mother.

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JUNE 1–A Los Angeles journalist has sued an imprisoned Hollywood private eye, a retired police detective, and a convicted drug dealer, claiming that the men were part of a harassment campaign that included the illegal wiretapping of her telephone lines and a 2002 death threat. Anita Busch alleges in a Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit that P.I. Anthony Pellicano and his coconspirators, acting at the direction of an unnamed law firm, brought her reporting career to a halt and traumatized her in their bid to retaliate for Busch’s investigative stories about the entertainment industry. In her complaint, Busch alleges that Pellicano was aided by Mark Arneson, an ex-LAPD detective suspected of providing confidential police files to Pellicano, and Alexander Proctor, a strong arm man suspected of a June 2002 threat against Busch. That Pellicano-directed intimidation attempt, detailed in an October 2002 FBI affidavit, allegedly included Proctor’s smashing of Busch’s car windshield and the placement of a dead fish, a rose, and a note saying “Stop” on the reporter’s auto. Busch’s lawsuit also claims other harassment, including the hacking of her computer and an August 2002 attempt to run her over with a Mercedes (at the time, Busch was a Los Angeles Times reporter). Pellicano, the target of an ongoing federal probe into illegal wiretapping, pleaded guilty last year to explosives charges that will keep him in a federal lockup until January 2006. Proctor will be in the can until 2011 following his recent conviction for heroin distribution. Though they have been fingered by the feds, neither man–nor Arneson–has been charged in connection with the Busch harassment. (13 pages)

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SYDNEY’S top private eye Frank Monte is being paid “a substantial amount” to investigate the background and movements of the woman suing David Jones for $37 million.

As the retailer’s disgraced former CEO Mark McInnes returned to Sydney from the US vowing to “vigorously defend” allegations of unwelcome sexual advances brought by publicist Kristy Fraser-Kirk, Mr Monte admitted he had been asked to investigate the complainant.

“I can confirm we are working on the case,” Mr Monte said. “I can neither confirm nor deny that David Jones is the client.”

Mr Monte did confirm the target of his investigations was Ms Fraser-Kirk and that he would do “background checks” on her as well as “surveillance”.

He declined to say how much he had been paid, but said: “It is substantial.”

A spokesman for Mr McInnes said Mr Monte’s claim was “absolutely 100 per cent not correct”.

Comment was being sought from David Jones.

As Mr McInnes arrived in Sydney Airport with his five-month pregnant girlfriend Lisa Kelly, he claimed he had left his $5 million-a-year job at DJs in an attempt to save the career of Ms Fraser-Kirk.

“Many people have asked why I offered my resignation immediately. I did so with great sadness,” Mr McInnes said.

“The reason was simple – it was my responsibility, not David Jones.

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What role can CCTV play in the prevention and investigation of workplace violence?

A:
On June 15, 2010, Bill 168, “An Act to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Act with respect to violence and harassment in the workplace and other matters” came into force in Ontario. It amends the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to include definitions of workplace violence and workplace harassment.

Specifically, subsection 1(1) of OHSA is amended by adding the following definitions:

“Workplace harassment”
This means engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in a workplace that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome

“Workplace violence” means
(a) the exercise of physical force by a person against a worker, in a workplace, that causes or could cause physical injury to the worker,
(b) an attempt to exercise physical force against a worker, in a workplace, that could cause physical injury to a worker,
(c) a statement or behaviour that is reasonable for a worker to interpret as a threat to exercise physical force against the worker, in a workplace, that could cause physical injury to the worker.

The amendments to OHSA also impose new requirements for employers, as follows:
1. Employers will be required to develop written policies with respect to both workplace violence and workplace harassment which must be reviewed annually.
2. Employers must develop and maintain programs to implement the policies and to deal with incidents and complaints of workplace violence and harassment.
3. Employers must assess the risk of workplace violence that may arise from the nature of the workplace, the type of work or the conditions of work. The program developed to implement the workplace violence policy must include measures and procedures to control the risks identified in the assessment.

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In the last few weeks, Christina DesMarais has lived in a state of fear.

The writer, triathlon runner and mother of four started a nutrition and fitness blog a few weeks ago and noticed someone kept posting nasty comments. Eventually, she started receiving hurtful e-mails as well. Last week, a letter came in the mail.

“I’m the middle-aged man in the turquoise junker or the teen in the silver Camero (sic) or maybe even the woman in the Suburban — I wouldn’t be caught running down my road again if I were you,” the anonymous letter said.

“The last letter was a rant about us being white trash who use the system, while hardworking taxpayers foot the bill for our lavish lifestyle,” said DesMarais, who originally posted public comments about the harassment but has since removed those posts and contacted local authorities.

It turns out that cyberstalking laws do help protect victims traumatized by repeated communications on blogs, social networks, and abusive e-mails, although the exact laws vary from state-to-state, said Parry Aftab, an Internet privacy and security lawyer, book author, and executive director of WiredSafety.org. Aftab also advises Facebook on cyberharassment policies.

“Digital harassment violates a federal statute, which says anonymous communication with intent to annoy is now a federal crime that carries a two-years prison term and pretty serious fines,” she said.

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(CBS) Half the people between the ages of 14 and 24 responding to an Associated Ptess/MTV survey says they’ve experienced some sort of digitally abusive behavior, includign what experts have come to call “textual harassment” — harassment via text messages.

Textual harassment consists of repetitive texting, sometimes hundreds of messages in a day. In many cases, such behavior is considered bullying. In extreme cases, it has even led to violence and death.

to discuss this recent phenomenon and tips on how to prevent it from happening to your child.

Digital messaging has become one of the primary ways of communication among teens and young adults, but many people don’t realize the danger that this possesses, technology expert Katie Linendoll pointed out to co-anchor Erica Hill on “The Early Show” Tuesday.

“I think a lot of people hear textual harassment and they easily dismiss it, because it does sound incredibly silly,” Linendoll said. “But the problem here is it’s becoming really scary, especially in the last few years. And in the most extreme of cases, we’re seeing teens committing suicide, deaths that could have been stopped in advance had we seen the warning signs.”

One of the major hurdles is detecting those early warning signs. That’s because use of home phones has tailed off significantly, and each person is in control of his or her cell phone.

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TAMPA – It didn’t put an end to name-calling, hair-pulling or fistfighting, but the Hillsborough County school district’s online bullying reporting system works, school officials say.

“The more we talk about it, the safer our kids are,” said Lewis Brinson, the school district’s assistant superintendent for administration.

Nearly 400 reports of alleged bullying were lodged anonymously between the start of school in August and the end of April. The district has not determined how many of those complaints are legitimate, but administrators say none resulted in arrests.

During the first semester Hillsborough offered online reporting, school officials confirmed 41 of 199 reported incidents as bullying. The schools handled the punishments, which included reprimands, counseling and expulsions, said Judith Rainone, the school district supervisor who is compiling the reports for the state.

She won’t release any findings until her report is completed. The state requires the information by July.

The online reports outline the fear and harassment many children face daily.

“My child has been traumatized and is now unable to socialize with her peers,” a Madison Middle School parent wrote in March. “Other kids pick on her and call her names, and she gets sick and tries to stay home everyday.”

“My child’s self-worth is dropping no matter what we tell her at home about ignoring the bad stuff,” a parent from West Shore Elementary wrote. “Having a crying little girl come home from second grade on a daily basis is not the way I saw this year ending.”

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About a year ago, Laura Onstot wrote up a memorable cover story about Ron Belec, the city’s most notorious server of legal papers, who, over a long career, developed a reputation for doing his job by pretty much any means necessary.

Belec was known for pushing that line between diligence and outright harassment–and indeed he managed to get the Washington State Supreme Court to affirm that the line doesn’t even exist, at least not for people in his profession. Given the continual deleting of inappropriate online comments that’s become necessary on Laura’s story, it would appear that Belec also attracted a colorful assortment of friends and enemies.

The former, at least, are in mourning this week, as Belec died of a heart attack a few days ago. He was at home, his company tells the Weekly. No doubt that made him easy to find when the emissaries from the beyond came to give him his destination instructions.

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The Lubbock Police Department fired a lieutenant after his ex-wife’s lawsuit against the city brought to light the officer’s misconduct, including the improper use of police equipment.

Evaristo Diaz also is accused of harassing his ex-wife, perjury and dereliction of duty, among other charges, by the department, according to his suspension order dated March 9 and obtained recently by The Avalanche-Journal through an open records request.

“Evaristo Diaz discredited himself, the Lubbock Police Department and impaired Lubbock Police Department operations by his conduct,” his suspension order reads.

Kimberly Nacoe Diaz filed suit last April after she said she was wrongfully terminated for reporting in August 2008 that her estranged husband was stalking her.

Police documents obtained last year indicated that Kimberly Diaz was fired for making false statements during a criminal investigation, intentionally withholding evidence and disobeying direct orders, among other charges.

The lawsuit was dismissed on Feb. 22 this year after the city agreed to a settlement, said her attorney, Robert Hogan. Kimberly Diaz was reinstated the same day and awarded back pay.

According to the settlement agreement, the city denied any liability, and Kimberly Diaz agreed to voluntarily resign from the department on or before Jan. 27, 2011.

Hogan said the lawsuit helped bring to light the misconduct of his client’s ex-husband.

“I believe when the details of the misconduct came to light … the police department administration took that very seriously and took action,” he said on Monday.

Harassing text messages that Diaz sent to his ex-wife last year were found during the discovery and deposition process of the lawsuit, according to Evaristo Diaz’s suspension order.

The messages, sent on multiple occasions between June and September 2009, were likely meant to harass, annoy, alarm, abuse, torment, embarrass or offend her, according to the department’s investigation.

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With sharp words and a strikingly aggressive prosecutorial stance, authorities yesterday spelled out a litany of charges against nine teenagers accused of subjecting 15-year-old South Hadley student Phoebe Prince to months of tortuous harassment before she hanged herself in a stairwell at home.

Northwestern District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel, who outlined the charges, also faulted officials at South Hadley High School, saying her investigation determined the girl’s harassment had been “common knowledge,’’ contradicting administrators’ previous assertions that they had been unaware of problems until after her death.

Scheibel described in painful detail Prince’s last day at school, saying that her investigation found the Irish immigrant was taunted in the hallways and bombarded with vulgar insults. As she studied in the library during lunch, the accused students allegedly hounded her openly while other students and a teacher looked on. The witnesses alerted school administrators only after her death.

“It appears that Phoebe’s death on Jan. 14 followed a tortuous day for her, in which she was subjected to verbal harassment and threatened physical abuse,’’ Scheibel said. “The events were not isolated, but the culmination of a nearly-three month campaign of verbally assaultive behavior and threats of physical harm.’’

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Most of Facebook’s 400 million members use the social-networking site to reconnect with long-lost pals and keep in touch with friends and family. But dozens of prisoners in Britain have found a more sinister and predatory use for Facebook: after being locked up for offenses such as murder and assault, inmates are taunting and terrorizing their victims through status updates and group wall posts.

Barry Mizen, whose 16-year-old son Jimmy was murdered in 2008, says his family endured months of personal attacks on a Facebook page that was created after Jimmy’s killer, Jake Fahri, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison last March. “The words going back and forth were getting really nasty — it was just so undignified,” says Mizen, who lives in southeast England. “My children were taking it very personally.” Around the same time, taunting messages also started to come from Fahri’s Twitter account, including one that said, “Jimmy Mizen was a pathetic loser.” “There’s got to be more control over this,” Barry Mizen says. “Facebook and Twitter have to take responsibility for what goes on their sites.”

British prisons ban inmates from accessing the Internet except for educational purposes, and then only under staff supervision. But prisoners are still finding ways to update their Facebook pages from behind bars, sometimes using smart phones they’ve smuggled into jail. More than 3,800 illicit cell phones were seized in British prisons in 2008, prompting authorities to start using mobile-phone signal blockers and body-orifice security scanners in some jails. Nevertheless, officials admit there’s not much they can do to stop prisoners from having friends or family update their Facebook pages for them.

Facebook officials in the U.S. and Europe say they don’t know whether this harassment problem extends beyond Britain, the only place where such cases have been made public. “We believe this is really a case of first impression,” says Tim Sparapani, Facebook’s director of public policy in Washington. “We’ve searched far and wide within the company and, among the collective memories of staff, we think this has no precedent.”

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