Dave The Web Guy

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Latest Troubles.

BuffScan Content Moving

04/15/2023

While I am not hosting a buffscan.com on a new host, I am nonetheless forwarding explicit visitors to the domain to its own slightly-different-than-the-one-that-lands-you-to-these-words URL.  From now on, BuffScan content will now be effectively at its own website.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

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Saturday Night Live - My Way

04/02/2023

Here's how I'm spending tonight. Ears to the scanners (well one of them if you take note of the power indicators) while I prep up a major change to the BuffScan persona. Not to mention also working on this express image feature that sort of works like a private Instagram. The two projects go hand in hand.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

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The Night Chicago Encrypted

12/18/2022

ABC 7 Chicago Video Embed

The profit press is catching up to arguments against public safety radio encryption that I carried on about in the 90s.  I find that great though a bit late on their part.  Maybe paying attention "way back when" to this idiot blabbering online about being unable to listen in on police calls would have lent to a more cohesive response before firm anti-open-broadcasting policies had time to cement.

But anyway. 

I am still not entirely impressed.  While I can't lie, there is some feeling of "validation of the cause" when today I encounter polished mayonnaise news coverage about one or another agency going encrypted, and woah, what a real bad thing that is for our would-be "free" society.   

But there is a big problem with most of this coverage.  It's not honest, and if the outcome were as I imagine, it could actually be worse.

Take Chicago press's reaction to the Chicago police department's recent flipping the encrypt key.  They aren't actually arguing that society at large should be able to continue monitoring open police radio traffic.  They're arguing that they the accredited media, should.  Them - not you.

The point they make, of course, is that they are somehow more responsible than regular people when it comes to handling the information that a standard dump of radio scanner traffic affords.

Never mind that most of media is profit-driven. That, as a monied industry, it is prone to control information, manipulation, and to sensationalize what information it gleans.

I suspect that what "media coallations against police encryption" really want is the control and exclusivity of information access that, if they achieved that in the grand opportunity of becoming the exception to being tuned out, would combat the erosive effects that the internet, the world wide web, and social media, have all had on the relevance of their industry.

The CNNs of the world love the prospect of encryption, by effect.

It is tempting to enjoy the "media military armanent" working against the tide of police encryption, but it can be a perversed damnation of the open broadcasting principles if all that's really being talked about is a refshuffling of the stacked deck against regular people.

Linkage



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan openpscomms

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What this Thing Would Look Like

12/18/2022

In noodling what a group of people roaming the city in search of public safety activity, it is true that I dread getting off my own duff to actually demonstrate it.

But consider that there are countless examples of energized populations that do very similar things -- albeit not for police scanning.

These groups would have some of the qualities, re-formulated a little, of all these:

  • Volunteer firefighting groups
  • REACT teams (of the day, but I believe they are still active - or not)
  • Independent content creators - as individuals (cobbled together they might be the basis for a loose federation, but they tend to be "independent" in their nature and identify more as freelance journalists)
  • Shomrim groups

What I would hope is that the love for a structured communication order and radios, cheap ones, would draw those personalities to begin thinking about forming such groups.

The re-formulation would result in such an operating group looking like a "club", perhaps with a rented headquarter office, meeting place, that is not only a place to administratively maintain the group, but a physical place for members to socialize, organize and host charity events, and so on, and so on. They would be radio-centric ala REACT and GMRS radio groups, be driven to find and report on public safety activity -- safely -- and have the blessing of local public safety who if not outright embracing them, would at least tolerate them (ala Shomrim), understanding the important social work that they accomplish. There would probably always be some degree of chaotic tension but ultimately I feel these groups are a thing I think they would cope along with just fine in the end.

In an enriched area with a strong group like this, the passive consumers who would prefer to just listen to police scanners as they always have, would use police scanners to listen in on the teeming activity of the active ones.

Regurgitation of my post in a Radio Reference thread.  Please review my regurgitation policy.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan openpublicsafety

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Great Balls Of Non-Encrypted Fire

12/14/2022

Encryption if it is an available technology is tough to de-justify. The best justification for not encrypting in American law enforcement is that open broadcasting was part of the original fabric of police radio communication technology.

Early AM radios were capable, indeed marked with tuning guides, to specifically tune into city wide police broadcasts.

You bought a floor radio and it was expected that you would be able to listen in to police calls as easily and directly as you would to Amos N' Andy.

However unintentionally and however wrought by lack of technical sophistication this was possible, it's because of this that open public safety broadcasting has been a fundamental component of policing, reflective of our culture's commitment to individual liberty and our angst against the potential for government tyranny and totalitarianism, for most of time.

There are excellent reasons to not encrypt if you first accept American exceptionalism as a real thing in terms of freedom and liberty.

Any other nation on earth with the technology to encrypt its public safety communication would logically and immediately seek to do so -- assuming affordable. The same cultural consideration we have in the USA simply doesn't exist to such level elsewhere. Even early UK radios probably had the ability to listen in to police calls, but they never had the American spirit that led to us splitting up from them in the first place.

Open public safety communication is one of America's unappreciated birthmarks. It makes little sense to foreign countries who balk at our liberties and independence. I would expect encryption to swell within all other nations, but I would expect the fight to NOT encrypt to roar in the United States.

Like anyone reading this, I am not optimistic. What I have concluded and what I am now promoting is a flat-out balls-to-the-walls replacement for police scanning, which would involve the evolution of a parallel human network of enthusiasts, working journalists, activists, and good people roaming or spotting in their cities and regions, and reporting on public safety drama in a very concentrated and channeled way. These spotters would have their own openly broadcast radio network that would be scannable by regular people everywhere and anywhere.

Regurgitation of my post in a Radio Reference thread.  Please review my regurgitation policy.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan deauthorizethemedia openpublicsafety

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New Online Police Scanner for Buffalo

12/11/2022

For as long as YouTube allows this, this thing is up.

I recently acquired the SDS 200 with one of several goals in mind to provide some degree of online broadcasting of the Buffalo City area police scanning activity (understanding of course that there has always been the Broadcastify option -- but I mean in a full GUI context).

That system is now online for your subscribing pleasure.

While I believe "police scanning" needs to be replaced by a human network of radio and digitally connected participants for reasons I'll be covering at the BuffScan blog over time, I believe that the movement will be sourced from those that enjoy police scanning and who understand the importance of its role in keeping our society free and open.

It is important to understand that I operate the online scanner as a direct reflection of personal preference, and (for now), on a shared server with all of my other digital expression projects.

First, this means that those things I find interesting beyond the usual public safety channels are included in the feed. These personal preferences may not jive with everyone's idea of "scanning fun".

For example, my feed might on occasion include things like the airport bus shuttles or random businesses that I'm curious about.

It's important to know why this matters. While I do operate it as a service, it is also in the context that "you're scanning along with David" rather than "you're scanning efficiently".

I like to think that I am efficient of course but may fray at the edges when compared to your specific tastes.

Second, the entire system operates on my personal web server which hosts the gambit of my original online digital expressions. So, in those times that I am maintaining the server or tweaking things (including the radio programming), you'll likely see all of that if you're watching long and consistently enough.

There will be other times where because of this I will need to temporarily stop the YT feed to work on things that might be considered private or related to security.

With those caveats in mind, without going into the boring details of my home infrastructure, I will tell you that the system is resilient. For as long as YouTube allows continuous livestreaming without restriction (which may not be forever), and my heart is beating, this feed is up. You can subscribe and count on it.

Enjoy! And begin thinking how we are going to replace police scanning with a human network.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan openpublicsafety

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Encryption As Just the Beginning

11/24/2022

I manage my Buffscan content with a bold concept in mind:  To restore the cognizance of police and other public safety activity in communities where such agencies have encrypted their radio systems.  And, specifically, through the development of some human based "parallel" radio and digital media network operated by enthusiasts and journalists at the chaotic level.

But let me be clear here: Encrypted radio systems are not necessarily the sole motivation behind the development of such networks.

Encrypted radio systems are really just a milestone marker for the degradation wrought by more complex technological advances.  Even where agencies do not encrypt their traffic outright, more and more communication occurs "in the dark" by way of mobile data consoles or one-to-one communication over private cellular or near-cellular phone networks. 

Pushing successful public access policies with respect to radio traffic would certainly resolve the most convenient vantage point for a curious public -- people could sit back and continue to "just listen" -- but such policies would be, in the bigger picture, limited.  People can do better.  Cognizance can have a much, much, wider range.

Public access policies where they may be enacted might actually have the affect of slowing down the evolution of my proposals in totality of "the vision".

I haven't given a workable label for this parallel "human based network", but I'm always mulling it.  I tend to consider a name for it much like a novelist might for the title of a book they are working on, best given once the story of it all has taken a more concrete form.  In essence, at this point I am content to let the story write its own title.

It is interesting to note that here in Buffalo where I find myself geographically, most of anything the typical scanning hobbyist or a member of the working media, isn't actually encrypted.  While most of it is all digital, it is all "in the clear", requiring only more expensive police scanners than what might have been required prior to the 2000s.

That being said, we can anticipate that Buffalo public safety will hop on the encryption band wagon as the risk of doing so is always there at every upgrade juncture. 

As an example, my birth county of Luzerne Pennsylvania switched on police encryption during just such a casual upgrade only a few weeks ago.  In doing so, local officials proactively honored a public access-friendly policy of keeping fire and medical transmissions in the clear, so, that community will at least continue be aware of things that "rise to the level of fire trucks".

But that is not the trend or the rule of compelling temptation, when it comes to agencies that find themselves on the fence.  And in any event, it's again, not the full gist of what can be had by an outright replacement for police scanning.

The cause and reason for a human network only begins with the reality of public safety radio encryption, but is much deeper.  It is not tolerable that there be a cluster of police lights or police action, unexplained except through the conduits of official police press releases, or profit-driven media, unofficially "deputized" with private backroom access over regular people, of which media workers are just.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan openpublicsafety projects

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I'm Fine, Society Is Not

05/16/2022

Capture of CNN website coverage of Buffalo shooting incident.

Hi all, I was away from computers and the news for the entire period, helping a friend move, when this horrible thing happened. I am safe, but thank you for all the concern and messages.

You can imagine that something like this happening local to me would have had me all over it with respect to ground journalism and online ranting philosophies in wake of, the actual lack of which, raised alarm bells as to my well-being.

As it is, and probably for the better, I am just a horrified member of the regular audience digesting in what I can from the regular post-analysis news. I have seen some clips of the since-pulled videos of the shooter's livestream and find myself wanting to personally strangle the man responsible. The anger has no bottom on this one.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

announcements buffscan humanity

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Giving Local Media Police Radios Resolves Nothing

05/07/2022

One of the most bizarre compromises to emerge between public safety officials and open broadcasting advocates in some areas, is the idea of giving designated media houses access to encrypted police communications, but not to what they consider the general public.

While such a compromise somehow feels apt given the supposed professional foundation of the mainstream media and of the people who work within, the premise collapses instantly on the idea that the mainstream media can somehow be trusted more in principle to never sensationalize or to somehow commodify the police radio traffic they maintain privy access to.

Sensationalize and commodify are what they do.

All these types of agreements would likely wind up doing is creating an alignment between government officials and local brokers of the news, with access to the police radio traffic turning into the "currency of compliance" between them. If the local sheriff finds himself bothered by a probe into its practices by a pesky reporter for a newspaper, for example, that sheriff might find it all too easy to "de-classify" said newspaper as a legitimate media outlet, and pull the newspaper's plug.  The newspaper would be at a significant disadvantage against its media processing competitors.

There's that, and then, there's the outdated presumption that anyone operating a media center is doing anything exceptional anyway. In 2022 everyone is a journalist, and those we would deem journalists it turns out, are just people.  Vulnerable, greedy, and biased.

Giant media houses are just profit-suckers who happen to present a more polished and frequently agitating tweet than your crazy uncle might. Filled with cheap-to-produce superficial insight and biased interpretations and positions which are often designed to invoke ever-profitable conflict, it makes zero sense to make every city and jurisdiction dependent on them for information.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan deauthorizethemedia openpublicsafety

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Replacing Police Scanning With Human Networks

05/07/2022

Public safety radio moving to encrypted systems has left me trying to self-formulate and explain what a replacement for public monitoring looks like.  I have yet to articulate an idea well, let alone document it.  And, unfortunately, I have to assume that's because I haven't yet imagined or conceptualized a solution well first.

What I do have are a loose array of outlines going in one direction or another, with the idea that most excites me being that of a human-based reporting network.  That is to say, I hope that as average people lose the ability to eavesdrop on police or fire radio signals, they will form human networks of radio teams that "patrol and report", spotting on and contributing to local newsfeeds in real-time of various sorts and platforms.  Digital tools for that exist today in off-the-shelf social media tools like Twitter and other platforms, as do cheap analog radio backbones such as old-fashioned CB radio.

Linkage



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan deauthorizethemedia openpublicsafety

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Buffalo Police Takedown With Officers Shot

03/29/2022

Dramatic radio traffic capture of Buffalo Police chase on early evening of 3/29/22 that begins with Buffalo Police attempting to engage a Jeep Cherokee in a traffic stop.  Three police officers and one suspect are ultimately shot during course of.

The first recording begins at 5:56 PM EST and includes chatter until 7:59 PM EST.  The recording was non-managed and covered several agencies (BPD, NFTA Transit police, Buffalo fire, and others), so some key recordings were eclipsed by others as the mayhem unfolded. 

For a complete inquiry you should be sure to check out other recordings that emerge online (Tonawanda Fire Alert has posted a YouTube of audio which includes other dramatic facets BuffScan's misses).

At entry time the three officers were said to be doing well.  Suspects, including one of the shooters who evidently experienced an "emotional reaction" to being pulled over (sarcasm), are said to be in custody.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan

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Neighbors App Advances to the Web

02/12/2022

I'm heartend to find that the Neighbors app, the anti-crime community notification app that binds tightly with Ring and other video doorbell and security cameras, at some point picked up a desktop option for viewing and commentating

I'm pretty sure it wasn't always this way because when I engage digital tools I always first check to see if I can do it over a regular computer.  I signed up for Neighbors when I used Blink cameras, which were integrated with the Neighbors app, though, not quite as seamlessly as native Ring cameras.  Blink cameras, while they can still be bought, were more a thing two or so years ago.  They were more a thing than Ring, I think, at the time.  So, two years ago I don't think they had a web option or I would have been all over it.

Image of bad guy on porch.

Neighbors App on the Web. Also, the Guy Here, a Possible Bank Robber Too

To me, it's just another example of major web tool publishers rediscovering people's preference for working behind big screens and with conventional keyboards and mice.  Or in this case, being vigilante (or just nosey).

Developing for the "desktop web" these days takes a very deliberate and purposeful production committment because of course the "monetization market" is among friction-free freaks, which means putting things into people's hands with mobile apps first and maybe a web dashboard second.  

Kind of unrelated to my missive here, the guy in that particular image above is said among the commentators of the posted video to resemble the guy also accused in a number of attempted bank robberies.  If so, between those robbery attempts and this theft of a Ring camera, he's obviously on some sort of spree.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan webcammadness www

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Audio: 407 Hampshire 3-Alarm Fire

01/16/2022

Here's the bulk of Buffalo Fire radio traffic generated while the Buffalo Fire Department battled what turned out to be a 3-alarm fire. 

The call came in at 5:20 AM and there seemed to be a number of addresses given early in the incident, owing, possibly, to an apparent intersect of streets and fire swath to nearby structures.  But, the final worked was given as 407 Hampshire Street.

My audio assembly may include minor gaps or possibly duplicate tracks.  Sorry, but until I mop it up, it was early!  I didn't see anything on the feeds as of at least 45 minutes ago (Fire Buff New York actually got up the first mention of and video just as I was composing this entry), so I'm assuming everyone is resting off the Bills win last night!

(Mostly) Full Scanner Audio of Fire Ground Activity

Continued editing of this entry is in progress as more details emerge from actual recording playback.

Fire Buff New York made the trek and posted these video Tweets.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

audio buffscan fireground

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Leaving 2021 Burning

01/01/2022

This happened across the street from me yesterday (New Year's Eve).  I was at this very keyboard working on the blog launch when the call came through on the scanner.  

I'm always in "response" mode for local public safety incidents, so long as such incidents are relatively close.  Being across the street, this event qualified.  I made it to the scene before the full battalion even arrived.

These clips were broadcast or shared to the BuffaloScan Twitter feed, but I also did a live video via Twitter on said feed which provides an additional angle, and some incredible water works shots as fires make quick work of putting out the blaze. 

This WGRZ news report echos what I already knew from the Buffalo Fire Department's standard verbal summary over fire radio -- something they give to the dispatcher just after they've put out the fire and are about to leave the scene.  The fire was apparenlty arson.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan fireground video

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The Openness, Calling All Citizens Nostalgia Tour

12/28/2021

This is a video of me touring my old "Calling All Citizens" (and later and as depicted in the video -- "Openness") online campaign, hoping to encourage public safety agencies to keep their radio systems open and scannable by the general public.  I was active with this between the mid-90s and mid-2000s.  

I'm not much with producing online video, so my advice is that if you actually watch this thing that you a) full-screen it (the expander is in the video's control tray), and b) consider skipping past my long narrative opener before I actually begin touring the site, if you're in some kind of hurry or something.

I suggest full-screen.

My campaign is still "technically" alive in the sense that I remain an advocate for everything I championed, but, I am no longer a standout producer or leader in the cause.   This very posting is probably the most interesting thing I've done related to the campaign outside an occasional forum rant or tweet in maybe 10 years.

But I am simply no longer needed.  I am living long enough to see the real world taking lead over the issue right before my very eyes.  The demand for police transparency has actually become a thing.  So much so, that police officers literally wear body cams.  I have encountered an influx of news stories about police "going undercover" with their radio systems, including in my birth town community of Luzerne County. 

There's been more attention by the mainstream press as the deployment of digital and digitally encrypted systems have picked up steam and people wonder why they can't listen in anymore.

And, speaking of the press, people are rejecting "authorized" media outlets in favor of ground journalism techniques, social media, and I expect, soon, Web 3.0 -- the decentralized accent of it (still being an ambiguous concept, there are several ideas of what 3.0 is, but decentralization is considered a major component). 

People insisting on raw authentic information has turned into a revolution.  My website tour is an oddity of focus on what I have to imagine was among the first flickering embers.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan openpscomms www

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Best Buffalo Webcams for Wind Storm

12/11/2021

There's a major wind storm whipping through Buffalo this moment, and it's expected to continue until 10 PM or so.

Here's a collection of the best live (or, almost live) online web cams you can use to scout the city proper and beyond for damage and conditions.

Traffic 511 Webcams

Once you land on the site, scroll in to Buffalo.  You'll see a dozen and more camera links mounted across the interstate highway system.  Pick one by clicking the camera and assuming the camera is working (some are not) you'll first be presented with a static image, but if it's available, you can click the "video" link for live video.

The "Mr. Pizza" Webcam

Offered up by BuffaloWebcam.com, Mr. Pizza is a smooth look at this entire sordid affair from the pedestrian level as the neighborhood goes on as close to normal as it can.

The same website offers a view North on Elmwood.

Screenshot of Mr. Pizza webcam.

The Peace Bridge Authority Webcams

The Peace Bridge Authority apparently hosts a series of live webcams via YouTube Live.  Awesome.  They have 4 operating webcams, all crystal clear.

Screenshot of Peace Bridge Authority's YouTube channel.

BuffCam - Delaware Avenue and Allen St.

This isn't a live camera but if you click the remote viewing box you'll get a self-refreshing updated image every minute (remember to allow pop-ups for this site in your web browser).  The camera overlooks the intersection of Delaware Avenue and Allen Street.

Screenshot from Buffcam website.

We might as well keep this list growing for tonight, and beyond!  If you know of another operating webcam, be sure to contact me.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan webcammadness

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Accident at Delaware Avenue and North St.

10/29/2021

Rollover vehicle accident, Delaware Avenue & North Street, Buffalo.  Occurred @ approximately 8:33 PM. Scanner traffic hints at a female driver rescued, though there is no information on condition. Media contains 2 images and initial dispatch audio.

This incident occurred within "response range" of my studio. It gave me an opportunity to test out my empathy documentation protocol using a stealthy camera device I recently purchased for this specific type of incident .

For the moment I am not posting video from that device as part of the presentation here, nor would I anyway if it contained clear human trauma  (the fact that such a protocol exists should not be taken to mean that respect for humanity in content collection and ground journalism are somehow "dropped").  The run was simply a test.

Fortunately there is nothing to suggest that anyone was seriously injured, though as I mention above, there is no word one way or another on that. It just strikes me as survivable.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

accident buffscan video

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That Shooting Involving an NFTA Bus

10/03/2021

Here's a linear collection of video clips I recorded on the evening of September 20, 2021 while in commute home from work and a trip to the laundromat (and, KFC).

While heading south on Main Street I overheard a call on the scanner that a shooting had just occurred only blocks ahead of me, and that it somehow involved an NFTA (Buffalo City) bus.

I do not generally "respond" to active crime scenes that are still as hot as this one was at the time, but I realized that the police presence was already strong and getting stronger, so I rationalized it was safe enough to park and document the events as much as might-could be.  I mean, I was driving straight into it in any event.

Although the shooting event itself and scene were dramatic, the closure on this event was actually fairly tame.  According to the police radio traffic sampled later, a victim was shot in the leg and the wound considered non-life-threatening.  

That being said, it's never been cleared up in the open media how the bus actually figured into any of this outside police radio traffic, which suggests that the shooter had direct contact with the bus in such a way that its passengers were terrified and fled off it. 

Part of the  confusion is because the victim themself was treated at the separate location nearly over a block away.  Nonetheless WGRZ TV, at least, did report a bus window that appeared shot out, suggesting the shooting did in fact occur on the bus.

Whatever the case, the bus driver apparently tripped the "Call 911" message on his public-facing displays.

The video collection starts with me driving up to the scene, having just heard it come through on the scanner; then paramedics treating the victim in a parking lot just beside "Dr. Bob's Dentistry";  then me walking approximately a block away to the bus which somehow factored into all of this;  then me, having walked back to my car, marveling over a spent bullet shell casing just behind my car. 

Turns out I had parked in a space adjacent to the area where the shooter actually fired from.

Video 1 of 4 - Hearing the Call, Approaching the Scene

Video 2 of 4 - Apparent Victim Being Treated

Video 3 of 4 - Walk to the NFTA Bus

Video 4 of 4 - Bullet Shell Casing Next to My Car

For what it's worth this is not the first time someone opened up with gunfire on a city bus.  While Googling for the details of this event, I came across a separate 2019 instance.

Yikes.

Understandably it is bad press for the NFTA or any transit agency (note that the NFTA press release site does not explicitly provide a notice of this event), not to mention the city itself, to have something like this sort of thing lathered all over the nightly news.  Police, the media, and the general public are accustomed to shootings occurring in a contained area of high crime neighborhoods, and we all cope day to day believing that "we" are safe in our structured more economically secure lives.  Any city politician or private developer is going to cringe at any hint of incident-leakage into the mainstream public, which is of course, an eventuality.

That is precisely why documenting these events at a chaotic level outside the control of the status quo stakeholders is ever important.  If you are there, you are the reporter.

Linkage



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan crime video

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Porting Posts

10/02/2021

So here I go again!

Once again I am juggling my hosting arrangements so that I can web publish more affordably but also more efficiently.  

That means for a bit, you're going to see some fresh posts here that are actually old posts from blogs that I previously ran under individual presentations.  I am porting over key entries and then deleting those presentations, redirecting any domains to equivalent pages and entry categories at this blog.

I could go into the database and meticiously change the data so that the posts rendered in a more proper flow, but I did that once for a similar dance years ago, and man, it just wasn't worth it.  Once the migration is over all those posts just wind up stateless in the archive anyway.

I have just completed the port of BuffScan, which means there is now a BuffScan page within this blog's presentation.  Look for the same approach for Earl Pin Astrology, Wilkes-Barre Rail, and Tampa Rail.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

announcements buffscan projects

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Dead Body in Allentown Parking Lot

10/02/2021

[ Note this event occurred earlier than the entry date stamp.  It is a blog post ported from another hosting arrangement. ]

I want to say up front that there is nothing particularly newsworthy about a dead body turning up in a city parking lot.  Sadly with the drug situation being what it is, I don't guess this is as uncommon or shocking as it probably should be.

However, I am posting this to BuffScan because this dead body turned up in my neighborhood and I just happened to drive through the incident scene, granting me the "content".  This is a BuffScan posting of principle whereby if you are there, you are the reporter.

Make no mistake  though, this is not to trivialize the death of what the MSM channels have so far been calling a male victim.  A victim of what, the police are not yet saying.  It could be natural causes as much as anything nefarious.  

Otherwise the facts are simple.  Police were contacted about a man down at approximately 7:20 AM in a Franklin Street parking lot.  Over the course of the next few hours, according to recorded radio traffic, they called for evidence and photos as part of their addressment.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan video

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Two Shot in Allentown

10/02/2021

[ Note this event occurred earlier than the entry date stamp.  It is a blog post ported from another hosting arrangement. ]

Again in my own neighborhood there has been a dramatic incident, this time a shooting that apparently sent two people to the hospital.

I swear it isn't me, but I'm starting to wonder.  

I was prepping for a gym and laundry run when I noticed the sound of multiple sirens swelling up outside.  Although I'm a born firetruck-chaser, as you might guess, living on Delaware Avenue has actually sort of conditioned me from reacting every time I hear them.  But in this case, there were a lot, and in the next room the scanner chatter, which I wasn't paying particular attention to either, had suddenly gotten dense and excited.  Something big was going on and it was nearby.

Mentions of the actual address were long past by the time I got to actually absorbing the content of radio transmissions, so after a few minutes hoping to learn exactly what was going on, and where, I decided to simply investigate on foot.  Turns out it was all just down the street.

Linkage



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan crime video

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Dramatic BPD Police Pursuit Audio

10/02/2021

[ Note this event occurred earlier than the entry date stamp.  It is a blog post ported from another hosting arrangement. ]

[ Important Note:  This audio is NOT of the police chase I happened to catch Sunday 6/20 (the video of that is here).  This audio is from a separate incident approximately 2 weeks prior to that.]

And yet MORE drama involving my fine Allentown neighborhood.  I came across this chase as numerous BPD police units were chasing someone or at least on way to chasing someone the wrong way on Franklin Street.  Occurred at 7:55-ish PM -- only about 30 minutes or so prior to this posting.

It's probably worth noting that this chase was not related to another chase earlier this morning (just after midnight) which also involved a crash -- although hearing the story it generally involved the same neighborhood.

From what I interpret in my time listening to the scanner, Buffalo Police has a fairly restrictive chase practice -- frequently breaking off in favor of catching up with suspects later whenever possible.  So, the so-far mysterious chase through Allentown was likely based on something serious.  We'll have to continue monitoring MSM for answers unless you know and tell.

Linkage



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

audio buffscan crime

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Buffalo Wild Police Chase

10/02/2021

[ Note this event occurred earlier than the entry date stamp.  It is a blog post ported from another hosting arrangement. ]

And, here we go yet again! 

This video is from last June 20 but is being migrated to this blog from its previous host.

I was standing at the corner of Allen Street and Delaware Avenue trying to snipe video of the Blue Angels which were occasionally flying over the neighborhood, when this happened.

I was a little tipped off when I spotted a Lackawanna Police vehicle pull up to the intersection with its overheads lit up -- no chase yet, just this out-of-jurisdiction vehicle making a presence.  But, I know from being a scanner junkie that when you spot a foreign police car lit up like that, it might mean a cross-jurisdiction police chase is in progress.

The Lackawanna cruiser turned up Delaware Avenue and I was not disappointed.  It met up with the oncoming chase head-on, which is where my video begins.

Frame capture of running vehicle in police pursuit.

Frame Capture of the runner.  Looks like it could be a girl or woman.

There are no MSM stories or indicators of this event.  Sans my lucky shot with the camera and this blog, this would be a never-happened.  

What is evident is that the chase originated in Lackawanna as all the units pictured are Lackawanna.  And, it probably involved someone doing something serious enough to merit the chase (though oddly, not much media attention).  It's unclear how Lackawanna Police's chase policy differs from Buffalo.

I also know that the chase involved or culminated in a crash involving at least one of the Lackawanna police units, as I was able to reach the scanner in time to hear that much.  My recording system was "down" it turned out, so I couldn't replay to hear more details about what led up to it.

I have sent Lackawanna Police a Facebook message via their page asking if they plan to issue a release.  However, given that police chases are more dramatic to us lay people and a bit more routine to them, it's not likely we'll hear back from them.  And, in any event, said Facebook page looks pretty neglected.

That is the importance of being vigilant with your cameras and your blogs.  Remember, if you are there, you are the reporter! 



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan video wtf

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Video of Buffalo Police Cruiser Crash, Arrest TikTokked

10/02/2021

[ Note this event occurred earlier than the entry date stamp.  It is a blog post ported from another hosting arrangement. ]

I guess TikTok is increasingly gaining credibility as a citizen journalism tool, or tool of serendipitous witness as may really be the case here.

TikToker SarahMarie716 captured this takedown of an apparent police suspect, which also includes a Buffalo police cruiser inadvertently ramming the back of another, while arriving to help.  All in all, "I got this on video gold!" type of situation.

The picture below links to the video, but if you prefer now, here's the link too.

Scene of Buffalo Police takedown

It's not clear exactly what the suspect in this video was wanted for, but he knew he was in trouble, since, as police caught up to him he immediately got on the ground and assumed an arrest position.   

He is subsequently cuffed and the arrest is complete.

There is a lot of "inert" negative commentary on the TikTok's thread for this video about how many police had to run over to the already complying suspect, but the arrest itself looks clean and routine.  

But that crash?  It was probably minor in police terms, but it sure sounded hard!  I am sure the actual ouch to BPD ego will be on the Dukes of Hazzardness flavor this whoopsie endears.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

buffscan video

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New Shocking Video Shows Buffalo Police Helping Old Man Off Sidewalk

02/11/2021

In this shocking video clip captured in the early AM hour of August 23, 2020, un-identified Buffalo, NY police officers are caught compassionately and patiently helping an old angry and agitated man off the sidewalk at the intersection of Delaware Avenue and Allen Street.

In this two minute video, which is not for the soft of heart who tear easily at grim acts of kindness, officers convene around the patient, hear him out, then gently help him from the ground and usher him to a waiting ambulance.

The video nobody thought would leak.

For some reason, this "shocking video" probably isn't going to go viral.

I make this satirical posting on the same day that several Buffalo police officers had charges dropped for supposedly willfully (as some anti-police types would cry) knocking another senior 75-year-old to the ground during one of the chaotic protests which occurred in this city over the summer.

I never agreed that's what happened and have always been perplexed that people were so eager to interpret what was clearly an accident, as something malicious.

It's not that I take swipe at the protesters who march or protest bad and biased police behavior where it may occur.  And it's not simply that I know that there are bad apples but rather I believe impulsive actions and prejudices are too natural even among good people -- ergo, even among good officers.  My feeling is, protest and solidify positive ideals against real racism, keeping those who might get too casual, in check.  

But the simple facts are that there was no purposeful intent to harm Martin Gugino, who by the same viral video that show him falling shows him wading his way directly into an advancing police line.  A bit too naive perhaps, but definitely reckless and contributing to the chaos.

Maybe I think the Buffalo police and other departments need to brush up more precisely on what to do in such instances, but to think that a crime was committed is over the top and intellectually dishonest.  The Guardian article to which I link points out that Gugino is a peace activist.  I maintain that if he really is, he would have acknowledged his culpability in the clumsy event and everyone could have parted ways embarrassed, but wiser.

Did that happen or will it happen, who can say?  But what I can bet, because this video shows off the more routine helpful and patient nature of police -- when there isn't a chaotic situation going one -- is that this will be the video of an old man, a sidewalk, and Buffalo police, that won't go viral.



  By Dave for for BuffScan.

blm buffscan video

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