THE TORCHSTONE WATCH
THE TORCHSTONE WATCH
ABOUT
TorchStone publishes The Watch to assist our readers in proactively managing risk—whether personal, professional, or organizational—in an increasingly insecure world. The featured articles, blog posts, and expert interviews address vulnerabilities and issues we have frequently encountered while safeguarding high profile individuals, wealthy families, multinational corporations, and international sporting events across six continents. Now, more than ever, security seems to be a precious commodity. Our goal is to give you more of it through The TorchStone Watch.
SPOTLIGHT ISSUE
Lessons from a Murder in Hollywood
By TorchStone VP, Scott Stewart
On July 9, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) announced that it had arrested five suspects in connection with the February 2020 murder of Bashar Jackson, a rapper known by the stage name, Pop Smoke. Jackson was shot and killed when a group of five armed men stormed the Hollywood house being rented by the New York based rapper. The three men and two juveniles arrested in connection with this case are reportedly connected with a South Los Angeles street gang that the police refused to identify. This raised speculation that perhaps the murder was somehow related to the 1990s East-coast/West-coast rap feud that resulted in the murders of rappers such as Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls. While police initially declined to provide a motive for the murder, on July 9 LAPD investigators said they had uncovered evidence indicating that Jackson’s murder was not intentional, but rather the result of a home invasion robbery gone wrong.
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TorchStone is in “The Business of Before®”…What does that mean?
As our nation prepares to re-open under the new “normal,” we have the fortunate opportunity of reevaluating our current security relationships and the ways in which we provide quality security services for our employees and customers. The conventional practice of contracting with an outside security vendor during a crisis may no longer be the most efficient and responsive in the post pandemic business world. We are witnessing a move to developing relationships with security consulting firms that provide services beyond bodies, badges & guns. The new concept establishes relationships with security firms that provide a holistic, multi-faceted platform. This is the first of several discussions on the topic of establishing a robust and collaborative relationship with a security provider.
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COVID-19 Crimes of Fraud Part Two: Target – Individuals
COVID-19 has become a perfect distraction for criminals to obtain your identity, wreak havoc on your credit score and potentially cause you additional financial hardship. Identity fraud can be called the “Invisible Crime.” The pandemic and economic downturn have been the perfect storm for opportunistic internet identity thieves to target the individual, but these acts have been overshadowed by high profile crimes of price-gouging, insider trading and theft of funds from government entities and corporations that make the headlines as noted in Part One of this article.
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COVID-19 Crimes of Fraud Part One: Target – Companies
As COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues to impact the health of the world, we need to be vigilant to the continuing and increasing risk of scams and frauds like identity theft that are adding to our current health and economic fears. With the United States and most of the world in an unprecedented public health emergency, white-collar crime has increased considerably. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic fallout have created a wave of overt criminal activities such as price-gouging and insider trading and has stretched the already overburdened resources of state and federal law enforcement.
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Protective Intelligence Lessons from a Failed Assassination in Mexico
At 6:35 on the morning of June 26, the armored Suburban carrying Mexico City’s Secretary of Public Security Omar García Harfuch, was traveling along the Paseo de la Reforma through the heart of Mexico City’s prestigious Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood of Mexico City. As the vehicle approached the intersection of Monte Blanco, a public works truck and a white Suburban suddenly pulled in front of Secretary García Harfuch’s Suburban, completely blocking the intersection.
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Countering Mexico’s criminal insurgency means offsetting largesse and threats
TorchStone’s Scott Stewart published an opinion piece in The Hill titled, ” Countering Mexico’s criminal insurgency means offsetting largesse and threats.” Mr. Stewart begins: “Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is wrapping up a three-day trip to the states of Guanajuato, Jalisco and Colima, some of the Mexican states most impacted by criminal violence.
READ MORE >Always Moving Forward with Chris Sanchez
Chris Sanchez, Vice President at TorchStone, interviewed by Glen Burton on his podcast, “Always Moving Forward,” discusses his role in National Security.
READ MORE >What does the “Olympic Curse” have to do with Tokyo 2020?
Howard Snyder, TorchStone’s Asia Specialist, writing in the Asia Times examines the plans the International Olympic Committee, the Tokyo Organizing Committee, and Olympic stakeholders are developing to successfully hold Tokyo 2020 in 2021.
READ MORE >TorchStone’s Scott Stewart talks with Ontic’s Fred Burton
TorchStone’s Scott Stewart talks with Ontic’s Fred Burton about the role of baseline threat assessments in protective intelligence
READ MORE >TorchStone’s Howard Snyder published in the Asia Times
Howie Snyder, TorchStone’s Tokyo’s 2020 Project Manager and Asia Specialist was recently published in the Asia Times.
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