Hoya…. Dr. Whacker here…
We got a submission in the Hamsexy mail bag today from the Lone Star state.
Everyone knows it’s Christmas – a busy time for shopping, and a busy time for theives. One thing us Hams are good at is finding new ways to use our radios. Our submitter sent us these audio recordings from the Denton County Amateur Radio Club’s MALL PATROL.
Our contributor, Patrick K5RNB, writes:
This activity is sanctioned by a local club. The concept is a good idea. Assisting law enforcement and mall security, but I have a real problem with using system resources to report petty offenses, perceived or otherwise and following vehicles. It’s a little scary and reeks of the Barney Fife mentality.
Best I can tell these are various members of some club. This activity was on the WA5LIE repeater in Denton, TX yesterday evening around 2100. It definitely was a coordinated effort with a net control op using call sign N5AOR. I make no claim this is any specific club that sanctioned this, nor do I submit it to infer, accuse any org., I just heard what sounded like a coordinated effort with several mobile ops reporting petty offenses the accuracy of some were of a questionable nature. Just another whacker.
The Mall Patrol involves hams walking around the mall with their radios, reporting anyone and everything that might be suspicious.
This gentle columnist’s humble opinion is that putting MALL SECURITY in the hands of unpaid, unprofessional and untrained people – even if it’s just snooping and ratting on fellow shoppers, is a little unwise. Esepcially hams, whom have shown a potential to think they are cops anyway.
We’ll leave it up to you to decide.
Those audio clips are very whacker. These guys are fucking tools. One guy even says he apologizes for speaking into his microphone backwards. WTF?
The only positive thing to be said here, is that these whackers are only observing, and didn’t appear to get physically or verbally involved at any time.
Ummm…
There’s a link on their web page:
http://www.dcara.net/
Wow.
Oh Jeez… parking in the fire lane and playing loud music? Kids playing around? Call out the National Guard… This is the kind of petty BS that people like to call the PD with, thinking it’s vitally important when we have things like physical domestics, alarm calls, injury accidents, and the like.
You can tell they’re whackers from using phrases like “exited the vehicle.”
Not trying to defend these retards, but isn’t mall security in general handled by untrained, unprofessional and poorly paid people?
Oh my. Almost makes it pointless to try to explain the difference between CB and Amateur Radio when approached by a curious non-ham. I am afraid that after hearing these clips I would have to say “Oh not much” ;), at least where these guys are concerned!”
The hamsters in Jacksonville, FL do something similar but I can’t say how good the operation is as I was never a part of it.
N1ZZZ
Taken directly from their calendar:
Mall Watch begins November 24th. It will run every Friday and Saturday evening from 6:00 pm to when the Mall closes, usually 9:00 or 10:00 pm through December 23rd. eCOMM-701 will be set up between Sears and Penney’s for net control. Our duties are to patrol the parking lot, or walk through and around the mall and report any unusual activities back to net control who will then notify Mall Security. There will be various law enforcement agencies patrolling with us. In years past, Mall Security has indicated that DCARA’s volunteer help at holiday time has been invaluable.
If you have any questions or would like to volunteer for these two events, contact Greg Evans, N5AOR, at [email protected]. We would really like to have you come and help out. We try to have some fun and this is an excellent time for new operators to get some experience at working an event.
And if you are really interested in seeing which whack-o-riffic rentacop-wannabes will be there, go to this website:
http://www.dcara.net/projects/Mall_Schedule_2006.html
What a bunch of tools. AND WTF IS eCOMM-701????????
That “e” wouldn’t happen to stand for emergency, would it …. BECAUSE THERE ISN”T ANY F’ING EMERGENCY!
Talking into mike backwards? “Everything’s 10-4”?
Dudes, now THAT’s entertainment!
This is UNBELIEVEABLE. But there it is on their website – proof positive! And there I was – thinking about joining Denton County ARES. On second thought… I don’t think so.
I sent them the following email:
This is insane. I heard some of your activity on hamsexy.com. I too shall start recording your mall rent-a-cop-wanna-be nets and posting them on the internet to give us more to laugh at.
I’m pretty sure the malls can take care of themselves. This is one of the reasons people make fun of ham radio ops. Y’all need to get a life and stop embarassing the rest of us, please!
Cheers!
Scott, n0xmz
I have relatives that are Cops. They HATE people like this. Cops normally think people like this make things worse.
These nimrods reflect badly on the rest of the HAM community. I had a really scary flashback to the 70s when the CB disaster was in full tilt boogie. Vigilantes! I have been a HAM since July and worked repeaters all over the country (I travel a lot) and this is the worst I have heard so far, by far.
They aren’t trying to be cops. They are trying to be MALL SECURITY !!! Yup, that’s what I always wanted to be when I grew up – not a fireman or police officer, not an astronaut, not the president, but rather MALL SECURITY!
But so long as they concentrate their reports on telling Mall Security that there are kids riding skateboards and cars parked in a fire lane, and aren’t calling 911 for loud music or arresting people, I don’t see much harm (although chasing vehicles around the parking lot while chatting on a radio does bother me – why can’t they watch the cars from fixed positions? This sounds like a traffic accident or an opportunity for escalation to something the cops *do* need to respond to, and this type of activity should absolutely not be allowed by the Mall or by the club).
Let them report to mall security. Let them get practice in a directed net (what should they do if not this? A net about old-folk medical problems?). And so long as they aren’t actually reporting kids playing to the police, but rather simply telling some bored mall security person, it doesn’t really matter.
As for the guy with the backwards microphone, I am sorry to say that I hear stuff like that even on police and fire frequencies (or worse, the cop who insists on not positioning his mouth anywhere near his clip-on mic while transmitting and doesn’t see a thing wrong with not being heard – at least I could hear the ham!) – although I hear less of it on public service frequencies, probably because the average cop has more hours of radio usage than the average ham… He was a good sport and admitted his screwup from the sound of it, and didn’t come across as an arrogant ass, so I don’t particularly have a problem with it.
But, yes, the parking lot chase was rather whacktacular.
What the heck is wrong with these people, that can’t even run their own lives and they want to order others around.
The stupidity of it all makes real people doing real jobs cringe.
They are more likely to cause a problem than solve one.
Ya think they could spend their money on real training and stay the away from amateur radio use.
Tell them to use CB or FRS instead.
Amateur Radio should be left to amateur radio use only and not some whacker cultish group like this.
One sure way to kill a hobby is to allow the nuts to hunt the squirrels using amateur radios.
BTW, they need a hamabout to effectively patrol a mall and don’t forget the spare battery.
10-4 I mean im sorry…Hey it’s a good laugh if nothing else!!!
Hell, where I am a ham would be better than the mall security we have here. I mostly just listen to their repeater for a mall whose properties extend no more than 1000 yards in either direction. I can talk to my buds when I am there on .5 watts from the other side, but they have an off site repeater on the same tower the city PD and FD are on. I can hear them in the next county.
LMAO! the guy in clip #3 & 4 cracks me up: ” uh…they have a board of uh..wood and they’re uh fighting , er playing with it and I think some maybe injured, maybe possibly.” then: ” everything is 10-4, er it’s fine I apologize” lol!!!!!!!
This is N5AOR, I thought I would provide for the readers the other 99.99% of the facts so an intelligent person can make an informed decision.For starters, the DCARA has been providing this service for over 10 years. Each year, Mall Security contacts us in the summer to make sure we plan to help out at Xmas time. Xmas time comes, we help out, and we get many thanks through the holidays from Mall Security. We also get the same thanks from the Sheriff’s Dept. that has a dedicated unit on site during the same holiday season. In short, DCARA is asked specifically each year to help for the holiday season and we are constantly reminded of the the appreciation for doing so.As for the rowdy kids, cars playing loud music, and cars in the fire lane…..This is EXACTLY what Mall Security has asked us to report. Security doesn’t what the kids and cars upsetting the “buying customers”. Cars in the fire lane get reported because: #1 Security is trying to prevent a “grab and run” theft. #2 because it’s ILLEGAL to park a vehicle in the fire lane. It doesn’t matter if the engine is running, the hazards lights are on, or the driver is in the driver’s seat. You can get a ticket. Not everything that you hear on our net goes to Security. Our procedures say “If your not sure, report it, net control will decide if and when to pass it on. And YES, somethings get reported that don’t get passed along……so what, it’s a LEARNING EXPERIENCE.To answer Carl Facer’s,kc2llt, very colorful questions, eCOMM 701 is a COMM trailer built and paid for by the DCARA. The number “eCOMM 701” is the offical designator giving to us by “the county”. Denton County considers the DCARA as a major asset and as such our trailer is so labeled and we don’t change the name just because we’re using it for a non-emergency event.To address broadcast engineer paul’s comment, our club has 3 police officers and one sheriff’s deputy in our club membership and they support everything we do, Mall Watch or otherwise.As for rest of the poor attitudes nice enough to provide us with their 2 cents worth, let me ask you this, what have you done for your community lately? When was the last time you helped someone, stranger or not, for their benefit and not your own hidden agenda? When was the last time you got off the couch and lent a helping hand?Here is a little more general information. Great things are happening for amateur radio in Denton Co. The DCARA is working directly with the City of Denton, Denton County, Denton Co. Health Dept., all three major hospitals in Denton Co., and many other organizations. I personally have given amateur license classes to the City of Denton Emergency Manager, Denton Co. Emergency Manager, 3 people from FEMA region 6, 2 people from Dallas Co. Emergency Management, and various others from the Red Cross, police officers, and fire fighters.As Operations Officer of this club, I am always open minded to new ideas and/or constructive criticism, however I have no desire to listen to the ramblings of individuals who neither know the truth nor care which is fact or fiction. I welcome anyone, ham or not, to come to one of our club meetings to discuss changes and/or improvements. The DCARA meets every fourth Monday of the month except December. Details can be found at http://www.dcara.net.In closing, I would like to share a quote, “It’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt”.Best Regards,Greg Evans, N5AOR
Hahahah cracked like a nut….
Greg, I’m sure your club has good intentions.
However – consider a few things – this site, and some of the examples to be found on it. Then, read your club website description of what you do, and above all, listen to the recordings made of your activity.
THIS is what you are presenting to the world as “what hams do”. In this case, being mall security. No, you are not “helping” mall security, by taking the actions you have, you ARE, for all practical purposes, performing their duties – which is, to observe, and report problems at the mall. Of course, as concerned citizens, we ALL should do that.
Is this a public service or are you assisting a commercial enterprise? There’s a fine line here. Do you walk customers to their cars? That would be nice.
I applaud your sense of duty as hams. I really do. But step back, look and listen.
Excuse me now, as I go gather my “Goodie box” for my club’s participation in lining up our annual Christmas parade… (95% non-radio!)
“Ve haf our ways…today Denton …tomorrow der vorld”!!!
Sounds like an excuse to play with radios to me…
Way to go Denton! Why let those fortune 500 companies pay for security themselves when you guys are there to do it for free? Good to know when such an emergency pops up your there.
This has got to be pushing the rule! Gotta be.
WC5B
“Sounds like an excuse to play with radios to me…”
There oughta be a law!
Nice job defending your group, Greg. Been there, done that, got my stories on Hamsexy. (Don’t expect a t-shirt..)
As you can see they are willing to post both sides of the story.
Enjoy your 15 minutes of fame.
73 de K8MHZ
This is KD7CAO, a member of the Denton County Amateur Radio Association W5NGU.
I think that it is only fair that you have more information added to your excerpt of our involvement with the Golden Triangle Mall during “Mall Watch.”
It makes me feel disgusted to see postings from people that ridicule the activities of one club and the service that they are providing free of charge to not only the Golden Triangle Mall and the businesses within, but to the citizens that shop and work within the mall. It has been at the request of the Golden Triangle Mall Security for the past ten years that the Denton County Amateur Radio Association assist in keeping our neighborhoods safer. The mall not only request the service of DCARA but also from the Denton County Sheriff’s Office who provides not just a single unit, but quite often two units with at least to officers per vehicle.
It is not our responsibility to initiate contact with any citizen that meets our “requested reporting criteria.” In fact we forbid our members to initiate contact with anyone that is involved in suspicious activities. {How is this different from these other fine programs: Neighborhood Watch; Citizens on Patrol (COP’s); Auxiliary Law Enforcement Candidates?}
We operate a directed net from 1800 hours to approximately 2200 on Friday and Saturday evenings. Although it is a directed net, we keep it fairly informal and use this as a learning tool to teach the skills necessary to operate a Net Control Station, Field Operations Unit, or just to use proper net procedures.
Greg N5AOR, mentioned in his post that their are several law enforcement and security personnel that are involved in this aspect of the clubs activities. I would also like to point out some additional member involvement:
1. Several members are in City, County, or Regional Emergency Management Positions.
2. Numerous members are certified fire fighters, and EMT’s.
3. The majority of the members are actively involved in Skywarn a National Weather Service sanctioned event, with advanced knowledge in Meteorology.
4. At least two members are Lawyers.
5. Several Information Technologists.
6. And a large compliment of retired members.
We actively hold new Technician Classes and have a high percentage of Public Safety oriented students in attendance. This may be partly related to the fact that the University of North Texas is located in Denton County and offers the prestigious Bachelor’s of Science in Emergency Administration and Planning. http://www.unt.edu/eadp this program is also the oldest and most respected program in the world. They turn out more qualified EM folks that anywhere else.
Instead of complaining about what our club is doing, I challenge you to talk about what your club does and how you can become more actively involved in public safety.
One final note is that the term ECOMM-701 refers to Emergency Communications, 700 series (Emergency Management) Unit number 1. We have the same unit designation as the vehicles within the Denton County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and yes we are sanctioned to use the public safety radios in the event of an activation. We don’t rely on just Amateur Radio but take an Interoperability View instead.
We have helped the Mall and Denton County Sheriff’s Office with several attempted robberies, purse snatching, illegal drug use, and domestic violence cases while just reporting this information through the use of Amateur Radio. Imagine we could just call 911, which would probably prevent someone from getting the help they would need.
Also, we have helped walk people to their vehicles for safety, changed flat tires, or just talked to someone if they were having a rough day. This is a great service.
#####
For any members of DCARA or of anyone that has been listening to our nets, I would like to take a moment to invite you out and see for a first hand what we are doing at Mall Watch and meet the people that are spending money out of their pockets because they care about their community.
Whackers. No matter how you look at it, you guys are whackers. You may not want to admit to being one, you may even think it’s impossible. But, you’re whackers.
What would you do if you became engaged in a pursuit of an armed theft suspect? What if he/she started shooting at your car? Reached in and touched your dink? Sprayed you with pepperspray?
You guys need to get laid. I haven’t been laid in a while, but I got a handjob from a whore this week. Oh, and I’ve always stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.
X9F-How would you know? Your just a wannabe Ham… X9F is a special event callsign and not even on loan to any organization. I personally am waiting to be married and do not go out soliciting for sex.
Whacker? What are you people third graders? Get a life and quit being jealous of a group that is being requested to do something for their community.
[comment removed by administration]
” I haven’t been laid in a while, but I got a handjob from a whore this week.”
Wow, you couldn’t even get a whore to lay you. You must be one ugly critter.
k8mhz, jesus himself was a whore. It’s all good.
“k8mhz, jesus himself was a whore.”
I missed that in Sunday School. I must have been gone that day.
Enough, children.