The Real World News - Breaking Texas Insurance news, US news and more

Trash collectors to serve as eyes and ears in the street for police

Waste Management workers are out and about when almost everyone else is not. Except someone who might be up to no good.

A former FBI agent recently trained all Waste Management drivers, helpers and technicians in Rensselaer and Albany Counties to act as a mobile community watch.

"They're on these routes every day so they're used to the normal situation so they are able to recognize a non-normal situation," explains Ken Bevis of Waste Management. Trucks are now armed with a cell phone, camera and incident reports so they'll have accurate information for police and, possibly, prosecutors.

"The drivers understand their main job is to observe and report and let authorities do their job," explains Bevis.

The extra set of eyes and ears in the street is appreciated because even cops know they can't be everywhere, all the time.

Watchdog Probes DHS Spying on Drudge

A Freedom of Information Act request filed by former Congressman Bob Barr seeks to discover whether the Department of Homeland Security has been keeping tabs on the Drudge Report and other prominent media outlets who have spearheaded a nationwide revolt against invasive TSA airport security measures.

The FOIA request, filed by Barr’s Liberty Guard organization (PDF here), demands that the Transportation Security Administration, an agency of the DHS, turn over all information related to “Matt Drudge,” “drudgereport.com,” along with other media personalities and websites that have been at the center of the TSA controversy, including “Alex Jones, “John Tyner” and “prisonplanet.com”.