The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

A trio of bounty hunters hired by a landlord to forcibly evict some tenants were arrested for impersonating federal agents.
They were not only armed, wearing police uniforms and badges, but were using the McAlester Police radio system to obtain warrant information and call for "backup".

http://www.fox23.com/mostpopular/story/Three-arrested-for-impersonating-law-enforcement/XgnzhUvSs0CC3GyYuM_p0g.cspx

In addition to state charges, they could be charged with interfering with a legitimate emergency communication frequency.  That's a federal charge.  It's been used previously when unauthorized people use emergency frequencies.

Was this them?

(http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y87/3CupCake3/dog_bountyhunter.jpg)

Not as ugly.
Is he attempting to deflate her?


Dont you need encryption keys from someone in the department?

There are several different ways to encrypt FM radio communications.  The simplest is a sub-audible tone.  This is usually in the lower audio frequency range.  The transmitter puts out a 85Hz tone at a level well below the transmitted voice.  The receiver detects the tone, and uses it to pass the audio on to the amplifier and speaker.  Without the tone, the receiver rejects the audio.  This is the scheme used in those popular GMRS or FRS radios.

Another simple encryption technique is called frequency inversion scrambling.  Audio in the 300-3000Hz range is mixed with a 8KHz carrier, forming two sidebands.  One is at 8.3 to 11KHz, the other at 5 to 7.7KHz.  The upper sideband is filtered out before transmission.  On the receiver end, the process is reversed, mixing the lower sideband with a 8KHz tone and filtering out the unwanted audio products.  This used to be done with cumbersome LC circuits, but it's much more easily accomplished with ICs. It's still obviously a voice, but it's not intelligible.

Things get more complicated with trunked radio systems like Tulsa's.  There are 20 discrete frequencies, with 4 set aside as data channels.  Each radio is assigned a group code, identifying it for the type of service.  So Uniform Division North has a unique code, as does the dog catcher, bus drivers, and trash collector.  They don't hear each other at all.  Further, the trunk tracker keeps tabs on who talks to who, and sees that their communications track each other even if the system keeps changing frequencies. Typically, they stay on one frequency for each transmission.

Some tactical units have digitally encrypted radios that sound like static.  I've only heard them a few times, but the transmission is not recognizable as a voice.  I realized what they were due to other unencrypted traffic about a hostage situation developing across the street from a friend's house.

Finally, there are some radios that offer both digitally encrypted audio and the capability for frequency hopping in 100mSec intervals.  They change frequency every tenth of a second.  In order to communicate, both transmitter and receiver need to have the same codes installed and be synchronized.  I've seen just one of these radios, and of course, I couldn't tinker with it.  The set came in three parts: a fold up antenna not unlike a small umbrella, the transceiver, and a power supply that was designed to work with any voltage source on the planet.  The whole thing would fit in a brief case.  It came with a simple slide rule type calculator that assisted with aiming the antenna at the right satellite.  The guys who use them are known to eat snakes.   

Ed....you're scaring me man. Adderal?

Remember...I'm a professional electronics geek, an amateur radio operator (N5SNW), and an obsessive reader.  I read candy bar wrappers and cereal boxes.  Nothing escapes.

Hey, look at those black framed glasses.  They're a sure-fire sign of a techno-geek of some sort!

Hey, I had coffee with you. You don't look like that anymore, in fact, you look middle aged cool with old school camera in hand and not afraid to use it!

Not too late to go in to politics you know. We've had doctors, actors, football players, basketball players, Navy Seals and such. Why not the world's first Geek Governor?

Anyway, back on topic. How easy is it to get the paraphernalia to imitate a McAlester cop? I had some experience down there in buying a boat. When the deal started to go bad, the seller threatened to have his cousin, the Sheriff of something or other come escort me to court. I got the feeling he wasn't kidding. Lots of intrigue in that area.

Theree are currently 8.000 plus police badges for sale on Ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/items/__police-badges_W0QQ_nkwZpoliceQ20badgesQQQ5ftrkparmsZ72Q253A1205Q257C39Q253A1Q257C66Q253A2Q257C65Q253A12QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQ_pgnZ16

They weren't listening in on a scanner, they were talking back and forth on the main frequency as if they were LEOs.  So, did someone give them the group codes?

McAlester Police are still using 150mhz radios which are not trunking radios. Here is a list of their frequencies:

155.71500  KYI993  RM 110.9 PL McAlestrPD S  McAlester Police Dispatch (South Repeater)  FM  Law Dispatch 
155.61000  KGQ491  BM 114.8 PL McAlestrPD N  McAlester Police (North Repeater)  FM  Law Tac 
153.26000    M  McAlesterPD7  McAlester Police (Channel 7) -- Car-to-Car  FM  Law Tac 
45.64000    BM  McAlesterPD9  McAlester Police (Channel 9) -- Tactical  FM  Law Tac 
155.74500  KYI993  BM 146.2 PL McAlester PW  McAlester Public Works  FM  Public Works 
155.76000  KNBL318  BM  MutalAid760  McAlester Public Works  FM  Interop 
155.94000  KYI993  BM 203.5 PL McAlestrWatr  McAlester Water Department  FM  Public Works

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?ctid=2188 (http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?ctid=2188)

You only listed VHF and Low Band, they have 800Mhz which are usually trunked:

855.21250     WPUE966     RM    123.0 PL    PitsCoSO-Cen    Pittsburg County Sheriff -- McAlester     FM     Law Tac
855.23750     WPUE966     RM      PitsCoSO-Sou    Pittsburg County Sheriff -- South Part of County     FM     Law Tac
855.46250     WPUE966     RM      PitsbCoSO-NE    Pittsburg County Sheriff -- Northeast Part of County     FM     Law Tac
855.48750     WPUE966     RM    025 DPL    PitsCoSO-Wst    Pittsburg County Sheriff -- West Part of County     FM     Law Tac

I was basing my comment on the statement that they were using radios on the PD freq which in the 150mhz range is easier to do. I did notice that several leo's in the area are using 800 trunking which is harder but not impossible to do. At any rate, it sounds like some wannabe's acting like thugs.

Yet another to add to the list of reasons why Bounty Hunters need to be licensed in this state.

About the time you posted this drift, I noticed Rogers County is still using inversion scrambling.

Wow, what a blast from the past... I can remember as a teenager building ring modulators for scanner buffs so they could break the encryption.  Radio Shacks were a lot more useful then. 
Most agencies were realistic about it (that scrambling only excluded all but the determined) and other than hardware (and now software) the philosophy is the same today.

Eh, you can still buy all the stuff you need for that from Radio Shack. They've just shoved it all into a cramped little room reminiscent of the back room at a video store. The only thing missing to complete the effect is a curtain.

Bounty hunters kicked in the door of a woman in her 70s in West Tulsa last week. Once inside, they realized they had the wrong address.
The elderly woman was terrified and had no idea who the men were. But that wasn't the worst of it. She learned something about the two men from police that made her upset.

Mary was about to take a bath last Wednesday night when someone began banging on her front door.
"He said, ‘you better open the door. I told you we were bounty hunters,'" Mary said. "I said, ‘you could tell me you're anybody.'"

He kept demanding and threatened to kick in the door. So she called 911. She asked the dispatcher if she could put the phone down long enough to get her gun, but was told to stay on the line.
Just then, two men kicked in her back door.

"I could hear the wood crushing," Mary explained. "It was scary."
The men came in and looked through her house. They demanded to know where Donnie was. But she repeatedly told them she lived alone and didn't know a Donnie.

That's when they realized their mistake.
"He said, ‘is this 124?' I said, ‘no, it's not 124," Mary said. "'My letters are on my mailbox in big white letters. You couldn't have missed it.'"
The two men left with barely a word, leaving her backdoor still broken with a big footprint on it.
Police found the three bounty hunters and realized two of them, Ronnie Shaw and Cecil Deere, had warrants out for their arrests. So they were booked into jail.

All three men got tickets for breaking and entering without permission.

"That ain't right to be looking for somebody else, kick in someone's door in to get that person," Mary said. "And here you've got two warrants out on yourself and your friend with you."
Mary believes bounty hunters should be licensed and bonded. In hindsight, she's glad she didn't have her gun, because she believes she would've killed them.

The bondsmen who wanted the fugitive said he didn't know the three men. He said they just called and offered to pick up the guy for him, which is pretty standard.  He was shocked to learn they had warrants, and one of the men had served eight years in prison. He believes bounty hunters should be licensed, like bail bondsmen are.

An Oklahoma senator proposed a law last year and this year, but both bills died.   http://www.newson6.com/story/18391006/bounty-hunters-arrested-after

Watching Bounty Hunter shows and Fox news and deciding there's a job to do is never a good call for a felon.

It must be tempting, if they think worst that can happen with a home invasion is getting a ticket.

Oh but licencing would cost money and might limit who can be a bounty hunter, you know kind of the same thing with rent-a-cops. Silly state, lets regulate alcohol but not who can break into your house or have a gun at the megalomart.

Security guards do have to be licensed, and I would be happy if they at least required bounty hunters to get a PI license, since that is essentially what they do, except they also take the person in once they find them.  Of course, a bounty hunter is the same as any other person, so if they kick in your door they can be charged with B&E and have a civil suit brought against them.  The problem is people seem to think that BHs are immune to such recourse so don't even bother trying to pursue it.  As far as the carry laws, you do realize there is a licensing process and a background check involved, right?

Glad sarcasm is still hard to read online. Thought maybe the megalomart might be a clue.

TULSA, Oklahoma - A Tulsa bounty hunter is on the Tulsa Police Most Wanted List. Adam McAdoo is wanted for kidnapping.
According to victims, Adam McAdoo will approach people with warrants, tell them they need to pay money to him or he will take them to jail. He then pockets the money instead of taking it to the bail bondsmen.

Dietrick Mure says he was in his apartment when Adam McAdoo started banging on his door. He said McAdoo claimed to be a bounty hunter and said Mure was wanted by police.

"He said 'you either pay $600 right now, or we take you to jail,'" Mure said. "So I said, 'I can give you $600 and the bench warrant will be cleared?' And he said 'yes it will be cleared.' He drove me to the QuikTrip by the police station, had me take out money from the ATM."

Got to wonder how these people have access to warrant information...
Anyway, he's already booked and released, and "Dog the Bounty Hunter" was cancelled on the network formerly known as "Arts and Entertainment".

So will other bounty hunters now be trying to get him or is there a "code" among bounty hunters?

OSCN is a great start, and if they are working for the bondsman, they get the info from them as well.No, no code.  His personal buddies, if he has any that are hunters, likely won't go after him, but the rest don't care. 

Maybe, maybe not:

Lenny Biggers has been doing this for almost thirty years. But the trained private investigator doesn't call himself a bounty hunter. Instead, he's a "fugitive recovery investigator."

"I don't want to see him get hurt," Biggers said. "I just want to see him in jail where he belongs. He's given this industry a real bad name."
"Every time we go out to make an arrest and we call law enforcement out, they're not wanting to help us, due to the fact of all the bad guys out here robbing people doing this job," Biggers said.

Biggers is making it his mission to bring down McAdoo and to try to get a bill passed that will require hunters to be licensed.

There's an odd extralegal relationship between police and bounty hunters / repo men.  You see it when their names are kept out of police reports (and other professional courtesies), so the PI referenced above may be upset that the "amateurs" are souring that relationship.  

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvUDKUszZ7U[/youtube]

What I meant about them not caring was they generally don't care if the person they are going after is a hunter, they go after them anyhow.

Tulsa police arrested a suspect they say posed as a police officer and took money from someone on Saturday.

Police say Adam McAdoo identified himself as a police officer at the Bristol Park Apartments and then took money from the victim around 11 on Saturday night.
McAdoo is a former Tulsa's Most Wanted. In May he turned himself in on charges of kidnapping, extortion and possession of a firearm. In 2011, he told FOX23 he was a bounty hunter and had capture nearly 3,000 criminals in 8 years.
http://www.fox23.com/content/crime/story/Tulsa-police-arrest-suspected-impersonator/SGWM8gmLu0WBI3MTyQy4fw.cspx

Well he does look like a donut eating Tulsa Police Officer. Who would question a guy like that?

This was bound to happen: Two bounty hunters who identified themselves as federal agents decided to light up a car dealership. 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/men-found-shot-dead-east-texas-car-dealership-47736945

Is that what they did ...You dipshit...???

Video and witnesses seem to support that, troll, and speaking of video, QT should have lots of video of this:

http://www.newson6.com/story/35891171/couple-says-strangers-flashed-badges-pointed-guns-at-them-in-north-tulsa

Hey, Sarah!  (As in Palin...profoundly stupid.)  Just showing 'you' again, we see.

Well, if you had bothered to watch the video,...well, it wouldn't have mattered - you wouldn't understand anyway...!