2010 Conference Speakers

Mike Brooks, CNN Law Enforcement Analyst
Retired Detective, Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department

Police and Media Relations: Trust Through Communication
Mr. Brooks served 26 years with the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, retiring in 1999 as a detective with the Intelligence Division. During his tenure, he helped develop the department's hostage negotiation and hate crimes programs. For the last six years of his service, he represented the department on the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force, responding to and investigating terrorist incidents worldwide, including the attacks on Khobar Towers in Daharan, Saudi Arabia; the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya; the bombings of Olympic Centennial Park and Pan Am 103; and the crash of TWA Flight 800.

Brooks joined CNN in June 2001 as a terrorism and law enforcement analyst and was part of the CNN teams that covered the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. He also serves as a substitute anchor and regular law enforcement analyst for HLN's "Nancy Grace" and "Prime News." Brooks is currently a consultant for IN SESSION and serves as a law enforcement analyst. He is a freelance journalist/analyst and security and law enforcement consultant for police and fire departments, government agencies and the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University.

D. Mark Lowers
President & CEO, Lowers & Associates

CIT (cash-in-transit) Major Crime Trends
Mark Lowers, CFE , is President & CEO of Lowers & Associates, an international company specializing in risk management and risk mitigation. Mr. (Mark) Lowers, a Certified Fraud Examiner, is an international authority on risk management and its many component disciplines and has more than twenty-five (25) years of experience in this field with a particular emphasis on the cash-in-transit (CIT) industry. He is widely cited on risk management, fraud and security issues and has published numerous articles on these topics. Mr. Lowers is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the National Armored Car Association Security Steering Committee (NACA), the Independent Armored Car Association (IACOA), the European Security Transport Association (ESTA), the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS), and the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS).

Each year Lowers & Associates works with the NACA to publish the annual Armored Car Robbery Report. This report is distributed to law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. This session will provide detailed information on trends involving armored cars robberies and ATM robberies throughout the globe and will walk participants through the 2009 USA Robbery Report. The intent is to show the history and experience within the overall industry and express some conclusions drawn from the raw data and experience.

John Toneatto
VP Security, Loomis Armored

Armored Car Robbery Prevention/Investigation
John attended the Queens College BALA program between 1973 and 1976. His studies included an emphasis on Business Law and Computer Science. For the last 38 years he has worked at Loomis Armored where he has held various positions in both Operations and Risk Management. He is currently the VP of Security and provides support and direction regarding CIT losses, investigations, physical security, and policies & procedures. John is a member of the NACA [National Armored Car Association] and has served as Chairman of the NACA Security committee. John has been an active member of the California Robbery Investigators Association for the past 17 years.

John's presentation will give insight into the history of the armored car industry, security procedures and robbery prevention measures. Drawing on his extensive experience in the field, John will provide best practices for law enforcement to respond to and investigate armored car robberies.

Mike DeVille
VP Security, Pendum

Armored Car Robbery Case Analysis

Dr. Edie Greene, Professor of Psychology
University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (UCCS)

Eyewitness Identification
Edie Greene is Professor of Psychology at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (UCCS). She received a BA in psychology from Stanford University, an MA in experimental psychology from the University of Colorado-Boulder, and a Ph.D. in psychology and law from the University of Washington. She has served as Fellow in Law and Psychology at Harvard Law School and as a faculty member of the National Judicial College. The co-author of a leading textbook in psychology and law (Psychology and the Legal System, 7th edition, published by Thomson/Wadsworth), Professor Greene teaches a survey course and an advanced undergraduate seminar in psychology and law, as well as a graduate proseminar in psychology and law. She also teaches social psychology and directs the UCCS Psychology Department honors program and the Concentration in Psychology and Law in the graduate program. In 2008, she received the Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring Award from the American Psychology-Law Society.

Accounts by eyewitnesses, including descriptions and identifications, form the basis of criminal investigations and serve as crucial evidence in some trials. Convictions often hinge on them. Yet the source of these accounts—human memory—is imperfect. As a result, eyewitness reports can be inaccurate and incomplete. This interactive symposium will focus on investigative procedures that can, according to scientific research, lead to more accurate identifications, withstand scrutiny at trial, and strengthen cases against perpetrators.

Investigator Vincent Boccio
Investigator Scott Cherry
Tallahassee Police Department

Tallahassee, Florida, Bank Robbery Case Analysis
Vincent Boccio earned an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice and graduated from the St. Petersburg Florida, Junior College Police Academy. He has 10 years of Law Enforcement Experience, starting his career with the Florida State University Police Department. After a year at FSUPD he joined the Tallahassee Police Department. While with TPD he has been assigned to Uniform Patrol, and spent time as a Field Training Officer. He became an Investigator in the Vice/Narcotics Unit then transferred to his current assignment as an Investigator in the Violent Crimes Unit, dealing primarily with Robbery Cases. He is also currently a member of the Tallahassee Police Department’s Tactical Apprehension and Control Team (TAC).

Scott Cherry earned a Bachelors Degree in Criminal Justice from Florida State University and graduated from the Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Academy. He has 9 years of Law Enforcement Experience. He started his career with the Tallahassee Police Department. While at TPD he has been assigned to Uniform Patrol, the Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving Squad (COPPS) and spent time as a Field Training Officer. He became an Investigator in the Burglary Unit then transferred to his current assignment as an Investigator in the Violent Crimes Unit, dealing primarily with Robbery Cases.

This case presentation involves a bank robbery group that had hit the Tallahassee area for several thousand dollars. The case was made via cell phone exploitation, a "good old snitch and "touch DNA". There is a little bit for everyone here.

Special Agent Scott Eicher, FBI-Denver
Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force

Cell Phone Tracking and Analysis

Detective Mark Woodward, Denver Police Department
Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force

Video Surveillance in Financial Institutions
Detective Woodward is a 34 year veteran of the Denver Police Department, 22 years of which he has spent in Investigations. He was assigned to the robbery unit for 15 years before being assigned to the FBI's Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force, where he has worked for the last 5 years, and is currently the Denver Division Bank Robbery Coordinator. Mark also conducts forensic video analysis of surveillance videos from bank robberies and other violent crimes. Mark has been president of the Colorado Association of Robbery Investigators for the last 12 years.

At a majority of bank robbery crimes scenes there is no physical evidence left behind by the suspect. Generally, surveillance video images are the only initial leads to a possible identification of the suspect. In the case of very good images, identification usually results quickly through knowledge of prior offenders, media releases or law enforcement releases. All too often, however, video quality is poor. Given the current state of video technology, there is no excuse for the resulting poor video images. Mark will discuss some of the problems of both analog and digital video and how to correct them, provide proposed minimum video standards and take a look at video systems that are currently available.