Initially, it was difficult for law enforcers to handle these cases and determine whether the smugglers, known as 'coyotes', are lying or not because the medium of their communication is verbal and done over the phone, not in person. This makes it impossible for them to utilize their knowledge of kinesics and oculesics to pick up on any tell-tale signs in their behaviour. The only form of non-verbal communication that they would be able to study is the paralinguistics of the criminals. For example, a lying criminal might give away his nervousness in his voice if he sounds panicky and has unsually more non-fluencies in his speech. However, it is far from straightforward and law enforcers must be careful when interpreting these vocal patterns and anomalies because non-verbal communication is very subjective. They must make a conscious effort to remain objective and be very certain of their inferences before making any decisions because lives are at stake. It is easy to over-analyze or let biased perceptions get in the way but should they get it wrong, there could be dire consequences. A more concrete and foolproof way of verifying if the smugglers indeed have the hostage in hand would be to demand proof of life. In this case, when the hostage is put on the phone, the family would be able to identify if it is truly their relative by recognizing the pitch and tone of the voice. Most of the time, if the gang refuses or tries to stall for time when asked of this, they're talking bull****.
No matter how good the good guys get at ascertaining whether the bad guys were telling the truth or lying through the skin of their teeth, it is always a tricky business. Even in person, isn't it possible for seasoned criminals to lie in a steady, calm voice while keeping their heart rate down, not flinching a muscle and staring you dead in the eye? If the authorities made a wrong judgment call and decided that a gang was lying when they weren't, they might need another body bag.
In this age of technology, "virtual terrorism" is no longer just something imagined. This is evidence that it is already happening. I remember the concept of it being used on a much larger scale in the hollywood blockbuster Die Hard 4.0. I don't know about you, but if something like that became non-fiction, I don't think we can count on Bruce Willis to save the day. It would be nice if some things could remain fictitious, don't you think?
9 comments:
Gee.. Do you think those illegal immigrants' families can afford to pay the ransom? Why would someone abduct some people who are not worth the amount they ransom for?
Virtual terrorism is something new to me. I believe that such acts can be prevented if relatives keep in contact with each other. However, the government can also play a part by cracking down on these people. Justice is fair...i think. =)
this is the first time i have hearda out virtual terrorism, but what u have written is very true in the world today and i agree that worlds all around the world. need to put a stop to this!q
Even if the hostage refuses to let you talk to your kidnapped relation, wouldn't you still be in a state of panic? If you try calling them on their cell (for instance) but can't reach them, won't it only affirm your suspicions that they might indeed be kidnapped? Then I wonder what people would do. To go ahead and pay the money anyways without proof just to be safe, or keep the money and risk the person dying because of it.
I'm sure seasoned criminals would be able to pass lie detector tests, because their reflexes to lying would have been totally blocked by that time already. That's why authorities depend on hard evidence and scare tactics to try and get members to 'fess up about the other. Fear drives confession.
the world is really coming to an end, people are capable of doing anything! it is indeed hard to identify every criminal and moreover, crime is happening everywhere by relatively brilliant people. it takes a smart person to commit crime and not get caught.
i have heard about a group of scumbags kidnapping a 2-year-old boy and removing all his internal organs. just so that they can smuggle packets of marijuana across the same border without attracting attention from the officials.
How creative people can get when money is concern. Brilliant con-men know the slip ups of the average person. It is especially difficult to have that thought that this is a joke when one is actually speaking to the "kidnappers". At that point, it takes a person of some character and calmness to negotiate and expose a liar. Not many have that, in fact, i doubt anyone has.
wow... the world has degraded to another level.
i did not know of this news until reading it from you. it just goes to show the sad truth of the human race. people are evolving towards a selfish nature playing on the emotions which makes us human in the first place.
i won't be suprised if one day we awake to find the human race taken over by robots; cold and emotionless.
I think that the world today is becoming more and more complex. Terrorists have become more and more intelligent and are just unscrupulous. I have also came across this issue in the newspapers and I agree with the point you make that there is eveidence that it is already happening.
These terrorists are just not humans and they certainly lack conscience. Although some may think that what smuggling organizations are doing does not really matter as afterall illegal immigrants have broken the rule for crossing the US-Mexican border, however, using scare tactics to extort ransom money is just not justifiable.
More human smuggling organizations should be tracked down, although this may be very difficult especially when there are so many out there in the world.
Yes Kristy, I wonder too what I would do should I be in that situation. To give the money without proof of life or to play hardball with the criminals and risk my loved one's life. I think that really, I would just pay the money. It's just not worth the gamble. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something should happen because I was not compliant. It's a sick world we live in ain't it?
Post a Comment