News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 02, 2020
 8.4K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
 39K     0 
News   GLOBAL  |  Apr 01, 2020
 4.7K     0 

Status
Not open for further replies.
More reporting on the Police surveillance by air - this time from the SUN.

“It was circling around and around,” said the Ward 2, Etobicoke North councillor (Doug Ford) about the mid-August incident. “The plane was coming down so low I thought they were going to land in the pool.”

Angry at the danger of it, Ford said, “I stood there and gave them the finger.”

It didn’t make them go away.

“They were there for five straight days,” said Ford. “It was ridiculous.”

Not knowing if it was prying media or otherwise, Ford said he called two superintendents he knows who confirmed it was police over the backyard famous for hosting many Ford Fest barbecues.

“I asked them what they were doing but they just said it was something else,” said Ford. ”They said it was a bust they were making at the airport.”

He wasn’t buying it.

“You know when a plane is surveilling you,” he said. “I told them to come and check out any of our houses any time and just come in the front door.”

http://www.torontosun.com/2013/10/04/cops-using-cessna-to-spy-on-mayor-doug-ford

This type of technique isn't likely to be used to follow a suspect. It's too conspicuous. The police are obtaining intelligence on properties where Ford and his associates frequent so that they can put together a picture of what each property is likely used for and to plan a raid or several simultaneous raids. The fact that so much is going on that it's now nearly impossible to keep secret tells me that somethings is going down soon.
 
Ford is like a giant cartoon figure that just keeps on entertaining. I love the anticipation of what will come next.

When the various city hall reporters release their bigger than life books on Ford, will it be listed as:
1.) political memoirs?
2.) humour?
3.) low level crime?
4.) tragedy? If a tragedy, for whom?
 
This type of technique isn't likely to be used to follow a suspect. It's too conspicuous. The police are obtaining intelligence on properties where Ford and his associates frequent so that they can put together a picture of what each property is likely used for and to plan a raid or several simultaneous raids. The fact that so much is going on that it's now nearly impossible to keep secret tells me that somethings is going down soon.

Not necessarily. Below is a picture of the actual Cessna Stationair that is operated by TPS. Notice the grey colored pod on the side of the aircraft? This is a special surveillance camera system that allows the operator to take very high quality images from high altitudes and at a distance as well as at night using infrared technology (the camera systems probably costs more than the aircraft!).

With such a system police do not have to be right over the target at low altitude to acquire imagery (although they do have to fly in orbits).

This aircraft is based at Buttonville airport and if I was in the news gathering business I would monitor the tower frequency at Buttonville to discover when this specialized craft is airborne. To observers on the ground it would easy to spot with its left mounted camera pod.

2138174.jpg

Airlines.net
 
Last edited:
Why don't police use a helicopter instead, so that they can hover over the target rather than fly in circles?
 
Why don't police use a helicopter instead, so that they can hover over the target rather than fly in circles?

A helicopter hovering in one spot would be more conspicuous than a fixed-wing aircraft flying in circuits. After a while an observant person might become suspicious of a fixed-wing aircraft flying in circuits (as Doug Ford was) but most people would be completely oblivious. I think for these reasons the fixed wing aircraft is a better platform for police when conducting aerial surveillance.
 
A helicopter hovering in one spot would be more conspicuous than a fixed-wing aircraft flying in circuits. After a while an observant person might become suspicious of a fixed-wing aircraft flying in circuits (as Doug Ford was) but most people would be completely oblivious. I think for these reasons the fixed wing aircraft is a better platform for police when conducting aerial surveillance.

I believe helicopters are also much, much more expensive to operate than a simple light prop plane, which I'm sure also figures into the discussion.

I agree that given the widespread nature of the current round of leaks, it does seem like something big is going to go down. One example: to put it charitably: the National Post, for example, does not have a strong track record of breaking news from within the police department. When they are running stories that cite a "police source" telling them that the mayor, personally, is under investigation, it probably goes down something like this:

Post reporter to TPS spokesman: "The Star is saying you have a plane flying around spying on the mayor because he's under investigation. Is that true?"

TPS spokesman: "On the record, no comment. Off the record: I wouldn't deny what the Star is reporting."

In other words, the police aren't making much effort to hide what they're doing. Which, in turn, suggests they largely have what they were looking for, because otherwise they would never compromise the secrecy of an investigation by being so open with the press.

Additionally, Doug's claim in today's Sun that the police are pursuing the agenda of a cabal of "elitists" seems like the beginning of the Fords' PR plan for when and if they are charged with something.

I may be wrong about this, since there have been other times--notably right after Mark Towhey's firing--when it seemed like the flood of leaks was leading to some huge reveal. But my hunch is that we are getting to zero hour for whatever is coming from TPS.
 
And I think therein lies the secret to his Teflon brushes with scandal.

If Nixon had lacked all sense of shame, plus had his own weekly radio show where he could spout off lies without consequences, he would have served a full two terms.

I don't know if he's just without shame, or he knows there's no political encore for him after this, so he doesn't feel he needs to humble himself or try a strategic resignation. He possibly doesn't give a damn what bridges he burns since this may be his last kick at the can.

Either that or the fords are really, really stupid, and think by ignoring the issues and questions ("Anything else?") it will all just magically go away.

Or maybe they're like problem gamblers--they know they're skunked, but they just *have* to play it out to the very, very end...
 
I can't believe the Ford's are going to use "the left is out to get us" defense.

Once those arrests are made, they're done for. Even their supporters aren't that gullible.
 
Coming late back into the thread. Met one of my sources tonight at a fundraiser at Muzik nightclub tonight who repeated what I had reported from another source: the cops have Ford on a wiretap soliciting drugs. He's busted.

Now are they just waiting to get more substantial dirt on him or will they just go ahead and publicly charge him with what is only a minor crime? Given the family's history, I'm inclined to believe that there is something much bigger here.

That's the question: If charges are coming, what could they possibly be?

It CAN'T just be Ford soliciting or buying drugs. If so, the cops would have to observe a buy, then seize the drugs as evidence. They would NOT arrest his dealer or runner (or whatever Lisi is).

If Ford is the real target of the investigation, then Lisi was arrested to try to get leverage to turn him against Ford. With evidence of what? The two possibilities are that the Fords are engaged in bigger crimes, like selling drugs, or it has to do with the search for the crack video.

So come on MetroMan, give us a hint, or give us your pure speculation. What alrger crimes are TPS investigating here?
 
I can't believe the Ford's are going to use "the left is out to get us" defense.

Once those arrests are made, they're done for. Even their supporters aren't that gullible.

It's worked for them in the past. I don't think further arrests are needed. There are simply too many coincidences for the average person to ignore. The hard core supporters aren't going to make a dent in the numbers at election time. ( If he's not in jail by election time, or had a stroke/heart attack.) He looks like he's about to fall over from the stress.
 
That's the question: If charges are coming, what could they possibly be?

It CAN'T just be Ford soliciting or buying drugs. If so, the cops would have to observe a buy, then seize the drugs as evidence. They would NOT arrest his dealer or runner (or whatever Lisi is).

If Ford is the real target of the investigation, then Lisi was arrested to try to get leverage to turn him against Ford. With evidence of what? The two possibilities are that the Fords are engaged in bigger crimes, like selling drugs, or it has to do with the search for the crack video.

So come on MetroMan, give us a hint, or give us your pure speculation. What alrger crimes are TPS investigating here?

Well from our limited information, I can see Ford being charged with possession, solicitation, obstruction and probably conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Those aren't exactly light charges. It could lock the guy up for a very long time.
 
Last edited:
Well from our limited information, I can see Ford being charged with possession, solicitation, obstruction and probably conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Those aren't exactly light charges. It could lock the guy up for a very long time.

If they can link Rob Ford to offences that involved the recovery/attempted recovery of the tape, the solicitation charge will just be a further way to piece everything together.

If they can prove he was involved in not just obstruction of justice, but also some of the alleged break and enters, coercion and blackmail, those are MAJOR offences for the mayor of a major city who is trusted to serve the interests of the people.

If it happens, I can only assume that as a staunch conservative, he'll insist on throwing the book at himself and serving out some long mandatory minimum sentences.
 
Dry cleaner says he smoked weed with Ford friend Lisi

A Toronto police raid of the shop Tuesday – part of an “ongoing criminal investigation” – also found “traces of cocaine,” according to Mr. Bahrami.

Mr. Lisi, 35, and Mr. Bahrami, 47, face several drug-related offences, including possession and trafficking. They were each released on $5,000 bail. Mr. Lisi’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comments Friday. Mr. Bahrami maintains he is innocent.

Mr. Bahrami, a father who immigrated to Canada from Iran in 1987, was unclear on the source of the cocaine in his shop, though he said he sometimes has friends over. But he said he’s not a drug dealer. “That maybe is from the customer’s pocket that has fallen down here. Maybe it was there,” he said, standing in front of racks of clothes in the narrow store. “I agree I party sometimes here after the closing. I have like a beer. Somebody must have done a line [of cocaine].”

The police report stated that he was charged with "1. Possession of Cocaine", but in this interview he says it was "traces of cocaine". Yes, technically it's the same thing, but you have to wonder how important to the police it was to bust them with something other than weed. Were they swooping in on Lisi at that moment because they believed he would be in possession of actual crack/coke, possibly dropping it off at the dry cleaner's so that it could be delivered to the mayor with his dry cleaning?

If all the raid netted was some weed, I could see the public's perception start to shift back towards a persecution complex.

Link to the article from the G+M
 
Last edited:
Police probe shooting during Etobicoke break-in
Witnesses told CityNews it happened during a break-in on Epping Street, near Islington Avenue and Dixon Road, around 8 a.m.

http://www.citynews.ca/2013/10/05/police-probe-shooting-during-etobicoke-break-in/

This stood out enough in my mind to post it. A quiet residential detached SFH nestled in between the Ford family home and Kingsview Village. Both the location and timing seem might be flagged as relevant.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Back
Top