Investigate Everything with Brian O’Shea

Many investigations involve collecting large amounts of media articles on a subject. But you need to grab more than just the link. Here’s a quick way to grab an article in pdf format so it is preserved (they tend to disappear especially with highly politicized subjects). Save it as a PDF on your phone and know where to find it for the triage portion of your research. But do make sure to save a copy on a desktop AND hard copy AND external, stand alone hard drive. Nothing is worse than trying to support a finding with a url that only returns a 404 code!

We really don’t know what that thing is. Sent it to the State Park Scientists, Smithsonian, and a friend at the Airforce. Most likely a bird, I was told. But they admitted that they’ve never seen a bird move like that and accelerate while ascending. This mystery endures!

Disclosure: my wife. Disclosure 2: my son’s RC. I wanted to shoot video of my son’s Rustler to show him I had fixed it after his last collision. Added a few upgrades (lipo battery, wheelie bar). She protested at first (it was quite cold). Ten minutes later I couldn’t get it back from her! She asked me when we were done: “Do we have to give it back?” (...of course..we did😏).

My first introduction to fixed wing investigative surveillance platforms. My instructor is an artist behind the controls. Me? ...not so much.

Out on this Native American Reservation I find myself in 4 million + acres of free range land (Free range means cattle herds roam freely, ownership is identified by the brands). This morning in November I received a call to intercept some rustlers possibly rebranding some of the cattle from my Native American client’s 3000 head herd. Cant show more till the case is done in Tribal Court, but was successful in preventing the theft. (I like to head to a job with music that fits the mood I’m in. In this case, sunny skies and a beautiful American landscape had me in the best of moods, despite what the next hour would bring)

My Best Detective Camera, the Nikon Coolpix P1000 . Clarity, steady shooting, and Zoom are the 3 top things I look for in choosing field surveillance equipment. This beast of a DSLR passes every test!

After launching my drone from my friend Ron’s Columbia in Buzzards Bay, I was able to shoot some beautiful video! Unfortunately, I never read the manuals that come with expensive equipment. You see, drones are programmed to land on a fixed point, not a competitive racing sailboat moving at 20+knots . The result was a 10 minute struggle trying to reprogram the controller to trick the drone into a landing. Didn’t work. Eventually I had to almost sacrifice some fingers and leap up to grab the drone. Fingers are still there, but was my most “painful” landing yet!

Great hobby of mine, great to take your mind off everything except focus, balance, and fresh air.

Here is the Slash with its new winter camouflage, 3s 11.1v battery, VXL Brushless. I use these to get close to the “bad actors” without exposing myself to detection or danger. Equipped with a bullet mic and an FPV transmitting camera for discovering the nefarious plans they might be concocting to do my clients’ lives and/or businesses harm. Currently tops out at 30mph with all weather tires, new slip clutch and pinion gearing should get it up to 60-65mph. This allows me to get up close, and get away fast.Oh, did I mention how fun this is to drive?

Great way to take a break, easy to learn, great for focus work. Just a hobby, please do not throw knives at people for fun...it won’t end well!

“Speed” is the only word to be said here

Best part of my weekend! A lovely family at the park had the most excitable little 4 year old who was all about my Traxxas Slash as it "JUMPS" and "GOES UP THE HILL!" Watch this exchange, can't stop smiling! I bought this RC Car and modified it to inspect for stalker devices appended under clients' vehicles, as a worms-eye surveillance tool to get close to areas with no cover, then get out fast. But it's also a ton of fun to take a break from work, the crazy world, and social media. This day was great as this Iranian-American family, (a doctor, his wife, and his 4-year old son...I mention Iranian as I embarrassed myself by addressing the husband in Arabic...he politely told me he was speaking Farsi!), were so nice and really into my RC car. Understand that normally when people see my smoked out windows, dark SUV, & no mask (no one was around for hundreds of yards till they came up), people meet me with suspicion or distrust. Not these 3...they couldn't wait to try it out, which I eventually let them do! A sunny day, a healthy happy young family, a child's laughter...all are great reminders of just what we all should be fighting for.

I shot most of this the week of the Delbert Wheeler Memorial Rodeo (a great man who used his gifts of entrepreneurship to improve the employment opportunities and lives of many of the Yakama Nation people). It only gives a hint of the sense of community, celebration, adventure and beauty of the Yakama Nation and the many enrolled members I now call friends.

In 2017/2018 I was on the job to locate a missing mother who had abandoned her children and was being summoned to criminal court. She had allegedly taken refuge with some former Amish friends who had been banished by their Amish community. They were currently squatting in a large scrap yard with a barn on the edge of Amish territory in (Northwestern Maryland/South Western Pennsylvania) where they were rumored to be running a profitable meth lab. She had a history of drug abuse, so this was a good place to start. Unfortunately, I could not trespass on Amish land, and it’s citizens were unwilling to speak about some of “their own”, even the banished ones. So I went off-road and launched my drone. I had to fly low, then pop over some high hills to avoid detection. But I found them, the barn had many identifiable people milling about. I followed one’s pickup truck down the road which let me identify a small modular home she was squatting in. The drone returned to my location, almost at 0% battery. After that, it was a quick drive in the early morning where I surprised her with court papers, recording the process service on my body cam (not included in this video for legal reasons). I’m happy to say her kids are fine and she has been clean for 3 years now (I check on targets like this from time to time). This video shows some of the more unforgiving navigation I captured on the drone on its way to locate her and I hope captures the darkness and urgency of this “skip trace” operation.

Just a video I put together for my daughter and step kids (all adults) to remind them that above all of the clouds of stress, uncertainty, angst, and challenges of our current world that there is a place you can find that is nothing but peace, calm and beauty.

This incredible weapon is not at all practical for any non-military use, but I allowed a group of clients to take a few shots to allow them to apply the three marksmanship fundamentals under highly “explosive” conditions: sight picture-breathing-trigger squeeze. This was also a great way to teach them to respect firearms and the firearm safety that is imperative to avoid destructive accidents. From the manufacturers website (Barrett.net): “THE POWERHOUSE RIFLE. Barrett 82a1 is the first shoulder fired semi-automatic 50 BMG rifle. Model 82A1 has been proven in combat in every environment from the snow covered mountains, to the desolate deserts, and everything in between. Its low felt recoil and reliable repower delivers on target with every pull of the trigger. More than just a rifle, the Model 82 is an American icon.”

When we left for a few weeks I, of course, had all of my security monitoring every inch of our home and property. I do recall that creeping feeling up the back of my spine as I ventured deeper into the woods...like I was being watched. I knew there were bobcats and bears in the area, but this felt more like I had wandered into someone, or something's private property (despite the land being owned by us). There were also lots of tracks going around the house and into the woods. I was thinking that possibly we had a hunter who was poaching animals or worse, as stalker. I went to investigate tracks that led into our small wooded area just beyond the backyard (the footprints were obscured due to weather, so it was hard to tell if they were human or animal). Not really finding much, I set the cameras and we embarked on a 3000 mile road trip. When I returned home from that cross country drive to visit my friends at the Yakama Native American Reservation in Washington State, I went and retrieved a few of the SD cards from the non-wifi cams I use for security redundancy. As I scrolled through the 30+ days of video, I was shocked to see a giant black bear ("Curious Bear 1/3" video). I wondered if she was looking for food, but none of our trash cans were upset so I couldn't be sure. I found some dead racoons and possums along the path, but it was unclear how they had died as I couldn't really remove their carcasses due to the very frozen ground. It was not until I watched the clips from a third camera that it all came clear. Our property had somehow become a super-highway for nature (most likely due to the river in our boundaries and the relatively isolated, heavily wooded area far from the mountain bike trail, construction on nearby homes, and highway traffic noise). This bear appeared on video "Curious Bear 3/3 with at least two ( possibly three) rambunctious cubs...and suffice it to safe, they were very curious about my ground level camera. Watch what happens when the cubs discover the prying eyes of this unwanted, red-eyes plastic species that they were clearly VERY curious about, or just wanted to eat! Enjoy, subscribe, like and comment. Thanks for watching!

I had to do a little shooting (in a safe direction) to remind some tree poachers that this was probably the wrong place to steal timber from. They packed up pretty quickly (no, I was not shooting at them...just near them ;) FYI...I am not a hunter nor do I enjoy the idea of hunting...I'd rather that the animals, even the terrifyingly large black bears, co-exist. All of my weapons, tactics, and training are what I use to deter human criminals, animal & tree poachers, and admittedly, to scare off more aggressive wild life by firing a few shots in the air. But I will be showing more videos on with firearms as I feel they are necessary in extremely remote areas like ours...better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it.

I retrieved footage from two additional cameras. Crazy how this #NewYorkBlackBear really seemed to be looking for something in particular or scouting the location for a good hibernation point. Never touched our garbage cans, so maybe the latter was true? Happy to take comments from any bear experts or those who have dealt with bears around their homes.

This video shows a mama- #bear sniffing around our backyard shortly after I installed multiple trail cameras on our property to detect #looters, #thieves, #trespassers and #stalkers. (Note: No bears were harmed in the surreptitious capture of these images. Also, never feed nor "bait" bears in order to get footage. Such activities will put you and your family in danger as you will attract more bears and other aggressive wildlife. This was captured after over 12 months of continuous monitoring of our property...so be patient).