No amount of spying or intrusion substitutes for common sense regarding your child’s development

The “nanny cam” is billed as a device that allows parents to identify an abusive, neglectful or incompetent baby-sitter simply by monitoring their young child’s activities at home by remote Web access. It’s also a hidden surveillance system spying on the activities of everyone who enters the house - from the nanny, to the gardener to the plumber, to friends.

When does personal responsibility begin and the threat to privacy and the false sense of security end?

Bail News Roundup - March 26, 2007

Around the water cooler this week, AboutBail.com staff had plenty to talk about. The news this past week was full of the continuing drama of Duane “Dog” Chapman and the stories of less famous bail professionals. This week, the stories of bail professionals showed again how dangerous the profession is. From the past week, the stories that got our attention were:

Hawaii Honors The Dog
Members of the Hawaii House of Representatives publicly honored bounty hunter and TV actor Duane “Dog” Chapman and his wife Beth this past week. The lawmakers praised the couple for getting fugitives and criminals behind bars, creating a safer society. Hawaii lawmakers have been supporting Chapman since he was accused of making an illegal in the June 2003 capture of rapist Andrew Luster.

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An official of the private company that runs the state’s Alexander youth lockup says the company will hire a private investigator to look at complaints filed by the juvenile inmates.

John Morgenthau, chief operating officer of G-Four-S Youth Services, said the company is now in an assessment phase, evaluating its staff and practices. Morgenthau appeared this morning before the House Committee on Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs.

He told the lawmakers that he expected the company would discover some practices that will be offensive. He said G-Four-S will investigate every incident and grievance filed by the youths, even if someone complains that his mashed potatoes were cold.

A private detective says the Hummer-driving stranger who hit him with a drive-by snowball, injuring his eye and breaking his glasses, picked the wrong target.

Within hours, he says, he had used his investigative skills to learn where the man lived, what he did for a living and any troubles he’d run into, down to his most recent traffic ticket.

Now William Elich is suing Greg Scott Ely, alleging Ely fired a snowball from the rented Hummer as he passed Elich on Jan. 16. He’s seeking $4,350 in damages plus attorney fees.

Elich says he was about to enter Jake’s Grill for an early lunch when Ely came by in the Hummer with a “dashboard lined with snowballs.” The snowball that hit Elich broke the left lens of his glasses and bruised his eyeball, he says.

Elich said the loss of his “progressive bifocal glasses” forced him to miss work as a private investigator for eight to 10 days while he waited for a new pair of glasses. He’s asking for $2,500 for loss of wages, $225 for new glasses and $1,625 for noneconomic damages.

Truman Medical Center has hired a private investigator to try to find out who leaked photographs to KMBC.

In January, KMBC’s Micheal Mahoney reported on problems with mold inside the Jackson County Health Department in Independence. Pictures given to KMBC showed numerous splotches of mold on the walls in a records room.

Officials admitted they had an issue and needed to fix it.

Bail News Roundup - March 19, 2007

This week, the AboutBail.com staff had plenty to talk about. From changes at one of our favourite networks, to an unusual investigation in Los Angeles, to a bail bondsman wanted on charges of non-payment, we were reading the news all week. Our picks for the most interesting and the wackiest news stories:

CourtTV Making Some Changes
We at AboutBail.com love CourtTV and were thrilled about the announcement this past week that the network is being revamped to include new programming and a new look. One of the shows we are really excited about is called Bounty Girls. The show will take cameras along on the assignments of Sunshine State Bail Bonds in Florida, a company that hires elite female bounty hunters.

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Bail News Roundup - March 12, 2007

Duane “Dog” Chapman is in the news again and the staff at AboutBail.com is keeping an eye on the news to see how the reality star’s extradition to Mexico will go. In other news, a woman made a daring escape from bail bondsmen, but the bondsmen got their arrest in the end. Also, a bail agent association donated some technology to help out a busy jail. Read on to find out what the AboutBail.com staff were talking about this week:

Shreveport Woman Tries to Escape From Bail Bondsmen
A Shreveport area woman jumped from a moving car in order to escape a bail bondsman. Although injured, she spent a brief period of time in the hospital before moving to jail. The bond agreement for 21-year-old Paige Cronford was broken and Pleasant Bail Bondsmen were re-arresting her when the woman jumped from the car in order to escape. She suffered a cut on her leg and was treated at LSU Medical Center. When released, Andy Pleasant took the woman to Bossier Parish Correctional Center.

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Process Servers for Riverside County California Department of Child Support

The Department of Child Support Services of Riverside County California (hereinafter referred to as DCSS) has developed specifications to be used in the screening and selection process of Contractors to serve the County’s legal documents. DCSS has a vested interest as to the manner in which service of legal documents; particularly summons and complaints are conducted. Consequently, this attachment sets forth the procedural and legal requirements Contractor will be expected to maintain.

The due date for this bid is set for April 18, 2007 (no later than 1:30 P.M.)

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Boise has strictest oversight in the Valley for child-care providers; even so, parents must work to pick a facility that meets their standards

In Idaho, only highly skilled professionals can paint your nails bubble gum pink. But pretty much anybody is allowed to nurture your child.

A nail salon technician is required to have two years of high school education, 400 hours of training at an approved school and pass a test to get a license.

A day-care center employee is required by the state to get four hours of training each year and a one-time criminal background check. And while the state requires a day-care center owner to be licensed, individual employees are not.

Private in-home agencies are not required to carry out background checks.

Sometimes, it takes help to keep an aging or ill parent at home.

Because more than half of baby boomers who are caring for older relatives are also working at least part time, they may need someone to bathe, cook or give medicine to an elderly person.

But hiring an in-home caregiver who can be trusted with a frail parent can be as daunting — and as nerve-wracking — as picking a nanny for an infant.

• Group for Private Investigators
• Group for Process Servers