The Silicon Valley Voice is dedicated to public safety, crime news, photos, and crime trials reporting in Sunnyvale and Santa Clara.
Nearly everyone has received a spam text. The texts, typically stating the recipient will “receive a FREE $50 Target Gift voucher” by calling a specific number or telling the owner of the phone number they can “reduce [their] mortgage by 50 percent” by responding, are unwarranted and definitely unwanted. Unfortunately, the only way to avoid … Read more
Remember the Clipper Chip? Let me refresh your memory. Formally known as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), the Clipper Chip was the NSA’s 1994 attempt to “protect” telephone communications with a special, new encryption method. The only catch was that the government had a back door key to every telephone. But supposedly … Read more
During a DUI traffic stop on the evening of Saturday, January 14, a Santa Clara Police Officer encountered an allegedly uncooperative driver, a 42-year-old male Santa Clara resident. According to a press release by SCPD Lt. Phil Cook, as the driver became uncooperative, the officer called for assistance. The suspect was allegedly reaching for a … Read more
Santa Clara Chief of Police Kevin Kyle recently announced that City Manager Jennifer Sparacino has made promotions within the Santa Clara Police Department. Lt. Michael Sellers has been promoted to Assistant Police Chief. Sellers was hired as a Santa Clara Police Officer in 1985, after serving for several years as a Police Cadet and Reserve … Read more
Effective January 1, 2012, children under eight-years-old will now have to be secured in a child safety seat or booster seat in California. Beginning January 1, children under age eight must be properly buckled into a car seat or booster, and in the back seat. In addition, children age eight or older who are not … Read more
Card data thieves are only part of a chain of credit/debit card cyber fraud – “carding” rings – that were fast to identify the possibilities of the Internet – if they were legal businesses, we’d call them “supply chain innovators” instead of “hackers” and “carders.” The chain begins with online marketplaces such as Tradekey.com where … Read more
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – for credit/debit card fraudsters, that is. If you’re one of their unlucky victims, as I was recently, right now you’d like to roast a few fraudsters – instead of chestnuts – on an open fire. Last weekend somebody enjoyed a $1,500 “fraud spree” with my debit … Read more
Earlier this year, Christy Kinney was recovering from surgery when she received a bill in the mail for a credit card she didn’t remember that she had. The bill racked up over $8,000 in charges Kinney had never made. “I was like, what?” Kinney recalls. “I was shocked.” While Kinney should have been resting from … Read more
Bicycle theft is on the rise in Santa Clara. The Santa Clara Police Department reports that about 200 bikes have been stolen in the city over the past three months, most of them in the Rivermark neighborhood north of Highway 101. And it’s not just expensive bikes that are disappearing. A $150 cruiser is as … Read more
Remove potentially dangerous old, unwanted or unused prescription drugs from your medicine cabinet and dispose of them at this event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot of the Santa Clara Police Department, 601 El Camino Real. The safe disposal of these drugs, especially controlled substances, keeps the drugs out of the … Read more