Beyond the Scene; New Pope 2025; Strike Does Not Favor Tourism in Panama.

Friday, May 09, 2025. Beyond the Scene: Time and Environment as Dual Pillars of the Investigative Mindset In investigative work, we often speak of “the scene”, as if it were one isolated moment in space. But the reality is far more layered. Every case, whether a petty theft or an international fraud scheme, occurs within an environment that is not only physical, but temporal. The environment isn’t just where something happened, it’s when, how long ago, for how long, and what came before or after. Without recognizing time as a dimension of the environment, an investigator risks chasing shadows rather than uncovering substance. Too often, we hyper-focus on an object or isolated fact. A client might tell us, “They stole my watch, my laptop, and my phone,” and we’re given a neat list of stolen items. But ask how many individuals were involved, and the answers are vague: “I think two… maybe three.” Ask if they saw a getaway vehicle, and you hear, “I didn’t think to look.” The victim’s field of awareness was limited, understandably, by fear and shock, but if we, as investigators, adopt that same narrow lens, we miss crucial opportunities. Now add the pressure of time. Fingerprints on a doorknob may last only hours. Surveillance footage may overwrite itself every 24 to 72 hours. A witness’s memory begins to degrade immediately, altered by conversations, assumptions, media, and time itself. The longer we wait, the further we get from unfiltered truth. That’s why a skilled investigator learns to sequence their approach: identify which environments are both most urgent and most revealing, and then act quickly to preserve what would otherwise vanish. Take this layered view: The environment becomes a series of concentric circles, each one holding more context, and each one governed by its own ticking clock. And then we go deeper. Consider the digital environment. Did the suspects scope out the location via Google Maps? Did they communicate via encrypted messaging apps? Did the stolen phone ping a tower on its way out of the city? This layer isn’t visible at the scene, but it’s as real and critical as the broken window or pried-open door. Even the psychological environment plays a role. The mindset of the victim at the time of the crime. The patterns of behavior leading up to the event. The routine that made them predictable. Or the internal environment of the perpetrator; was this act born out of desperation, calculation, revenge or impulse? All of these must be mapped not just spatially, but chronologically. When we draw timelines, we do more than chart events. We look for causality. For rhythm. For breaks in pattern. We ask not just what happened, but why it happened then, why it happened there, and what that timing tells us about the next move. So, where do we begin? We begin with the environment that expires first. If there are cameras, retrieve the footage before it’s lost. If there are witnesses, interview them before memory fades or bias creeps in. If there are digital traces, preserve them before metadata is altered or deleted. Think of it as investigative triage: act where time is not your friend. Then we move outward, not randomly, but methodically. From micro to macro. From the known to the uncertain. And with each layer of environment, we don’t just collect facts, we build a narrative. Because in the end, investigation is not just about gathering pieces, it’s about assembling meaning. The scene of the crime is never the full story. The environment, physical, digital, psychological, and temporal, is the story. And the investigator who learns to navigate these layers with urgency and clarity will always find more than the one who simply shows up and takes notes. Brett Mikkelson TOP NEWS and TIDBITS: New Pope 2025: Robert Francis Prévost is Pope Leo XIV Cardinal Dominique Mamberti was the one who announced to the world the name of the new pontiff, 69-year-old Robert Francis Prévost, who has been elected as Pope Leo XIV. With this historic appointment, Prévost becomes the successor of Peter and the new head of the Catholic Church. The 267th pontiff of the Catholic Church was born in Chicago but also holds Peruvian nationality, having served as a missionary and as the emeritus archbishop of Chiclayo. Before his election, Prévost led one of the most influential offices in the Vatican: the Congregation for Bishops, responsible for evaluating candidates and proposing key appointments within the ecclesiastical structure. His profile has been regarded as that of a calm, experienced leader deeply committed to pastoral renewal. READ ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE Strike Does Not Favor Tourism in Panama, Private Sector Calls for Dialogue While the private sector urges authorities to come to the negotiating table to end the two-week-long strike, President Mulino insists that Law 462 of the Social Security Fund (CSS) will remain in force. Hotel owners, shopping centers, and the tourism industry as a whole have been raising their voices about the negative impact of the indefinite national strike called by teachers, who are demanding the repeal of Law 462 regarding reforms to the Social Security Fund. The strike continues into its second consecutive week. The Panamanian Hotel Association (Apatel) expressed on Thursday, May 8, its concern over the severe impact that road closures across the country are having on tourism, affecting both domestic travel and international visitor arrivals. The hotel sector warned that the roadblocks have forced both domestic and international tourists to cancel their travel plans, due to the inability to reach popular tourist destinations such as Chiriquí, Bocas del Toro, and the central provinces. They stated that the situation has led to the temporary closure of numerous establishments, as well as the cancellation of reservations made weeks in advance, resulting in millions in economic losses for a sector still recovering from previous crises. “Hotel occupancy, already weakened, is now facing a new and serious setback. The disruption of supply chains is also complicating the operations of many tourism businesses, deepening the sector’s crisis,” Apatel said in an official statement. Although the hotel industry acknowledges and respects citizens’ right to protest, it