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Illustration by Security Management

Fire ✅. Ice ✅. Rats, Pigeons, and Coyotes ✅✅✅. It Must Be Strange Security

The first month of 2025 had plenty of absurd security-adjacent news that caught our editors’ eyes. Here’s a selection. And as always, we know security is serious, and while we take a lighter touch with these news items, we do not want to discount the very real trauma that may be part of these stories. Except the guy who lit his pants on fire—it’s okay to snicker at his suffering.

Number 5

Drug-Addicted Rats Invade Houston Police: The quotes in this article about overflowing evidence rooms are what make this story. From the Houston mayor: “We got 400,000 pounds of marijuana in storage that the rats are the only ones enjoying.” And this from the Houston Forensic Science Center leader: “This is difficult getting these rodents out of there… They’re drug-addicted rats. They’re tough to deal with.”

Number 4

There’s Something Furry Behind the Produce Refrigerator: At an Aldi’s grocery store in Chicago, there looked to be some kind of animal either trapped or just lazing behind a produce aisle refrigerator. Police and animal control arrived and could not determine what it was. A cat? A dog? Maybe a racoon? After poking it with broomsticks did not get the animal to move, an officer grabbed something bushy and yanked. It was a coyote’s tail.

Number 3

Things You Shouldn’t Play With: There are some people who are just bad at what they do, and then there’s the guy captured in this surveillance video. If you’re going to attempt to set fire to a fast-food outlet, you really want to have some basic idea of accelerants and combustibles. Here’s your chance to watch what must certainly be Australia’s most inept arsonist.

Number 2

Hard to Imagine a Crib of Pigeons Having a Value of $100,000: This AP story delves into a rash of robberies that has affected a favorite Belgian pastime: pigeon racing. But if you read the story, be ready to groan because the writer’s take on the “pastoral pastime” and resulting “pigeon pilfering” is alliteratively alarming.

Number 1

ICE (Cream) Patrol Truck Causes Alarm: Several years ago, a man painted his ice cream truck—the kind that roams neighborhoods playing a jingle and selling frozen desserts—to resemble a police vehicle. There’s what to a casual observer would look like a badge straddled by the words “Las Vegas,” and in all caps “ICE CREAM PATROL.” When you see the truck and consider U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge to deport a million illegal immigrants, it’s easy to see how someone could mistake it for an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicle, which, unsurprisingly, is what happened.

 

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