If you’re looking for the perfect place to commit a stealth crime, you could do a lot better than ISC West 2011, one of the biggest security trade shows.

I was a first-time attendee and was wowed by the number of surveillance devices on display from traditional cameras to thermal imaging devices and beyond. You really couldn’t walk anywhere without being tracked in some way, even if you didn’t know it was happening.

For some reason, though, a man who entered the hall at the Sands Expo and Convention Center last week, dressed in a Philip Rivers San Diego Chargers T-shirt and using a fake badge, decided to press his luck, despite the presence of cameras up and down every aisle, many of them with overhead capabilities and the ability to zoom in on even the tiniest detail.

He walked up to the Advanced Technology Video booth, looked around to make sure the coast was clear and slipped an unsecured iPad into his bag of freebies. I didn’t see this happen for myself, but word quickly spread around the floor and later a Las Vegas TV station reported on the incident.

You’ve got to see this for yourself. Don’t be surprised if it eventually makes its way to Jay Leno, since he often professes his love of stupid criminals. This guy would surely qualify:

An interesting footnote to this story: On both Wednesday and Thursday, I had scheduled interviews with exhibitors before the trade show opened, but was told by the gate-keepers I didn’t have the right badge to enter the hall early, despite “All Access” being clearly printed on it. I even joked with my co-workers and family members that it makes sense that a security show would operate with tight security. With that backdrop, it’s interesting to me that someone who had a counterfeit badge had an easier time getting into the hall than I did.

About the author

D. Craig MacCormack

Craig MacCormack is a veteran journalist with more than 15 years experience covering local and national news and sports as well as architecture and engineering. He joined Commercial Integrator in January 2011. Follow him on Twitter: @CraigMacCormack.

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