Comments on: Be Amazing: Survive the Witness Protection Program

By: John

John — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:47:36 +0000

Let me tell you from experience that the witness protection program is extremley hard and evry day is a test of your mental state of mind. The federal police in Australia play mind games with you all the time. They swear at you, lie to you and threaten you with physical violence if you question anything they do. You quickly develop depression & aniexty issues though evrytime you plead for assistance in the way of therapy they refuse it. They tell you they expect you to go and get employment under a new identity as they have had people in the past fall back to their old ways and commit crime. What they dont do is give you a new tax file number or any work history or replicate any certificates or qualifications you may have had in the past therefore there is no way anyone can get work.
THE WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM IS A SCAM AND BASED ON OUTDATED, OLD FBI PROGRAMS FROM AMERICA. I WONT URGE PEOPLE TO THINK LONG AND HARD BEFORE AGREEING TO BECOME A PARTICIPANT ON THE WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM.

By: Keith R

Keith R — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:49:13 +0000

I was in the witness protection program from 1983-1994, 12yrs old to 23yrs old
We never received any councling or any type of emotional support. Being a kid and told to lie and that people were out to kill us was tough on a 12yr old. My mom and I dropped out of the program and my step father was moved again, the federal marshalls and the wittness program have not returned my calls or letters, they gave me my old name back with no help in getting my diploma’s changed over and the mental health support I have been asking for. They brought in 500 million on the case my step father testified in back in 1982 so that should be billions in today’s money. They just leave you with no help. I need help if anyone can suggest what I can do. I have no paper trail for my name change and I have developed seizures from the anxiety.

By: NotQuiteFair

NotQuiteFair — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 21:49:00 +0000

I’m not sure it’s fair to admonish the people who’ve died because they invited old friends to hang out with them after they’ve testified. I’m sure severing all ties with your friends is something that many of us would be hard pressed to do no matter how involved with the criminal world we were. Brenda Paz, who’s 17 years old, most likely had no other friends besides people in MS13. I would even go so far as to say that she could have thought that the people she invited over were more loyal to her rather than loyal to the gang. Calling her an idiot for being lonely or desperately seeking companionship in a time of her personal turmoil is not only insensitive, it makes you seem like a jerk

By: Jenn

Jenn — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:05:00 +0000

PartiallyDeflected – it’s also tough to find a job because you can’t use your old references.

By: Kate

Kate — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:58:00 +0000

Amazing. I wish “In Plain Sight” would explain the witness protection program better.

By: PartiallyDeflected

PartiallyDeflected — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 19:36:00 +0000

If they’re giving you $60K a year (probably tax free) you probably don’t need to find much of a job.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:51:00 +0000

As a recently graduate of the teenage persuasion (I’m 23), I feel the need to defend those of us who at the very least, know better than to invite our assassins over for a bath. While it is true that many teenagers can be blatantly stupid, my experience has shown that they most often develop into blatantly stupid adults.

The whole concept of the Darwin Awards is the removal of the lowest common denominator from the gene pool and i will strongly support Ms. Paz for inclusion should her name ever appear on the ballot…if there is a ballot…

By: its me

its me — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 17:03:00 +0000

That’s pretty harsh to want to nominate Brenda Paz for a Darwin award. She was 17 – and teenagers are stupid! They don’t always have enough life experience to make smart decisions. Sounds like she got excited. A hotel room with a hot tub– that’s probably the most exciting thing that can happen to a 17 year old.

By: Sue

Sue — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:45:00 +0000

oh my god- how stupid do you have to be to blow your witness protection? esp. by inviting the people who want to kill you to come over and hang out? jeez.
it’s a little disturbing that england doesn’t hide it’s witnesses very well though. ^_-

By: Melissa

Melissa — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:18:00 +0000

I’m not surprised that so many witnesses also commit crime while in the program. A lot of them were probably involved in the criminal lifestyle that lead to them making the connections that made them valueable as witnesses. I bet folks in the witness protection program aren’t all just folks that ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time once and saw something happen. I’m sure there’s pleny of them that were associated with dregs of society in the first place. Seems unlikely that you’d get a whole lot of valuable info on the mob and gangs and the like unless you were already the kind of a low-life yourself. That kind of loose morals and sketchy behaviors aren’t going to change instantly because you’re in a witness protection program.