HUMINT

Working a Crowd

Student Objectives

• To optimize your senses to understand what is happening or about to happen in a public area.
• Be able to differentiate between excitement in the crowd and tension or panic.
• Recognize an individual person’s movement patterns and how these relate to one another action or movement.
• Interpret human movement patterns which are then used to evaluate the persons motivation and future actions.

Understanding a Crowd

• Being able to understand the dynamics of a crowd or individuals in that crowd could mean the difference in your mission being successful or ending in tragedy or even death.
• We are going to review actions that could identify to you the future actions of a crowd of people or people that are within the crowd.

Obvious Actions

While the obvious course of action should be to leave this area as an intelligence officer your task would be to gather as much information about the plans of the crowd, the leaders and those that appear to be the people chosen to carry out a mission.

No Crowd

• If you are in an area that is normally very busy and you see that for no apparent reason the local population has left the area you may want to consider that they may have information that you may not have.
• You want to locate a local that has left the immediate area and see if you can obtain any information on why they have left.

Types of Crowd Surveillance

Close Personal

Distant Intelligence

Types of Video or Photography

Where Should You Establish Your Position?

• There are several methods of watching a crowd.
• You may establish your surveillance position in a safe and secure location above the crowd that gives you a good view of a large portion of the crowd.

Where Should You Establish Your Position?

• You may also establish yourself inside the crowd its self.
• Your location is dictated by what information you are attempting to ascertain.
• If attempting to develop actionable intelligence you may need to imbed yourself into the crowd to be able to hear conversations or see detailed actions between crowd members.

Video Quality

• In the past CCTV video recorded on tape would have a lot of distortion from being taped over many times making it almost useless in identifying individuals or vehicles.

Surveillance Capabilities Have Changed

This is Not Your Fathers CCTV

Quality is Getting Better

And Better

Team Crowd Observation

• Technical Teams work the crowd from the control room and radio direct ground security or reaction teams to deal with problems.

Information From Observing the Total Crowd Scene

• If the crowd is moving one way at one speed and there are one or more individuals in a crowd are moving more quickly or in the other direction it could indicate that they have knowledge of or are involved in an activity that needs investigation.

Activity in a Crowd

One or more individuals in a crowd that are moving more quickly, or in a different direction than the majority of the other people.

Crowd Behavior

• The meeting of two rival motor cycle gangs could need more observation.
• Are they joining together for a common goal?
• Will there be a violent encounter?

Will There be a Violent Action?

• Teenagers moving through a train or bus could lead to an incident in the near future.
• Is it bad enough for you to expose yourself as a responder?

Unusual Activity

• An individual or a group is loitering by the side of a road, which could indicate that a roadside bomb is being planted.

Praying Before the Act

• A group loitering by the side of a road, could also indicate that a Kidnapping is being set up.
• If a religious terror group It could also indicate that they are saying their prayers before committing the terror act.

Surveillance from a Distance

• The modern surveillance systems may be utilized from great distances and still make good observations.
• Women in Hajib wearing a heavy coat in July boarding a bus.

Visual Sensors to Alert Operators

• A visual sensor is fine during daylight but not at night.
• An infrared sensor is good when it is dark but not when it is too hot.

Sound Sensors

• An acoustic sensor captures all sounds and cannot be blocked out, but different sounds can be difficult to separate".
• Acoustic sensors can be used with both video surveillance and Human surveillance to alert you of danger.

Groups Moving

• Locate groups who are on the move and to recognize an individual person’s movement patterns and how these relate to one another.

Non Human Search

• Technology has been developed to find forms of detection that do not identify human features but rather focus on the color of clothing or some other characteristic” such a looking for Gang Colors or possibly radio earpiece or a gun.

Digital Data Tampered With

• The closer we get to personal identification systems, the more important questions of data integrity become.
• You can see the man in the photo has been added to the photo placing him near the backpack. Note that he has no legs

Hidden Firearms

• There are several indicators that a person is carrying a concealed or covert firearm.
• We will be addressing the most common of these traits in the next few slides.
• You must be aware that a professional will be less likely to provide you with these tells.

Tendency to Protect the Weapon

• You see how his right arm instinctively is higher than his left arm to cover and protect the weapon and also to limit the weapons movement.
• It is impossible to conceal a shoulder holstered weapon from an experienced operator.

Asymmetrical Gait

• It is common to see someone wearing a weapon to take a shorter step with the side the weapon is on.
• The weight of the weapon or the weapon slipping may obstruct movement of the leg on the side with the weapon.
• They will also not swing their weapon side arm as much as their other arm.
• You may also actually see them rest their arm on the but of their weapon.

Upper Body Shift

• When you are approaching some with a weapon you will see that they have a tendency to pull their arm in toward the weapon to protect it.
• They will also instinctively turn the weapon away from you as you approach them.

Running with The Weapon

• When a person is running to cross a street of to get out of the rain you will see them secure the weapon with their hand or arm.

Inappropriate Clothing for the Weather

• A person with a coat in warm weather to conceal their weapon or to hold one in their pocket.
• Jacket open when it is cold to allow quick access to the weapon or to keep the weapon from “Printing” on the garment showing that there is a weapon under the outer garment.

Holster Bulges

• When the person is moving or reaching for something like a can on a grocery store shelf you can see the gun bulge.
• When standing in front of a mirror everything looks fine and the weapon is concealed but when bending or moving the clothing changes and you can see the weapon bulge.

Clothing Stands Out

• Clothing is not compatible with the other clothing being worn.
• Oversized or mismatched clothing providing wearer with a place to conceal a weapon.
• The vest used to be a great cover but now everyone knows they are to conceal a weapon.

Jacket Pocket

• The weight of the weapon will pull the jacket pocket lower on one side.
• When the weapon is in the pants pocket you will see a similar pull on the pocket on that side from the weight of the weapon.

Tendency to Keep their Hand on Weapon

• Some people if nervous or frightened will have a tendency to keep their hand in the pocket with the weapon or keep their hand on top of the pocket for quick access to the weapon.

Adjusting the Weapon

• The weight of the weapon on the belt has a tendency to pull the pants down on that side you and you will see them pulling up their pants often.
• If not in a holster the weapon has a tendency to roll forward causing the wearer to have to adjust the weapon to keep it from falling down inside their pants.

Spotting a Hidden Gun

• The weight of the weapon or the weapon slipping or fear of the weapon slipping will cause the wearer of the weapon to continually hold or adjust the weapon.

Brief Cases and Bags

• There are a number of various bags and holsters available today to conceal a weapon.

Woman’s Clothing

• There are many clothes and bags available to women to conceal weapons.
• It is a common practice for women who are involved with men in gangs to carry the weapons for them.

Women are Searched Less

• Many clubs and events require men to be searched when they enter.
• All that is required of the women in most events is to look into their handbags.
• They are rarely frisk and they know this.
• I have seen women in skin tight dress carry firearms for their boyfriends to get a weapon into an event.

Covert Weapon Holsters

• There are also many types of covert weapon holsters from cell phone and beeper cases to books and belly bags.
• You need to scan each person carefully as you are working the crowd.

Covert Weapons

• There are a variety of covert weapons both firearm and edge weapons.
• Here are a few examples.
• You may want to look at ATAB’s Covert Weapon power point for dozens of other examples.

Search the Crowd for Anything Out of Place

• You need to be observant as to what is happening around you and in the crowd.
• You need to learn to look for the things that should not be there.
• Don’t worry about the clown. Look at the man in yellow shirt on right.

Blend in

• If you are working the crowd you do not want to be noticed before you can obtain the information that you need.
• Dress to fit in.
• Don’t draw attention to yourself.

Have a Good Cover Story

• If you have to be in an event that is full of young people you need to have a reason to be there.
• A press pass and camera make a great cover and also let you take photos.
• I have had subjects of the investigation ask me to take their photos.

Be carful of How you Move

• Most people that are in this business come from a Law Enforcement or Military background. They move with a purpose. When trying to work a crowd you need to fit in not have your head on a swivel and scanning the crowd. You must learn to observe without being observed.

Find a Place to Sit

• You need to locate a good vantage point and sit down. You will draw much less attention sitting than if you are standing in one place for a long period of time.
• Once in place, STAY there do NOT move again. Trained Counter Intel operatives will notice your movement.

Stay Away From Bus Stops

• In most cases a bus stop is a bad place to stop as if you are not gone when the bus leaves it will be obvious to an observer that you are there for a reason.

Cell Phones

• While a cell can give you an excuse to be doing something it also can draw attention and a paranoid person may suspect you just because you have one.
• If you do talk on your phone do not use police or military jargon.
• Bluetooth are good.

Working as a Couple

• Working with a partner can make things easier for you to blend in and you will be able to see twice as much.
• Do not split up. Being as a couple and leaving separately is obvious indication that you are not a couple.

Coffee Shops

• Coffee shops are a great place to establish a surveillance point. They are used to people spending long periods of time there that are doing nothing.
• If in a coffee shop or restaurant you want to pay for your meal as soon as it arrives incase you have to leave in a hurry to follow your target.

Do you Look Like You are Working

• As earlier noted most people in our industry have military and or Law Enforcement backgrounds and it is hard for them to loose the Military Bearing.
• You need to fit into your environment.
• Surveillance details of woman and a teen work well for blending in to the area.

Summary

• The point of working a crowd is to gather as much information as possible without being notices.
• This can be accomplished by long distance surveillance for general knowledge.
• Do obtain details about actionable intelligence you will need to be near by the people that are talking or passing information.