Cool Urban Exploration blog

Just found this cool International Urban Exploration blog called Telefunker.

Based in belgium the site has a lot of european reports

 

My favourite is KRANKENHAUS S (GERMANY) of an abondand hospital in Germany

Detecting Foot Surveillance (Part 1)

Part 1 Introduction to what a foot surveillance team looks like
It’s not unusual for NGO and media workers to come under surveillance in regimes that are suspicious of the west and plans are under way form the UK government to tighten this loop further under the terrorism act, so we have to view this as the norm.

The first thing to remember is that there is no need to panic, a lot of countries do routine surveillance, concern should arise however, if you have been talking to a lot of people regarding sensitive stuff. It may also be private investigators or a gang that has decided to carry out the surveillance to suit there aims or plot a kidnapping of a traveller for political gain.

The hardest place to spot a surveillance team is in busy areas full of shoppers or tourists and it may seem a daunting task, but we don’t need to know what they look like as they follow certain rules of appearance, the world over with the exception of criminal gangs that wish to stand out so they can intimidate or limit your movements and getting on with your job, this is Overt surveillance as opposed to covert that authorities will use.

The optimum size for a surveillance team is 12 to 14 people, this allows for it to be broken down to two teams with one controller for each team they will often be ‘two up’ in the cars (six or seven cars with two people in each) with a good mix of apperances whenever possible with different racial backgrounds and sex. The cars will be dull boring ones but with good acceleration for aggressive driving in cities hatchbacks and saloons are comon. The team may also have access to motorbikes, commercial vehicles or even planes and boats.

They will not normally break into two teams unless it is considered a necessity, typical actions may be:

• That they want to follow one of your contacts to establish who they are
• They have detected a counter surveillance in operation on you and want to check it out
• They have dropped back to rest half of the team, such as the surveillance has moved into the night, the rest will be on standby out of sight but near

Normally they will want to keep the full team of 12-14 people just so you don’t keep seeing the same people the passenger and drivers are interchangeable. beware of cars pulling up and dropping off/picking up a passenger and drivers asking for directions with someone leaning in looking at a map. One trick for an operative to get a change of clothes or new radio is to hold a jacket lean in pointing to some place on the map (garbage talk) but coming back out with a different jacket (a swap) or using a newspaper with a radio wrapped up in it

Things to look for:

• Lose clothing: As an operative you have to hide radio sets and various other bits of equipment such as code books map books hats, spare batteries for the radio compact bino’s that all add up, this is normally carried in a surveillance vest, but nowadays it could be a small bum bag. Males will have a tendency to wear jackets even on hot days ( a windshell or windcheater is common) Females will normally carry all this in a larger shoulder handbag so noting these will help. today messenger and laptop bags are also common and it could be possible they use these, but here is a constant clue to identification and they can be cumbersome. In cold weather the down jackets are often favoured by operatives who may have to spend many hours outside in the cold and are also the norm for night surveillance and static surveillance situations, again these are baggy so also ideal for hidding their gear. Reversiable jackets are also a favourate option if they can get them.
• Colours: They are likely to be wearing colours that are dull as fuck, blacks, greys (hence the grey man and the term going grey) browns dark blues or dark greens. Anyone with a highly coloured item can be initially disregarded. The SAS often wore Hawaiian shirts when going abroad to do ‘jobs’ so they looked like the tourists, but this is for blending in and not for surveillance!
• Distinctive jewellery
• Ears: some surveillance operatives have a tendency to touch there ear. Some (covert) earpieces have a tiny volume control that needs to be adjusted for the environment, it can seem to the operative that it is way to load that every one around you must be able to hear the radio talk as well, occasionally they can make you jump with a sudden burst of interference. It may also be the fact that it is becoming an irritation especially on a hot day it feels like it is going to fall out due to the sweat build up. It could of course be a hearing aid!
• Eye contact: they will do all they can to avoid eye contact, the saying the eyes are the window to the soul, is very true…
• Personal attractiveness: Female operatives will avoid lots of make-up or displays of legs and cleavage (this is surveillance not a honey trap) hair is likely to be short with no complicated braiding but poney tails and head bands could be used for quick changes of appearance, bright coloured hair or fancy perms are not the norm either. Wigs could be used
• Shoes: As a surveillance operative you spend a lot of time on your feet day after day. they may also need to drive suddenly. so it is unusual for a female operative to be wearing high heels and males tend to favour trainers or soft shoes. It is important to remember that if you are in a business environment, they will dress appropriately. Gangs and mercenaries tend to wear army style boots a lot, but often worn in a casual manner, but not always
• Age: Very young or very old can usually be discounted
• Umbrellas: these are distinctive and cumbersome and unlikely to be carried. In use they limit the operatives vision
• People with children: The presence of children with an adult almost certainly rules them out. Terrorist or criminal gangs may use them, intelligence services don’t
• Sunglasses: Unless enough people are wearing them for it to be common, surveillance teams will avoid them and will certainly avoid designer and unusual shaped sunglasses, the most boring the better
• Car Activity: beware of cars pulling up and dropping off/picking up a passenger and
  drivers asking for directions with someone leaning in looking at a map.
  One trick for an operative to get a change of clothes or new radio is
  to hold a jacket lean in pointing to some place on the map (garbage
  talk) but coming back out with a different jacket (a swap) or using a
  newspaper with a radio wrapped up in it.
• Clean Cars: that are very clean in the way of dealership stickers from the back window or bottom of numberplate’s (this makes it hard to trace) plain tax disk holders and no personal artefacts inside the car.
• Car Evidence: maps on the seat, map books, spotting stickers, communications gear and food and water carried for the long day may be visable on a back seat or empty passenger seat, GPS systems may or may not be a clue (GPS normally needs a location/destination to be set and is not much use for surveillance, unless it has a tracker fix connected to the targets car)

Remember these are only guidelines, there are always exceptions and one of these is what is the norm of fashion? Denim jeans have been around for ages and are common for operatives to wear for normal street tasks during the day. At night when the target may go into pubs or clubs the operative may not be able to follow due to the dress code of the establishment.

Surveillance operatives always carry spare clothing in the car and if for any reason they have to return to the car they will change there appearance as part of their slandered operational procedure (SOP), this may be simply adding a hat or changing a jacket

They will not show ID card to gain entry to a venue; this would blow there cover as the doorman or other guests may start talking and pointing out the operative

Night Time Close Target Recce

The purpose of a night close target recce (CTR)
is to obtain a progressive amount of information in a search for
vulnerabilities/information during the cover of night (a similar
practise should have occurred during the daylight hours previously) its
purpose is only considered if the daylight recce has been unfruitful or
impractical due to security awareness in the area and may take several
visits over several weeks to accomplish.

Things to look for include:

• Places to get a good vantage point/Op
• Vehicles in the area, are they locals are they new, is it security patrol?
• All exits from the target building/area especially if they are accessible by foot (to avoid being stumbled upon)
• Where the target/security normally parks the car
• Local threats of compromise, police actions, local dogs, neighbours, lighting, cctv
• Logical routes in and out of the building/area
• cover that you can use

Additional
things to look for may also be in the nature of security they have,
fences, locks, gate procedure (Does security lock it if going for a
walk around?) places to stash equipment etc.

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