Copy of artcle on FBI vehicle surveillance from site http://www.chymerick.com/orgs/spyvsspy/home.html (which is down at the moment) Vehicle Surveillance: The FBI's system... Part one in a five-part series Copyright (c) 1998 Lee Adams. All rights reserved. http://www.SPYCOUNTERSPY.com Be sure you read read and understand the legal small print concerning this article. Wheel artist- that's spy-talk for an outdoor surveillance specialist operating a vehcile. The FBI has lots of them- agents and bucars (bureau cars). Together they're called vehicle surveillance teams. Know your adversary. Make no mistake about it, FBI surveillance teams are deadly. They get results. Consistenly. FBI agents recieve the best training and the best equipment. They don't just follow you- they surround you. They become part of your environment. You never see the same vehicle twice. They blend in with traffic. Up to twenty FBI agents at any one time. Even more if the investigation involves national security. Every agent on the surveillance team has just one thing on his mind- to get you. And they will. Unless you read this article. Carefully. What you'll learn This is the first article in a five part series that teaches you how to respond when you're confronted by an FBI vehicle surveillance team. Article #1- In the first tutorial (the article you're reading now) you'll learn the fundamentals of how vehicle surveillance teams operate. Artcile #2- In the second tutorial you'll learn about the tactics, diversions, and decoys that an FBI surveillance team uses- including how they support the foot surveillance team. Article #3- In the third tutorial you'll learn about advanced methods like setups, traps, ambushes, and attacks- as well as the FBI's psychological operations against you while you're driving. Article #4- In the fourth tutorial you'll see how to use anti-surveillance and countersurveillance. You'll learn how to detect and obstruct the FBI. Article #5- In the fifth and final article you'll recieve step-by-step instructions for breaking out of FBI surveillance. You'll learn how to give them the slip. How you'll benefit. This five-part series of articles provides practical training in professional countersurveillance and antisurveillance techniques. If you are the target of FBI surveillance, this article will give you the edge you need to outwit the goon squads of government tyranny and repression. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The FBI: A dangerous adversary... The FBI is mainly interested in activity that occurs while you are out of your vehicle. The goal of an FBI vehicle surveillance team, therefore, is to track you to that location- and then help the foot surveillance team establish contact on you. Background. The FBI's vehicle surveillance system is the result of six decades of experience. From rudimentary beginnings during prohibition, the FBI system as it exists today is built in large part from the techniques originally developed from 1938 to 1943 by the Gestapo to monitor and supress resistance in Nazi-occupied countries. With the addition of more than 50 years of modifications and improvements, the FBI today possesses a surveillance apparatus that has led to the ruin of many suspects. Triple threat Depending on the situation, FBI agents can choose from three different methods of vehicle surveillance. These methods are floating-box surveillance, hand-off surveillance, and static surveillance. Floating-box surveillance. Floating-box surveillance is based on continuous coverage by the same team. FBI agents create a box of surveillance vehicles around you. The box floats with you as you travel along your route. Hence the name floating-box. It is very effective in urban and suburban locations. Very few suspects break out of a properly-run floating-box. Hand-off surveillance. Hand-off surveillance involves more than one team. At key intersections or other decision points along your route, surveillance control is passed from one floating-box team to another. This is called phased coverage. It is very effective when large distances are involved- freeways, expressways, long commutes, highways, and so on. It is also used in city situations when lengthy periods of time are involved. Static surveillance. Static surveillance is also based on phased coverage, but it uses fixed observation posts instead of a floating-box. Each observation post is located at a decision point (major intersection, etc.) along the target's route. Although this method leaves many gaps in coverage, it is very difficult to detect this type of surveillance. The FBI uses this method when they first begin coverage on a hard target (such as a trained intelligence agent who is likely to be on the lookout for surveillance). The FBI switches to floating-box surveillance after they have identified general locations where coverage is required. The FBI's floating box system... The FBI's floating-box is a powerful system. The wheel artists don't follow you- they surround you. They blend in. They become part of your ecosystem. An FBI floating-box can be run with as few as three vehicles- or as many as 20. A team consisting of seven to ten vehicles is typical. It is not unheard-of for 50 vehicles to be involved, especially in a major case where arrest is imminent. The FBI has for years managed to keep secret the siz of their vehicle surveillance teams. Even in court proceedings, the most they'll likely admit to is 20 vehicles. In some surveillance situations, FBI wheel artists don't just blend in with your environment, they become your environment. The image shown below (next page-ed)illustrates the major components of the FBI's floating-box system of vehicle surveillance. next page |