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Sharpen
the Blade: 05-2004
By Tom Givens
My
dictionary defines “intelligence” as follows:
“1. Capacity for understanding and for other forms of adaptive behavior;
aptitude for grasping truths, facts, meanings; 2. Good mental capacity; 3. The
faculty of understanding; 6. The gathering or distribution of information,
especially secret information; 7. A staff of persons engaged in obtaining such
information”.
The
selected definitions listed above accurately reflect what we mean when we refer
to gathering personal intelligence. Make no mistake—the law-abiding populace of
this country is at war with the criminal sub-culture, and the gathering of
accurate intelligence on the enemy’s identity, location, and strength is a
vital part of planning your overall defensive strategy. Unless you are aware of
the threat, how can you plan to counter it?
In this
article we will examine some of the facets of personal intelligence gathering
and processing, to assist you in a realistic threat assessment of your
environment, and to provide forewarning in street encounters with likely threat
sources. While this will not be an exhaustive examination of every threat, it
will at least expose you to the main elements of some of the more common
criminal types with which you will likely deal.
The
purpose of this endeavor is to allow you to recognize subtle danger signs that
will be present prior to an assault. By recognizing these cues, you can place
yourself on alert, and be thinking about a planned response. As we discussed
previously, being aware of a threat and having a plan in mind to deal with it
greatly decreases reaction time, and helps overcome the mental inertia that
slows down our response. When interacting with strangers, these subtle cues,
once learned, can assist you in evaluating the proper degree of vigilance and
readiness to act.
Be alert
for these signs as you go through your daily routine. Forewarned is forearmed.
One of the
most common threats right now is that of the violent youth street gang, whether
that gang has its origins in the black, Latino, Southeast Asian, or white
communities. Street gangs, once
confined largely to places like Chicago and Los Angeles, have now spread
throughout the United States, driven largely by the lucrative market in illicit
drugs, particularly cocaine and crack.
Street
gangs become surrogate families of sorts for many members, providing the
companionship, support, affirmation, and respect missing from their home life.
This mutual bond among gang members is the source of one cause of violence
against non-members. “Dissing” a gang member (showing disrespect to him or his
associates) causes him to lose face in the eyes of his peers, unless redeemed
by violence against the person showing the real or imagined disrespect. Since
there are usually multiple members present, you are faced with an attack by all
of them (fight one, fight them all).
Other attacks are motivated by desire for your money, and carjacking is
a common crime among youthful offenders, who take a new vehicle each night to
use in the “cruising”, robberies, and drive-by shootings they have planned for
the evening’s entertainment. In some organizations, gang members must commit a
serious crime, such as shooting a stranger (you) in the presence of a senior
gang member in order to move up in the social order. Regardless of the intent, these are dangerous individuals, and
they must be taken seriously as a threat.
Gang
graffiti is not just vandalism; it is a form of advertising and communication.
Gangsters use graffiti to mark territory and to establish dominance, just as a
predator might urinate on the tree trunks around the perimeter of his home
range. Gang graffiti must be taken seriously as a red flag; its appearance
around your place of business means that you must be on the lookout for gang
members and activity.
Black
street gangs in this country are typically affiliated with one of several major
national groups. The best known of
these are the Crips and the Bloods, which originated in Los Angeles, and The
Folk Nation and The People Nation, which originated in Chicago. All of these groups have sent recruiters
throughout the U.S., and there is now no area of the country completely free
from their influence. The illustrations
show some of the major forms and symbols commonly used in their graffiti.
Bear in
mind that graffiti is not the only form of expression in which these symbols
are used. The same images often appear as tattoos, and these provide a ready
means of identification. In the past, gang members usually sported “colors”,
readily identifiable pieces of clothing, which made identification easier for
both friend and foe. Examples included red or blue bandannas, and “dressing
right, or left” which means cap brim turned a certain direction, or one pants
leg rolled up and the other not. In most areas these practices have been
abandoned, as they lead to attention from law enforcement officers on patrol.
Now, tattoos are probably your best means of identifying gang members.
Among the
major Latino gangs are the “Mexican Mafia” and Nuestra Familia, with their
origins in Southwest U.S. prisons, and the Latin Kings, a common street gang.
Tattoos are a prevalent form of communication among these gangsters, with often
ornate, colorful, and extensive coverage.
The Mexican national emblem, the eagle and snake, are common, as well as
stylized initials like eMe (the pronunciation of “M” in Spanish, for the
Mexican Mafia), and a crown in Latin Kings tattoos.
Among the
most dangerous of the white gang types is the “Skinhead”, a white, neo-Nazi
type that specializes in personal brutality, particularly violence directed
towards Jews, blacks, homosexuals, and other “inferior” people. Skinheads got
their name from the practice of shaving their heads, but again, this has been
largely abandoned to prevent harassment (oops, I meant monitoring) by police.
Heavy boots, suspenders (braces), muscle shirts, and black leather jackets or
military style jackets are the principal mode of dress. Again, tattoos are your
best indicator. The Celtic cross, Nordic or Viking artwork, and Christian
religious symbols are the most common form of tattoos.
The other
predominately white threat group is the “biker gang” or “outlaw bikers”. Bikers
live in a culture all their own, in a world dominated by their motorcycle,
degradation of women, drugs, and violence. Bikers seldom work in the
traditional sense, but make their living from prostituting their “old ladies”,
selling drugs, and working as enforcers for other criminal enterprises. Bikers
tend to be extremely violence prone, especially if they perceive weakness in a
victim or opponent, and they tend to be both well armed and often, better
skilled than most other gang types. This makes them formidable adversaries.
Obviously,
the most common indicator is the biker’s motorcycle, but this is not always
present. Bikers often travel in other vehicles, and a group of bikers traveling
on “business” will often be accompanied by a van containing back-up members,
heavy weapons, including automatic weapons, and extra ammunition.
The
primary indicator is the biker’s colors, a vest adorned with the symbols of his
gang, and of his personal achievements. A biker wears his life story on his
vest, with his status within the gang, his rank, his past deeds, and other
information proudly displayed, although somewhat encoded. A biker will usually die before he will
surrender, or risk loss of his colors.
The same markings found on his colors will often be found in tattoos,
which are quite common among bikers.
According
to many authorities in law enforcement, as much as 80% of the crime in the
United States, is driven by the use of illegal drugs. From turf wars among drug
dealers, to robberies for money to get money to buy dope, drug abusers are your
single largest threat group. According
to a recent detailed study by the FBI, 80% of the offenders studied who had
killed police officers were under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or drugs and
alcohol at the time of the fatal assault. Many types of drugs lower social
inhibitions (this is why alcohol is so important to so many people at social
functions). Unfortunately, these social inhibitions include the inhibition to
kill a fellow human being.
The most
commonly abused drugs in this country include:
Cocaine, Crack, Amphetamines, Methamphetamines, and other Nervous System
Stimulants; PCP, LSD, MDMA, and other Hallucinogens; Marijuana; Anabolic
Steroids, and of course, Alcohol.
Different
types of drugs can cause different physical symptoms, of which you need to be
aware. In addition, certain drugs can cause psychological effects on the
offender that you must be prepared for. Remember that different people can have
different reactions to drugs. A complete discussion of these drug types and
their effects is outside the scope of this brief article, but the information
is readily available.
In any major
urban area, street contacts with mentally or emotionally disturbed persons are
practically unavoidable. According to
the American Psychiatric Association, one of every three Americans will suffer
some form of serious mental or emotional illness at some point in his life. I’m
OK, but frankly I’ve been a bit worried about you.
The most
common group of mentally disturbed persons you will encounter is the “street
person”, typically a homeless drifter, or “bum”, usually shabbily dressed,
unkempt, bearded, and dirty. A lot of people will try to tell you that these
people are helpless, harmless victims of the failed mental health care system.
This is not typically true.
It is now
extremely difficult in this country to involuntarily commit someone for a mental
illness, even a serious one. Even disturbed persons who kill are typically
stabilized with medication and released back into the public, with the frail
hope that they will continue to faithfully take their medication without
supervision. Most mentally ill street people have been placed in care homes or
mental institutions at some point, but since they cannot be held there against
their will, they left and went back on the street. In my experience, many of
these persons prefer uncertain life on the street to the structured and
confining life in an institution. Of course, once on the street and broke, they
have no access to medications, and no one to evaluate their progress or
deterioration.
In my
area, for instance, I used to patrol a residential area, which was a short
distance from the main concentration of hospitals, including mental health
facilities. We would arrest these "disturbed persons” for theft, burglary,
or assault so many times we knew them all by name. Some were not violent, some
were. In court, the judges recognized them as persistent offenders, but
understood that they were seriously mentally ill, so were reluctant to put them
in jail. In jail, true criminals victimized these typically poorly physically
conditioned people horribly. The judges were powerless to commit these
individuals to mental institutions for any length of time, as the admitting
psychiatrists would judge them not to be “an imminent threat to their own
safety or that of others”. Back on the street they went in 24 hours. One night one of these “repeat customers” of
ours, a fifty-ish female of slight build, knocked a man down, sat astride his
chest, and cut his heart out with a steak knife. Sometimes three of four of us would have to “pile up” on one of
these offenders to get him into custody without having to kill him. Harmless?
Hardly.
A large
percentage of these street people are armed, with usually crude weapons such as
knives, screwdrivers, straight razors, or improvised weapons. They are often very territorial about “their
home”, which may be a cozy spot behind your office’s dumpster. They also tend
to be very touchy about personal space, and inadvertently getting too close to
one may be interpreted as the worst sort of aggressive attack against him,
resulting in a furious assault against the “intruder” (you!).
Aside
from the obvious “bum” be on the lookout for behavior such as a shuffling,
uncoordinated gait; a vacant, “thousand-yard stare”; incoherent mumbling;
talking to himself or unseen associates; and other bizarre behavior. (Bear in
mind, he may just be a Democrat.)
With
anyone you suspect to be mentally disturbed, try these tips to avoid or
de-escalate a contact:
1.
Remember
his personal space, and don’t invade it.
2.
Do
not try to touch him, unless you are prepared to fight him.
3.
Do
not make sudden, rapid, or startling movements.
4.
Speak
quietly and slowly. Do not shout.
5.
Try
to increase distance, and get an obstacle (parked car, fence, etc.) between
you, as if he is armed it is probably with an edged weapon.
Criminals
must go through certain specific stages of activity before they can
assault/rob/abduct/rape/etc. These
stages will differ slightly in different types of crimes, but will generally
fall into these categories.
1.
SELECTION- The criminal views you as a
prospective victim. He looks at your “victim potential”, on two separate bases.
First, do you have the type of car he wants, are you wearing expensive watches
and jewelry, have you flashed a roll of cash, do you fit his rape victim profile? We think of this as, “Do you have what I
want?”. If the answer is, “Yes.”, he moves to the next question.
Then he evaluates you as a threat to him. First and
foremost, are you paying attention to your surroundings? Are you aware of his presence?
Do you look like you might be a physical problem? Do you look like you might be
armed? I assure you he goes through these questions. We think of this as, “Can
I get what I want from you, safely?”.
If the answer to either question, “Do you have what I
want, and can I get it from you, safely?”, is “NO”, then off he goes, in search
of easier prey. Thugs are not looking for a fight. What they’re looking for is
the easy mark. Someone they can get to, get what they want from, and get away
from, without being hurt and without being caught.
Several years ago, some psychology students conducted a
fascinating study. They took photos of ordinary people as they came and went
from a downtown business area. They then planned to show these to criminals and
ask them to identify the people they would choose as victims, and identify the
people they would choose to bypass. In the preliminary write-up, they said that
they expected to see a 10-15% correlation among the “victim” and “non-victim”
groups.
They then went to a state prison and got a very large
number of career violent offenders (rapists, muggers, etc.) to enter a room one
at a time and view these photos. Time after time, the thugs said, “I want that
one”, and pointed to others and said, “But I don’t want that one!” When it was over, the psychologists were
shocked. There was a 95% correlation
rate! Ninety-five times out of a hundred, individual thugs, with no
communication among them, picked the same people to be victims, or to
bypass. How did they do that? Body
language. The only thing available from these photos was body language, but
that was enough for the thugs to instantly identify the true victims as well as
the people they would not risk a confrontation with.
Whom did they choose as victims? Gender, size, and age
were surprisingly not the keys. Instead, they looked for people who shuffled
along, head down, avoiding eye contact, unaware of their surroundings
(Condition White). In contrast, they avoided choosing people, even small
females, if they were alert, confident, head up, and looked like they knew what
was going on around them (Condition Yellow). Remember what he really wants. He
wants to get to you, get what he wants from you, and get away from you, without
being hurt or caught.
There are signs that a potential attacker is evaluating
you. They include:
1.
Anyone
who appears to be watching you should be viewed with mild alarm. If every time
you look up, the same guy is looking at you, ask yourself, “Why?”.
2.
Anyone
who is inactive until you approach, then tries to look busy;
3.
Anyone
whose activity is geared to yours. You speed up, he speeds up, etc.
2.
POSITIONING-
Once a criminal selects a victim, he must move into a
position from which an attack is possible.
Always remember that to assault, rob, or rape you, he must be close
enough to talk to you. He will attempt to maneuver into this position by
stealth (which is defeated by being alert), or by ruse. He may ask you for the
time, for change, for directions, anything to distract you and preferably cause
you to look away from him. When you look away, here comes the blow! The best course of action is to politely
refuse any request, no matter what it is. Keep your eye on him and say, “No”.
Anything you agree to is the springboard for the next request, which then
escalates to demands. Just say “No”.
Positioning prior to the assault is vital to him, as he
relies almost totally on surprise for success. If you avoid his attempts to
properly position himself, you forestall the attack. Be alert and watchful for
these cues:
1.
Anyone
who falls in behind you after you walk by;
2.
Two
or more people who are together, but split up as you approach;
3.
Anyone
staying in one place, observing, but begins to move toward you;
4.
Two
or more people lined up along a wall or fence; or
5.
Anyone
who moves to block an exit after you enter a confined space.
If you see one of these cues, cross the street, change directions, turn a corner. If he alters his course to match yours, he has tipped his hand. Go to Orange and start planning an escape or response.
3.
THE ATTACK-
The attack phase can only come after the evaluation phase
and the positioning phase. It is simply not possible to attack you until these
first two stages have been completed. The very best defense, therefore, is to
circumvent the attack by not allowing the Evaluation Phase and the Positioning
Phase to be fruitfully completed. Every single attack you avoid is a battle
won! In every attack you fail to prevent, you are at enormous risk! A one-eyed,
three-fingered jackass can miss you by ten feet with a handgun, and ricochet a
round off the pavement and into your femoral artery. Although you are
“accidentally” dead, you’re still dead. Be alert and use your head and you won’t
have to use your pistol nearly as often.
With the
exception of the true sociopath (more on him later), there will normally be
cues, principally body language, which will assist you in forecasting
aggressive activity by an individual you are observing. Being aware of these
cues is vital to your accurate threat assessment.
Of
course, verbalization by the offender is a critical cue. Someone cursing,
shouting epithets, and generally being aggressive verbally is a likely
candidate for physical aggression. Bear
in mind, however, that 80% of human communication is non-verbal, and you must
be aware of and watchful for these sometimes-subtle indicators.
One of
the most reliable indicators of an impending assault occurs when you are in a
position of authority and the offender fails to comply with or contemptuously
ignores your commands. If, for instance, you encounter an intruder in your
home, and he does not immediately comply with your commands, you are in for a
fight!
Other
definitive indicators can include these, alone or in combination:
1.
hands
on hips;
2.
cocked
head
3.
arms
folded across the chest
4.
fists
clenched, or clenched and flexed alternately
5.
jaw
clenched
6.
spitting
7.
deliberate
avoidance of eye contact
8.
continuously
looking around
9.
sustained
verbal rationalizations
10. continuous yawning and stretching
11. target glancing.
“Target
glancing” refers to brief, repeated shifting of the offender’s eyes to your
chin, your nose, or your weapon. Repeated
target glances to your chin or nose means he is gauging the distance for a
punch. Target glances at your weapon indicate a gun snatch may be imminent.
Always,
when the pre-attack indicators are present, shift to the highest level of
mental readiness (Condition Red) and be geared up. If at all possible, extend
the distance between the two of you. Unless you are a Marine, you don’t have to
die for the piece of ground you’re standing on!