Demeanor is your biggest ally and your biggest enemy
Apr 4, 2016 18:04:05 GMT -7
angelhelp likes this
Post by woodyz on Apr 4, 2016 18:04:05 GMT -7
Demeanor is your biggest ally and your biggest enemy
The absolute number one way I’ve gotten into places I wasn’t supposed to was by my demeanor. You learn early on in the military, or at least the Army, to “walk with a purpose.” That’s actually the biggest key to looking like you’re supposed to be somewhere and not standing out.
Luckily for security and surveillance personnel, most people get their infiltration and surveillance training from Hollywood – and they suck at it.
If you’re walking through an area and don’t want to be noticed, act like you’re supposed to be there. It helps to look like you’re in the middle of something important so they don’t automatically assume you’re just walking through.
If you’re not walking through and need to hang out for a while, you still need to try to not stand out. If all else fails, do what everyone else is doing. If people are mostly sitting in an area, you should be sitting. If they’re all studying, you should find something to read. You don’t want to be the odd man out.
If you’re a guy walking alone and want to stop in an area to get a good look, find the least-threatening person to sit down and strike up a conversation with as you carefully and naturally scan the grounds while you look like you’re recalling some old memory.
Find an old couple enjoying the view or sit down and watch a game of chess or dominoes. Just be aware that if the other side is familiar with the area, you won’t want to choose someone who they’ll remember like the crazy lady who shows up every day at 4:00 to feed the pigeons and by 4:01 has her own flock.
On the flip side, if you’re in an area where you may be at risk for someone targeting you for something like a kidnapping, unless they’re total noobs at it, they’re going to watch you for a while to get what’s called your “pattern of life.” They’ll watch where you go, when you go there, what routes you take, and what you do there and along the way. That way they can see where you’re most vulnerable as well as whether you’re an easy target.
This is where you’re the one looking for demeanor. Look for someone who doesn’t fit in. Look for the only guy in the park outside a college who isn’t studying or hitting on a co-ed. Look for the one guy sitting by himself trying to look deeply involved in something that he’s not actually doing. Yes, you’re actually looking for what you see in movies and TV here.
When people – even seasoned people – get stressed or really focused on their job, it takes a lot of mental energy. That energy is then put into watching the person instead of watching what they’re doing or how they’re acting. Maintaining body language that isn’t congruent with your intentions is hard work.
A great book to learn about body language is What Every Body Is Saying, written by an ex-FBI agent. The more you understand about body language, the more easily you’ll be able to identify things about people you wouldn’t have noticed before and the easier you’ll be able to not give away your tells.
Now don’t think for a moment that even trained government agents don’t make mistakes. Surveillance and counter-surveillance are definitely skill-based and even if you’ve had a lot of training, if you don’t actually get out there and do it every day, it’s really hard to get right.
One of the biggest problems I’ve seen is people getting tunnel vision with what they’re doing. I’ve seen them standing in the middle of a sidewalk, so transfixed on making sure they don’t lose their target that they don’t realize that they’re the only one not moving – and everyone is staring at them as they walk around them.
I’ve even seen one almost get arrested because he sat down on a bench to watch a guy coming his direction, not realizing that he was looking right through a playground at the approaching guy – through the monkey bars that were crawling with several elementary school girls. Obviously, if he didn’t take into account that it would be strange for a lone man in his thirties to walk up alone to a playground, sit down, and stare intently in the direction of little girls, he’s certainly not focused on his demeanor.
If you take the time to learn and pay attention to what you’re doing – and what everyone else is doing, you can get the upper-hand on even experienced people.
graywolfsurvival.com/133872/the-art-of-blending-in-5-tips-from-a-counterintelligence-special-agent/
The absolute number one way I’ve gotten into places I wasn’t supposed to was by my demeanor. You learn early on in the military, or at least the Army, to “walk with a purpose.” That’s actually the biggest key to looking like you’re supposed to be somewhere and not standing out.
Luckily for security and surveillance personnel, most people get their infiltration and surveillance training from Hollywood – and they suck at it.
If you’re walking through an area and don’t want to be noticed, act like you’re supposed to be there. It helps to look like you’re in the middle of something important so they don’t automatically assume you’re just walking through.
If you’re not walking through and need to hang out for a while, you still need to try to not stand out. If all else fails, do what everyone else is doing. If people are mostly sitting in an area, you should be sitting. If they’re all studying, you should find something to read. You don’t want to be the odd man out.
If you’re a guy walking alone and want to stop in an area to get a good look, find the least-threatening person to sit down and strike up a conversation with as you carefully and naturally scan the grounds while you look like you’re recalling some old memory.
Find an old couple enjoying the view or sit down and watch a game of chess or dominoes. Just be aware that if the other side is familiar with the area, you won’t want to choose someone who they’ll remember like the crazy lady who shows up every day at 4:00 to feed the pigeons and by 4:01 has her own flock.
On the flip side, if you’re in an area where you may be at risk for someone targeting you for something like a kidnapping, unless they’re total noobs at it, they’re going to watch you for a while to get what’s called your “pattern of life.” They’ll watch where you go, when you go there, what routes you take, and what you do there and along the way. That way they can see where you’re most vulnerable as well as whether you’re an easy target.
This is where you’re the one looking for demeanor. Look for someone who doesn’t fit in. Look for the only guy in the park outside a college who isn’t studying or hitting on a co-ed. Look for the one guy sitting by himself trying to look deeply involved in something that he’s not actually doing. Yes, you’re actually looking for what you see in movies and TV here.
When people – even seasoned people – get stressed or really focused on their job, it takes a lot of mental energy. That energy is then put into watching the person instead of watching what they’re doing or how they’re acting. Maintaining body language that isn’t congruent with your intentions is hard work.
A great book to learn about body language is What Every Body Is Saying, written by an ex-FBI agent. The more you understand about body language, the more easily you’ll be able to identify things about people you wouldn’t have noticed before and the easier you’ll be able to not give away your tells.
Now don’t think for a moment that even trained government agents don’t make mistakes. Surveillance and counter-surveillance are definitely skill-based and even if you’ve had a lot of training, if you don’t actually get out there and do it every day, it’s really hard to get right.
One of the biggest problems I’ve seen is people getting tunnel vision with what they’re doing. I’ve seen them standing in the middle of a sidewalk, so transfixed on making sure they don’t lose their target that they don’t realize that they’re the only one not moving – and everyone is staring at them as they walk around them.
I’ve even seen one almost get arrested because he sat down on a bench to watch a guy coming his direction, not realizing that he was looking right through a playground at the approaching guy – through the monkey bars that were crawling with several elementary school girls. Obviously, if he didn’t take into account that it would be strange for a lone man in his thirties to walk up alone to a playground, sit down, and stare intently in the direction of little girls, he’s certainly not focused on his demeanor.
If you take the time to learn and pay attention to what you’re doing – and what everyone else is doing, you can get the upper-hand on even experienced people.
graywolfsurvival.com/133872/the-art-of-blending-in-5-tips-from-a-counterintelligence-special-agent/