POLICE UNDERCOVER OPERATIONS (2)

Private Undercover Operations

Private operatives may use their real identities or fabricated ones. They routinely provide written reports to their employers to justify their job. Because they are not law enforcement officers, they are more likely to instigate or provoke others to commit illegal acts (such as the recent case involving animal rights activists alluded to above), conduct illegal searches and surveillance, and generally engage in the kinds of actions whose evidence would not be admissable in court. Private operatives typically lack the costly support systems of police undercover agents, and can be more readily exposed.

These private undercover operatives have been repeatedly used against the environment, anti-nuclear, and animals rights movements.

Confidential Informants

• Walk-in. These are disgruntled or disenchanted members of a target organization who volunteer their services, for a variety of reasons. They may have joined a group with good intentions, only to become offended by what they see as overly radical tactics. Or they may be ambitious people who have been passed over for leadership roles [sic] and decide to seek revenge against those they think slighted them. Or they may be wackos who seek revenge against someone in the group for personal reasons, including romantic ones.

• Tip-offs. The future CI is indiscreet in talking of illegal exploits, and is overheard by someone not of the group, who in turn informs police. The police approach the future CI, and are able to persuade her to "roll over."

• Deal-makers. Someone who is arrested on a serious charge may try to avoid prosecution, or obtain a lighter sentence by agreeing to infiltrate a group to obtain information about other illegal activities. This often occurs with drug busts.

• Recruits. Known members of a target group may be targeted for recruitment by the police. The effort usually begins with a background check for signs of vulnerability. An individual who appears "weak" might simply be interviewed repeatedly by a persuasive officer until she agrees to cooperate. A conservative employer, perhaps one with a law enforcement or military background, might be enlisted to help in pressuring the prospective recruit. In the past, for instance, the FBI has used interviews with employers to intimidate members of political groups.

  Similarly, a spouse may be approached to aid in the recruitmen. Veiled threats to children or to one's job security have often proved effective. Also, the parents of the would-be informer may be approached to secure their help. This approach may be particularly effective if the subject is, say, a college student receiving financial support from her parents.

• People who have never been arrested, or young people heavily influenced by their families, are often more susceptible to becoming CIs than those with more experience.

Defense Against Undercover Activities

• Always use the basic "need-to-know" rule. This means that each member of a monkeywrenching team needs only the information necessary to carry out her specific task. Ideally, only one member of a monkeywrenching group needs to know the target in advance, and the others are informed en route to the target. In such cases, be suspicious of someone who suddenly has to make a phone call after learning the target or other plans. Obviously, it is not always possible to operate this way. In many operations, it is necessary that participants be widely scattered (lookouts, for instance) and have detailed knowledge of the terrain. Suffice it to say that such operations should only be undertaken by small groups of people who have known each other for years and have previously operated together.

• Never belittle a fellow activist or excessively criticize their errors. Everyone makes mistakes. People who are unnecessarily embarrassed may become resentful and vengeful.

• If someone expresses doubt about certain actions, don't involve her in those types of actions. If she has serious reservations, "ease" her out of the monkeywrenching group, but try to remain friends. Cutting her off completely may destroy bonds of personal loyalty and make it easier for her to inform on you.

• If you have reason to believe that police pressure has been stepped up, lay low for awhile. Your increased vulnerability at such times could provide the authorities with recruitment opportunities.

• Be wary of someone who suddenly drops out after introducing a new member. The new member may be an undercover cop.

• If a member of the group is contacted by the police, for whatever reason, that member has an obligation to inform the group leader or organizer. The contact may be the first warning of a recruitment attempt.

• Be wary of any group member arrested on unrelated criminal charges, such as drugs. Such persons might have incentive to make a deal for their freedom.

• Have no contact with the so-called "criminal element." Such circles teem with informers. A radical animals rights activist was once busted after buying explosives from a member of an "outlaw" motorcycle gang.

• Be wary of "lost souls," mentally-disturbed individuals (sometimes it takes awhile to realize that someone doesn't have all her oars in the water), or other people you feel sorry for and might therefore try to be friends with. The CIs in the Arizona Five case were all people whom folks in Arizona Earth First! pitied.

Double Agents

If you have such a "volunteer" and you think she might be useful to you, reduce the risk to any actual monkeywrenchers by dealing with her through an intermediary, who serves as contact person. The contact should be someone you know well and are sure is on your side, but who has never participated in illegal actions, and who has on intention of ever doing so. The contact serves as a "cut-out," passing on information from the volunteer informant and providing a protective layer between the informant and the action group.

It is important that information only flow in one direction, from the informant to the action group. The informant, no matter how helpful, should never be told of plans or actions by the action group. This also protects the informant, in case of investigation by police or company officials. For this reason, you never make any written record of the informant's identity, lest this fall into the authorities' hands.

Because your contact person is exposed to the threat of arrest (especially if the informant really is a double agent planning a set-up) she must be mature and emotionally stable enough to stand up under interrogation to protect the identity of the action group.

If you have any reason to suspect that your informant is a double agent planning a set-up, arrange to secretly tape-record meetings between your contact and the informer, in which the informant can be caught making provocative statements designed to incite illegal action. Such a recording could be quite valuable in the defense of anyone charged with a monkeywrenching offense. However, any such tapes (or other evidence) should never be kept at home where police could use a warrant to seize and destroy them. Remote rural burial is perhaps the most secure option, so long as you encase the tapes in several layers of water-tight plastic bags.

Your contact should have solid alibis at the time of any action. Being in a public place where others will be able to provide later verification is a good way; being verifiably out of town is even better.

The contact should be very careful when passing information on to the action group. A pay phone to pay phone call, arranged at the last minute, is generally secure. Face-to-face meetings in open areas like parks are also usually secure from electronic eavesdropping. Pass information on verbally, making no written notes that can be seized as evidence, and on a strictly one-to-one basis. If confronted, denials will be more convincing if the content of a conversation hinges on one person's word against another's. Another precaution is for the contact to pass on information as if it were idle conversation or gossip. If no illegal activity is actually discussed, it will be harder to prove that a crime has been committed.

Because legal, above-ground political organizations are most susceptible to infiltration by undercover officers, serious monkeywrenchers should not be involved in such groups, pariticularly those with militant reputations or believed to be sympathetic to monkeywrenching.

Exposing Undercover Agents

Baiting is one way to expose an undercover agent. The "suspect" is provided (seemingly inadvertently) with a bit of information so enticing that the authorities cannot resist acting on it. This could be the time, date, and place of a future action, or the location of some highly incriminating items. Of course, the action does not take place as planned, or the "incriminating items" are totally innocuous. If the suspected undercover agent is the only one provided with this information, and the police make the appropriate response, you have reasonable proof that the "suspect" is indeed an agent. If you have tipped the suspected informer to the details of a bogus action, you will need to have some method of spotting the resultant police surveillance or ambush without compromising anyone; perhaps you could have someone just walk by as an innocent pedestrian or hiker.

The baiting method can be used with more than one person at a time by providing each one with slightly different information (different locations, times, etc.) The response will indicate which person is passing information. Keep it simple!

Though undercover agents routinely participate in illegal actions to convince group members that they are bona fide, they are not generally allowed to instigate acts by their handlers for legal reasons. They sometimes break this rule, but doing so can weaken their case in court. If you want to "test" someone you suspect of being an undercover cop, you might provide her with the opportunity (and even materials) to commit an illegal act, but NO ENCOURAGEMENT. Use your imagination. A simple example would be something like this: With the suspected undercover agent in your car, park by a fur store. You have rocks, spray paint, quick drying glue, and the like in plain sight of the suspected agent. You ask her, "What do you think?" Let the person being tested totally instigate the action. If the person does propose to do something illegal, and is an agent, she has entrapped you by instigating the crime. However, in such a situation, most agents will try to make an excuse for inaction, perhaps belittling the scale of the action or promising more later. Beware of this person in the future. (Don't give a suspected agent the opportunity to run to a pay phone before deciding what to do; she might try to contact her supervisor for instructions.) Note: An undercover agent may risk commmitting entrapment on one action in order to insinuate herself with the group to get the "goods" on them for a later, more serious caper.

Remember that undercover agents usually "wear a wire" to record conversations. If you really suspect someone of being an agent, and there is no way to keep the person out of a key meeting, you might consider "frisking" the people attending the meeting. Another method of detecting recording devices would be to use a small metal detector (such as are used by treasure hunters, and sold by companies like Radio Shack). However, in most situations this option is probably not feasible, since most people would highly resent such an invasive procedure, or consider it an affront to their loyalty. A better option would be to come up with an excuse for postponing the meeting, until you can check out the suspected agent by other means. Often an agent with have their recorder or a backup recorder in a day pack, purse, or briefcase. As long as the conversation takes place nearby (in the same room or vehicle, say) the recording is apt to be intelligible. In situations where undercover agents expect close personal or extended contact, such as a camping trip, exercise, or soaking in a hot tub, they may forego using a recording device lest they be discovered. (If anything incriminating is discussed while they are "unwired," they will refer back to the conversation later when they are recording, hoping to get the incriminating information on tape.) Or if they suspect they are suspected, they might manufacture a situation which "proves" they are not wired for sound.

Here are a few ways undercover agents may tip their hands:

• Seeking information they do not need under "need to know" rules.
• Trying to get people to repeat incriminating statements made at an earlier meeting (so they can be recorded). If you are suspicious, say you were just joking when you made the earlier remark.
• Repeatedly casting suspicion on others without basis. This may be a smoke screen to keep suspicion off themselves.
• Showing an extremely shallow understanding of the issues. An undercover cop may know only what she has been briefed on. Some, however, are good talkers and can sound knowledgeable without really knowing an issue in depth.
• Making boisterous demands for action and belittling more timid members of the group. Because many cops have authoritarian, even violent personalities, they may reveal this inadvertently.
• Showing extreme nervousness, such as looking around constantly during an action. (They may be looking for the surveillance or backup team).
• Slipping away to phone or meet supervisors or control agents. Such meetings may be brief, in a car at a public parking lot, for instance, or in a department store. Longer meetings, such as "debriefings" might be held in motel rooms.
• Constantly "managing" the conversation to guide it in directions they wish.
• Mentioning another person's name when you refer obliquely to that person. (For the record, since the agent is probably recording the conversation; likewise the next two).
• Working the time, date, or location into conversations.
• Explicitly stating incriminating things in response to vague comments from you or others.
• Manipulating conversations to try to get some kind of affirmation from you in response to their incriminating statements.
• Regularly asking about other individuals (particularly supposed leaders).
• Initiating conversations about monkeywrenching.
• Steering a conversation back to illegal acts or conspiracies when the conversation moves on to legal and unrelated matters.
• Claiming to be a recovering alcoholic. This gives them excuses not to drink with you and possibly slip up on their covers while under the influence.
• Playing different roles with different people calculated to appeal specifically to each individual's vulnerabilities or strengths. An infiltrator may play the role of just the kind of person you need in your current mental state.
• Setting-up a phony "hit" to enhance their credibility. They may arrange to attack heavy equipment, surveyor stakes, or other targets while witnessed by people they wish to entrap or whose confidence they want.