The logistics of a black bag job 1. Identify the subject. 2. Determine target's place of employment and type of employment. 3. Identify the mode of transportation. 4. Identify other residents of the household. 5. Determine whether target has any other visitors in the residence such as relatives, maids, etc. 6. Identify the landlord if the residence is not a privately owned home or condominium. 7. Perform a trial run. 8. Start the bag job ... A. All members of the surveillance team, regardless of their position, must be in radio contact with one another or in contact with a reasonable relay. No bag job should start or continue if any member of the team is out of radio contact. A hostile force, such as another member of the organization under investigation, local police, or a thief, may have neutralized may have neutralized one of your teammates and may monitor your movements by radio. Everyone involved must be physically and mentally alert, aware of their surroundings, attentive and aggressive, and a team player. The successful execution of a bag job depends upon everyone doing their job correctly. There is no room for error, bad judgment, or heroes. A successfully planned and executed bag job will never give you any surprises that you cannot handle. (A locked door should never be taped open as was done by the infamously incompetent Watergate burglars during the break-in in 1972 at Democratic Party headquarters in Washington, D.C. A bag job is a tremendous strain on the nerves. Emotions can run high in these tense situations, and each member of the team must be able to control himself mentally, physically, and emotionally, and have confidence that the others can do likewise.
B. The surveillance team will follow the subject and any members of the residence. Depending upon the persons to be followed, no less than two surveillance agents should be used per person, unless school children are involved, in which case one agent per child will suffice. In the case of very young children, it is sometimes advisable to have two agents so as to avoid the appearance of being a child molester. C. Once all members of the residence have been surveilled away from the residence or accounted for in another location, and there are no apparent obstacles, then the plan is ready for a trial run. D. When the "ball players" are ready to begin the "game," those agents designated to telephone the residence of any neighbors in a position to observe the front should place their calls at a precise moment as instructed by the "outside man." E. The "outside man" or "lookout" will call the "inside team" into position and will alert the various surveillance agents that the "ball players" are approaching the field. The inside team on the trial run will consist of the lock picker and one radio person. Radio transmissions can be received by anyone with the proper equipment, such as a 200-channel scanning radio, or other similar portable equipment with a retail price of around $300, so communications must be innocuous. F. The "pickup man" will deliver the inside team to the front door or to the most suitable location to avoid attention; this could be the front door, back door, a nearby alley, or a parking garage. The inside team is dropped off and the "pickup man" departs the immediate area to stand by for further instructions through the outside person or lookout. G. The "inside team" approaches and examines the entrance for obvious alarm systems. If no alarms are noted, the inside team will make the surreptitious entry into the residence or office. The radio person of the inside team will immediately announce to the outside person that "the players are on the field." H.The trial run will consist of an immediate search of all rooms for friends, relatives, housekeepers, or anyone associated with the subject to be sure the "field" is clear. The inside team will announce to the outside person some description of the events taking place inside. For example, if a quick observation reveals no information available for future bag jobs, the inside person may announce that the game is being called for lack of interest in today's game or poor attendance. If prospects look good, the photographer may be called in through some phrase such as "Send in the press photographer; we may need photographs for a starting line-up for future games." It is important to keep the surveillance agents advised of events as they happen so they feel they are part of the action. If the surveillance team does not find out what happened until the end of the day or the next day, morale will suffer and future bag jobs may be compromised because the surveillance team will feel they are not qualified to be kept informed of current events. If the situation is such that a quick "game" can be played, that is, the bag job can be done with one quick photographic session, the inside person will ask the outside person to check with the other players to see if three or four innings can be played. If the surveillance team has everyone under control, the outside person will announce something like, "Weather permitting, the relief pitchers can go a full nine innings." this alerts the inside team that a regular bag job of one or two hours can be handled by the surveillance team with no problem. I. Photographs may be needed to rearrange articles after completion of the bag job depending upon the inside condition and the number of records to be examined. A Polaroid camera is ideal for this purpose. Once an examination of the inside layout is clearly in mind and notes have been taken on placement of various articles on the desk, in file cabinets, etc., the ball game can be played. A progress report from the inside should be given to the outside person every few minutes. When the inside team is through, they will announce the completion by saying something like, "The game is in the bottom of the ninth with two men out and the count is two and two; have the pickup man ready to transport the players back home." The outside person may then relay the message to all surveillance units that they may, "Head for the barn." by Wes Swearingen, FBI Whistleblower "To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists." --John Ashcroft, U.S. Attorney General
