City of Frederick , Maryland
OPERATION
SAFEGUARD
PHOTO PROCESSING, CAMERA AND VIDEO
EQUIPMENT SALES
As described in the accompanying letter, Operation SAFEGUARD is based on the idea that certain legitimate businesses and industries may be unknowingly exploited by terrorists who portray themselves as honest customers seeking to purchase, lease or somehow appropriate certain material, licenses and/or services to covertly further a terrorist plot.
The following may be general indicators of potential terrorist planning or activities. Alone each indicator can result from legitimate recreational or commercial activities or criminal activity not related to terrorism; however, multiple indicators combined with other information can possibly suggest a terrorist threat.
- Physical surveillance, which may include note taking or the use of binoculars, cameras or maps near key facilities.
- Attempts to gain sensitive information regarding key facilities or personnel through personal contact or by telephone, mail or e-mail.
- Attempts to penetrate or test physical security and response procedures at key facilities.
- Attempts to improperly acquire explosives, weapons, ammunition, dangerous chemicals, flight manuals or other materials that could be used in a terrorist attack.
- Suspicious or improper attempts to acquire official vehicles, uniforms, badges, access cards or identification for key facilities.
- Presence of individuals who do not appear to belong in the workplace, business establishment or near a key facility.
- Behavior which appears to denote planning for terrorist activity, such as mapping out routes, playing out scenarios, monitoring key facilities and timing traffic flow or signals.
- Stockpiling suspicious materials or abandoning potential containers for explosives (e.g., vehicles or suitcases).
The following examples of activity relating to Photo Processing, Camera and Video Equipment Sales, though not fully inclusive, may be of possible concern to law enforcement:
·
Specific
customer requests for the processing of film by machine only with a clear
concern expressed by the customer that store employees or other persons refrain
from viewing the resulting developed photographs.
·
Efforts
made by a customer to obtain the identity of all store employees who may have
seen developed photographs.
·
The
development of film indicating various landmarks or sensitive locations or
segments thereof, none of which appear to have any aesthetic value making them
attractive to photograph (i.e., the under girding beams of a bridge, the
complex of transformers of an electrical plant, the arrangement of traffic
signals and pedestrian areas, the amount and location of lighting, etc.).
·
Purchase
of expensive photography or video equipment with panoramic capability.
·
Purchase
of a video camera with “night vision’ or infrared lighting equipment.
·
Processing
of film that repeatedly shows landmarks or sensitive locations from a variety
of angles, offering a panoramic coverage of the object photographed. (Note: The Al Qaeda Training Manual, in the
chapter called Espionage -- Information Gathering Using Covert Methods-- offers
the following instruction in the surveillance of an intended target: “It is
preferable to photograph the area as a whole first, then the street of the
desired location. If possible, panoramic
pictures should be taken. That is, the
collection of views should be continuous in such a way that all pictures are
taken from one location and that the ending of one picture is the beginning of
the next…The photographer should use a modern camera that can photograph at
night or from a distance, and only the lens of the camera should be visible.”)
Your impressions and assessment based upon your professional business experience are extremely valuable and should help guide you in determining if a customer request, a fact pattern or set of circumstances is unusual. Please remember that the conduct itself does not have to be criminal per se for you to report it to the Frederick Police Department. We may be contacted 24-hours a day, seven days a week by calling:
301-600-2100
SGT Dennis K. Dudley
Planning Division
Frederick Police Department
301-600-1206 (Office)
301-600-2082 (FAX)