Thinking about Crime Scene 2

Should you get in that car?

 

In the past we have looked at the question of when and whether you should resist a crime or not. Most authorities on personal security and most law enforcement sources will advise you to comply with a criminal in the case of an obviously economically-motivated crime. If a mugger wants your wallet or your cell phone, just give it to him. If a thief grabs your bag don’t chase him. Things can be replaced, people’s lives can’t. Most people agree, you should not put your life at risk to defend material possessions. Many, maybe most of those people would agree that in the face of a physical assault you need to escape or fight back. What about the gray area in between? What do you do when your assailants want to force you into a vehicle or otherwise move you from the place where contact first occurred (Crime Scene 1).

 
This phenomenon is called Crime Scene 2. I first learned about this concept from the book Strong on Defense written by Sandford Strong in the 1990s. Strong, a retired San Diego police officer argues you should never let yourself be taken to Crime Scene 2. Strong makes this argument for some very good reasons I think. In his perspective Crime Scene 2 is always worse. The only reason why the criminal would seek to move you to Crime Scene 2 is to get more privacy, better isolate you and have better control. What is likely to follow will be very bad – probably torture, sexual assault and often murder. Under these conditions you would likely do well to stand your ground at Crime Scene 1 and fight or try to escape even at risk of injury or death to yourself. In the US, Canada and a number of other countries this is very often a reasonable and sound strategy. In other places in the world, however it can be less clear.

 
Kidnap for ransom is a rare crime in the US and when it does occur there is a very high apprehension and prosecution rate. Express kidnapping, while perhaps more common than kidnap for ransom is still pretty rare. Therefore, many abductions in the US occur for other than financial gain and there is some real validity to Sanford Strong’s hypothesis that Crime Scene 2 is always worse than Crime Scene 1. This is especially true for women and children who are more likely to be targeted for predatory, sexually motivated crimes.

 
Once you leave the US, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and some of the more developed nations of the Pacific Rim this becomes less clear. In many places around the world, kidnap for ransom and express kidnappings are common, even rampant. In these environments people are abducted for financial reasons and frequently come through the experience alive if traumatized. In the case of express kidnapping in particular, the crime can be over relatively quickly. A quick trip to the ATM and a withdrawal of the daily maximum is often followed by the release of the victim. In some cases the victim may be held past midnight to make a withdrawal on the next day. In other situations such as kidnap for ransom, victims may be held for days, weeks and sometimes even years but are frequently eventually released. Yes – sometimes it’s not a successful outcome. As we have seen from the recent hostage executions by ISIS and the Daniel Pearl case in Pakistan that kidnappings can also end badly with the victim being executed, sometimes very brutally and publicly.

 
We discussed the question of to resist or not to resist as well as the issue of Crime Scene 2 here: https://protectiveconcepts.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/to-resist-or-not-to-resist-that-is-the-question/. It’s a difficult question that is very situationally dependent. It should depend a lot on where you are and adversary tactics in that area. It’s going to also depend on your capabilities and your mindset. There is no pat answer that will fit every person and every scenario.

Guile & Deception as Kidnapping Tools

Lome, Togo

 

Most people when they think of a kidnapping think of a violent, dramatic event. The victim is ambushed, dragged from his car, threatened with weapons and restrained before being moved to a location where he is isolated. Many kidnappings do follow this model or something very similar. Speed, violence, “shock and awe” are effective tools for the kidnappers – allowing them to gain control of the victim quickly and effectively, dramatically reducing the likelihood of resistance of escape.
There are however kidnappings that don’t follow this model. Circumstances where victims are lured into their captivity induced to put themselves in a vulnerable position and sometimes even controlled through duplicity as much as physical restraint. It’s important to understand and recognize this methodology to be able to protect yourself against it.
A number of these events evolve out of sophisticated scams. The victim is lured to a specified location with the promise of a lucrative business opportunity and then abducted. Many but certainly not all of these incidents have occurred have occurred in West and Central Africa. In March 2014 KR Magazine (www.krmagazine.com) outlined the case of an Australian businessman who was lured to Togo in West Africa, in December 2012 by an opportunity to purchase gold bars. He entered Togo by land from neighboring Ghana, did not get an entry stamp in his passport and was told by his “hosts” that he faced immigration and money laundering charges. He was then held captive “for his own protection” and forced to call his business partner and estranged wife for ransom payments. This incident was also controversial in the sense that after the victim purportedly escaped or was allowed to escape there were allegations that the entire incident was a fraud. Regardless – the case provides numerous examples of a modus operandi that has apparently become increasingly common. There was also a notable case in May 2012 off a US commercial airline pilot who was also lured to Lome, Togo by an opportunity to buy gold bars. The pilot was subsequently held captive in a village in neighboring Benin until a ransom was paid. Similar cases have been reported in Uganda, South Africa and numerous other countries.
The Colombian Facebook Gang – which we have previously discussed (https://protectiveconcepts.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/social-networks-and-the-threat-to-personal-security/) used social media to identify and target wealthy men. Using fake profiles depicting beautiful women the kidnappers enticed the men to “meet in person”. The victims were then abducted when they arrived for the meeting.
Even the well-publicized and tragic case of journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan contains elements of the use of deception to lure the victim into captivity. Pearl went to what he believed was an interview with a Pakistani militant – Sheikh Gilani in Karachi. After being taken willingly to the safe house where the interview was to occur, Pearl surrendered all his personal items and allowed himself to be restrained “for security reasons”.
Kidnapping through the use of deception and guile, rather than a gun offers a lot of advantages to the criminal:
• They can get the victim to do the work for them by getting them to isolate themselves and in some cases willingly put themselves into captivity.
• It gives them deniability. If it goes bad and they are caught they can argue it was all a misunderstanding on the part of the victim. If no violence was used and the victim was not physically restrained they may very well prevail with this argument.
• It reduces the physical risk to they face. The victim is unlikely to fight back or physically resist and they are less likely to draw the attention of law enforcement.
• It creates an opaque environment they can manipulate to their advantage. Is the victim free to go? Does the victim know that?

 

Common Elements and Mitigation:
There are some common elements that occur in cases where guile and deception are used and ways to mitigate your risk:

• Many of these situations have the hallmarks of a scam. If it seems to go to be true then it probably is. That said it is worth noting that many of the perpetrators of these crimes can be very sophisticated and can work on developing the mark or victim over time – this is true for both kidnappings and straight out scams. It’s important to do your due diligence in these situations and know who you are dealing with as well as watching for some of the other indicators below.
• Many have an illegal or at least unethical component where the victim knows he or she is getting involved in something that is not legitimate. This allows the perpetrators to require a level of secrecy that would not be typical in most business dealings. It also provides the kidnapper with the leverage of reporting the victim to the authorities. You can mitigate this by not engaging in business deals or other activities that are questionable.
• Be wary of unsolicited approaches from people you don’t know or unsolicited calls or emails requesting a meeting or offering a prospective business opportunity.
• There may be a requirement to go to an isolated location or to accompany the perpetrators to an unknown location. Additionally there may be a change in plans or meeting places at the last minute that isolates the victim. To avoid this it’s important to insist on holding meetings in public locations – preferably that you are either familiar with or have time to assess in advance. You should not agree to last minute changes in meeting venues and if pressed its best to cancel the meeting. Criminals will try to create a sense of urgency to get you to go along with their plan.
• The perpetrators may say certain measures are “for your own protection” or are “security measures” to control you. Do not allow yourself to be willingly confined or restrained under these circumstances.
• There may be an attempt to isolate you and make you dependent. This may include surrendering your passport, mobile phone, etc. We strongly advise travelers – particularly in the developing world – to create multiple layers of contacts or parallel contacts. Do not allow one person or one group of people to control your agenda and activities. Have alternate means of transport, communication, etc. to eliminate this dependency. Also have check in procedures and let others know where you are going and who you will be meeting. We have discussed this in our article on dealing with local contacts (https://protectiveconcepts.wordpress.com/?s=dealing+with+local+contacts ) and in the book Safe Travel Abroad (http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Travel-Abroad-Individual-Expatriates/dp/1484871987/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1402518982&sr=8-1).
Being aware of this type of crime is the best way to reduce your risk of being a victim. Recognizing the criminal modus operandi and identifying the signs will allow you to avoid these situations in most cases.

Kidnapping Avoidance & Prevention Now Available in Paperback

Kidnapping Avoidance & Prevention from Integrated Protective Concepts is now available in paperback format from Amazon.com.  The book was previously released in E-Book format for Kindle and compatible readers.

Kidnapping Avoidance & Prevention is a 70-page book that covers proactive measures that can be taken to reduce the risk of falling victim to a kidnapping.  Here is a little bit about the content:

A confused tourist gets into the wrong taxi and is expressed kidnapped. A businessman is lured to a bogus meeting and held for ransom. An expatriate consultant is kidnapped after being stopped at an impromptu roadblock. A journalist goes for an interview that turns horribly wrong. A bank manager’s family is held hostage to force him to access bank funds. Kidnapping is a pervasive crime that takes many forms around the world. Kidnapping Avoidance & Prevention will help you understand the different types of kidnappings, how they occur and how to identify ways you can better protect yourself, your family and your personnel. In this book you will learn:

• About different types of kidnappings

• How kidnappers select their victims and the process and methods they use • How to assess your vulnerability

• How to recognize potential ruses and traps

• How to limit information about yourself and your movements

• How to recognize surveillance and other pre-incident activity

• How to use OPSEC principles to protect yourself

 • How to use force multipliers to mitigate risk

• Where to find additional resources

Kidnapping Avoidance & Prevention doesn’t discuss hostage survival or how to handle a kidnapping event; rather it concentrates on proactive measures that can be used to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of a kidnapping.

Both paperback and Kindle versions are available here:  http://www.amazon.com/Kidnapping-Avoidance-Prevention-Integrated-Protective/dp/1494762943/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389880826&sr=1-1&keywords=kidnapping+avoidance

Both versions are also available on many international Amazon sites such as France, UK and Spain.

Kidnapping Avoidance & Prevention

Protective Concepts is pleased to announce the release of  the new book Kidnapping Avoidance & Prevention.  Originally planned for first or second quarter 2013 it got a bit delayed but is now available as a Kindle E-book.  A paperback version of the book is in production and should be available in January 2014.  Please see a brief description below:

A confused tourist gets into the wrong taxi and is expressed kidnapped. A businessman is lured to a bogus meeting and held for ransom. An expatriate consultant is kidnapped after being stopped at an impromptu roadblock. A journalist goes for an interview that turns horribly wrong. A bank manager’s family is held hostage to force him to access bank funds.Kidnapping is a pervasive crime that takes many forms around the world. Kidnapping Avoidance & Prevention will help you understand the different types of kidnappings, how they occur and how to identify ways you can better protect yourself, your family and your personnel.

In this book you will learn:

• About different types of kidnappings
• How kidnappers select their victims and the process and methods they use
• How to assess your vulnerability
• How to recognize potential ruses and traps
• How to limit information about yourself and your movements
• How to recognize surveillance and other pre-incident activity
• How to use OPSEC principles to protect yourself
• How to use force multipliers to mitigate risk
• Where to find additional resources

Kidnapping Avoidance & Prevention doesn’t discuss hostage survival or how to handle a kidnapping event; rather it concentrates on proactive measures that can be used to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of a kidnapping.

 

Some additional administrative notes:  The Kindle E-Book version sells for $4.99 USD.   The paperback version when it becomes available will sell for around $14.00 USD.  The original formatting was done for the paperback version so there may be some awkward sections in the E-Book version depending on the particular reader you are using.  Regardless any version should be completely readable.

Questions and comments are welcome and should be emailed to integratedprotectiveconcepts@gmail.com.

Safe Travel Abroad is now available in Paperback

We are pleased to announce that Safe Travel Abroad – previously available as a Kindle E-book is now also available in a paperback version.  You can find it on amazon.com or by clicking here: http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Travel-Abroad-Individual-Expatriates/dp/1484871987/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1370690870&sr=1-1.

The cover has a slightly different look but the content is the same.  The decision to come out with a hard copy version was based on several requests to use it as a training text, an on-the-shelf reference and by several people who just prefer a paper book or who don’t use e-readers.

The paperback version has a list price of $14.00 but is currently selling for $12.56 on Amazon.  In comparison the Kindle version is only $2.99 and is available for free loan to Amazon Prime members.

Below is a brief description:

Do you travel or live abroad? Do you know how to protect yourself from criminal and terrorist threats? How do you decide which hotel to use? What are the risks of taking taxis in some cities? What do you need to know about dealing with the police and your local contacts in foreign countries? How can seemingly innocent items you pack in your suitcase get you into trouble with local authorities? Safe Travel Abroad goes beyond what is usually found in travel security books and government issued travel information and includes new information on protecting yourself overseas. Learn about assessing the risks associated with your travel, applying surveillance detection techniques and route selection. Learn how to choose hotels and residences overseas. Discover the common myths and pitfalls associated with travel security and learn how to avoid them. Understand ways to reduce your risk through proper planning and preparation. Integrated Protective Concepts applies over 20 years of experience working and traveling in more than 50 countries on 5 continents to bring you usable information that you can apply immediately to protect yourself overseas.

A Tiger Kidnapping in Connecticut and Defining an “At-Risk” Person

At about 9pm on April 11, 2013 a group of 5 men forced their way into an apartment in Meriden, Connecticut in the Northeastern US and overpowered and restrained four people inside.  The apartment was reportedly company-rented and used by employees of Lenox Jewelers in Fairfield who frequently transited between that store and another store in neighboring Massachusetts.  Reports indicate that two employees of the store were likely followed after closing at 8pm and were initially targeted as stepped from their vehicle.  They were then forced into the apartment where the other two employees were.  They bound them and blindfolded them with pillow cases.  Then they separated the employees with four of the assailants taking two of the jewelry store employees back to the store while the fifth man remained at the apartment to guard the other two employees.  When they got to the store they forced the two employees to disarm the security system and stole approximately $5million in jewels.  They then left the two employees bound in the store and notified their accomplice guarding the other two in the apartment.  Upon receiving word the heist was successful he left the remaining two employees bound in the apartment.   Five men were arrested weeks after the robbery and are awaiting trial.

While most tiger kidnappings tend to involve holding family members or other loved ones hostage to force a person with special access to comply in this particular case it involved holding co-workers hostage.  This crime has been prevalent in Ireland and the UK but less so in the US.

This incident raises two interesting points – one about the presence of pre-incident indicators and the second about who is an “at-risk” person.

When the robbers were escorting the two store employees back to the store they made a comment to one that he “drives too fast” indicating that they likely had him under surveillance for a period of time prior to the incident.  Additionally a neighbor at the apartment complex observed and noted the kidnappers’ car conducting surveillance on the morning of March 30.  The neighbor noted the car’s plate number and gave it to the police after the incident which contributed to the arrest of the suspects.  This means that (1) the surveillance was occurring at least 11 days prior to the crime and probably even earlier (2) the surveillance activity was noticeable to someone who was paying attention to the environment.  Interestingly in an unrelated case in a New York City suburb law enforcement was conducting surveillance outside the home of a suspected drug dealer and were detected by neighbors.  Local residents noticed a car with occupants sitting on a quiet suburban street and questioned them what they were doing there.  This incident illustrates that even professional surveillance efforts can be detected if people pay attention to their surroundings.

We often discuss that key times for heightening alertness include arrivals and departures (especially from home and work) and locations/zones of predictability.  We also state that security measures should be scalable and in context with the person’s risk profile.  Therefore a person who believes he or she may be facing a demonstrable threat or is working/living in a high threat environment should devote more time and effort to practicing individual protective measures.  A person at less risk should still be aware but may not need to expend a great deal of effort.

In this case it’s likely the jewelry store employees who became victims did not consider themselves to be “at-risk”.  While they probably recognized the risk of robbery as a professional hazard they likely thought of it in the context of a classic armed robbery at the place of business and not a tiger kidnapping involving elaborate planning.  It’s important when considering your risk profile to accurately assess the potential threats you may face and the vulnerabilities in your lifestyle.  Without an honest appreciation of these it’s difficult to determine the level of mitigation and countermeasures you need to put in place.  You don’t need to be a millionaire, a celebrity or a politician to be “at-risk”.  A variety of factors in your professional and or personal life can raise your profile.

 

 

Dangerous Business

 

If you do business in an international environment then chances are you deal with a wide range of people with different ideas about acceptable business practices, business ethics, conflict resolution and competition.  While some of these people may hold views very similar to yours many others may have a different perspective.   Generally speaking the further you go off the beaten path the more pronounced these differences may be.

Whether you are aware of it or not you may run afoul of one of these people.  Either by posing competition to their business, refusing to pay bribes or engage in corruption, by choosing or failing to choose a certain vendor or business partner.  In many places members of the police, military and security forces also have private sector business interest and can present a formidable threat if you find yourself in a business dispute with them.

Consider the story of Peter Shaw, a Welsh banker working for the European Commission in Tbilisi, Georgia.  Shaw was in Georgia providing consulting to the Georgian banking sector.  In June 2002, just days before he was supposed to complete his assignment and leave Georgia, Shaw was kidnapped off a Tbilisi street by heavily armed attackers in paramilitary uniforms.  He was then held captive for five months, four of them in a subterranean cell in the Pankisi Gorge under deplorable conditions, the details of which he recounts in his book Hole: Kidnapped in Georgia.  While it was never conclusively proven that his kidnapping was related to his work in banking there were strong indications that it was.  It’s possible that Shaw’s work to improve the Georgian banking sector put him at odds with powerful people who were using the financial system for their own enrichment.

While Shaw’s case is an extreme example, it’s important to be aware of potential pitfalls that may exist in the country or countries where you are conducting business.   How do you counteract this risk?  It’s difficult but due diligence on potential partners and associates and a thorough assessment of the business sector in that country is one initial step you can take.  Knowing who the key players are and what businesses they are in is a good beginning.  Another is a simple awareness of the threat and practicing good personal security measures and operational security.

 

The Insider Threat & Risk of Kidnapping

 

This is excerpted from the upcoming Integrated Protective Concepts book Kidnapping Prevention & Avoidance that will be available late 1st Quarter/early 2nd Quarter 2013:

 

Without a doubt the greatest threat you are likely to potentially encounter is the insider threat. Numerous kidnapping cases throughout the world have involved a person close to the victim or with inside knowledge of the victim’s activities and routine facilitating the kidnapping.

We all depend to a greater or lesser degree on other people and in order to do what we need to do with need to involve others in our activities and make them aware of our schedule and so forth. We can’t allow ourselves to be so paralyzed with fear that we become ineffective but we do need to recognize this vulnerability, be aware and watch those around us. There are several prominent cases that have occurred in the US where insiders or in some cases former employees with inside knowledge were involved in kidnappings. Recently there was a home invasion in suburban New York City where a former nanny orchestrated the event and directed her associates over a cell phone as they held the family hostage and ransacked the home. That said this is an even more critical issue overseas where expatriates and travelers may rely even more heavily on local employees. This may include drivers and domestic staff, office employees, local partners and so forth.

How do we address this threat? First it’s important to now who you are dealing with whether that means conducting a due diligence investigation on a business partner or a background check on a maid. These investigations do have their limits and in many places public records are suspect at best. It’s also quite possible that the subject has no identifiable criminal background or ties so it’s important to go beyond this. You should make an effort to know as much about them as possible: where they live, who their family consists of, tribal, ethnic and political affiliations in places where those things matter – this is especially true of domestic staff but also true for close business partners, local representatives and perhaps lead personnel in a local office. The more the person knows about you and what you do the more you should know about them.

You should passively monitor local staff and watch for changes in behavior or situations that may indicate they are having personal problems or are vulnerable to outside influence. You should listen to gossip and rumors – you shouldn’t necessarily believe them but based on them you may want to investigate further to de-conflict what you have heard.

It’s also important to engage these people in a polite and professional way. Too often local personnel and domestic staff are treated like a piece of the furniture. These contacts should be done professionally and over-familiarity should be avoided. In Safe Travel Abroad we discussed dealing with local drivers and the same rules apply here. It’s important to treat staff respectfully but you should not try to make them your best friend. Many societies have very clearly defined boundaries between employer and employees that are ignored by well-meaning egalitarian westerners. This should of course be modulated based on the particular relationship and the local cultural norms. Regular conversations – even about innocuous subjects like the weather – allow you to get a baseline on their attitude and behavior so that you can better distinguish changes in behavior that may indicate a problem.

It’s particularly important not to mistreat local staff. This should go without saying but obviously making an enemy of someone with inside knowledge of your patterns and routines is never good not to mention the moral, ethical and professional reasons to not treat people badly.

In some locations it’s important to understand that local personnel may be under pressures that we are not accustomed to. They or their family may be threatened by criminals or terrorists, they may be obligated by family connections and traditions to provide information if requested or they may otherwise be in a situation where they are compromised and vulnerable. We will likely never be able to know all that we can about people working for us and those with close knowledge of our activities but understanding the potential risks is a good starting point. Just being aware of the insider threat potential will make us more inclined to monitor others’ behavior, stop ourselves from providing too much information and taking similar actions to reduce risk.

 

 

The Gang of Blondes – Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover

Looks can be deceiving and more than one person has fallen victim to becoming complacent because a person they were dealing with turned out to be more dangerous than they initially appeared. A great example of this is the “Gang of Blondes” (Gangue das Loiras) a female kidnapping ring that was believed to be responsible for at least 54 kidnappings between 2009 and 2012 in Sao Paulo and Rio di Janeiro, Brazil. The gang typically targeted middle class women in shopping mall and supermarket parking lots, frequently taking them at gunpoint as they attempted to get in their cars. Two members of the gang would then hold the victim hostage while other members used her credit cards and ATM card, making as many purchases as possible. There are reports that the gang conducted quick, impromptu surveillance on their victims to assess their wealth prior to carrying out the express kidnapping.

While the Gang of Blondes was ultimately caught by police they were successful over at least a three-year period and possibly longer as there reportedly initially began carrying out condominium burglaries before moving on to express kidnapping. Much of their success was undoubtedly their ability to blend into the environment looking like the people they were victimizing and also not looking like the stereotypical criminal or kidnapper. This benign appearance undoubtedly gave them cover to carry out their pre-operational surveillance and allowed them to approach their victims closely in mall parking lots without causing any alarm.

While this group targeted women this strategy is equally, perhaps in some ways more effective if employed against men. Men are even less likely to perceive women as a physical threat and the “honey trap” aspect can further entice them to lower their guard.

The take-away from this is that we need to be careful about making immediate assumptions about whether someone is a threat or not based solely on appearance or gender. We should look more at the person’s behavior and whether it seems incongruous with the environment or setting we are in. This is particularly true at critical times when situational awareness should be heightened such as arrivals and departures. Clearly getting into your car in a parking lot – even in broad daylight – is one of those times. At home or abroad deception is a tool that criminals use to prey on victims and we shouldn’t allow stereotypes or assumptions lull us into complacency.

Mindsetting & Personal Security

While working on a project on kidnapping prevention techniques recently the subject of mindsetting came up.  By mindsetting we mean spending time considering potential situations that may occur and thinking through potential responses.  This will help you develop a gameplan or a framework for responding to potential threats.

 

The principle of mindsetting is discussed in detail by Sanford Strong in his 1996 book Strong on Defense.  I highly recommend Strong on Defense – though a little dated it provides very clear and straightforward guidance for preparing to face violent crime.  My only caveat is that the book is very US-centric and some of the guidance is a little too black-and-white so readers should take that into consideration – otherwise it’s very good.  Strong goes into detail about factors to consider with mindsetting and visualization.

 

Back to mindsetting:  When doing this you need to concentrate on the more likely possible situations that might occur and practical effective potential responses.  To the degree possible you should choose simple responses that can be applied across several different situations.  Giving yourself too many responses can lead to paralysis should a situation occur.  As an example if you are living or traveling in a place where criminals, insurgents or others set-up unauthorized roadblocks and stop vehicles to carry out robberies and kidnappings you should consider what actions you should take if you encounter one of these roadblocks.  If you use a driver you will want to discuss this with the driver and even consider conducting immediate action drills to practice what you will do if the threat level warrants it.  By doing this you prepare yourself and hopefully will be able to respond more effectively if an incident happens.  Even if you have to shift from your original plan – and you should leave yourself the flexibility to do that – you will at least start with a roadmap for action in place.

 

This is an exercise that you can do anywhere and should do regularly – especially if you are operating in a high threat environment.  This does not have to be limited to physical responses – you can do it for numerous other types of situations as well.  For example if you are working or living in a location where there is a high threat of detention and possibly interrogation by the local authorities you may want to work through verbal responses or scripts to prepare yourself for that type of situation.

 

This type of mental preparation can cut reaction time and allow you to have a more thought-out response even when there is no time for thinking because you have already considered the situation, or one very much like it and determined how you will respond.  You can use newspaper articles, incident reports and other sources about the type of events that occur in the environment where you are operating to devise the most realistic scenarios.